It’s nearly unanimous: foreign policy experts think Trump made the wrong choice on Iran

In Washington, President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is controversial — Republicans largely approve, and Democrats, for the most part, are critical.

But when you ask experts on international relations, the decision isn’t very controversial at all: An astonishing 94 percent of scholars think the president made the wrong choice.

We know this thanks to a poll by the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) organization, a group that regularly surveys international relations experts and asks them their opinion on major political controversies. (Full disclosure: I have served on TRIP’s advisory board in the past.)

In the months prior to Trump’s announcement, TRIP polled 1,541 scholars and asked them a simple question: Would you approve of Trump’s policy to “withdraw US support from [the] Iran nuclear weapons agreement?” The result was clear: An incredibly high majority disapprove of Trump’s decision.

You might think this is just liberal academics being liberal. But international relations is a field with a long history of bitter internal debate on public policy, one that’s been deeply divided over everything from the Cold War to the Iraq War. This isn’t an echo chamber.

No, the explanation for this level of unanimity is clearer. A close look at the details of the Iran deal suggests it was actually working to contain Iran’s nuclear program. Pulling out does little to improve America’s bargaining position and creates a risk of yet another nuclear crisis.

The reason experts disapprove of Trump’s withdrawal from the deal is because it likely is, on its merits, a very bad idea.