{"id":27681,"date":"2026-03-25T16:09:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T20:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&#038;p=27681"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T20:09:40","slug":"irans-low-cost-high-reward-strategy-with-international-relations-professor-michael-butler","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/25\/irans-low-cost-high-reward-strategy-with-international-relations-professor-michael-butler\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran&#8217;s low cost, high reward strategy with International Relations Professor Michael Butler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"175\" style=\"border:0;width:100%;max-width:800px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/irans-low-cost-high-reward-strategy-with-international\/id1608025510?i=1000756346905\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>On this episode of <strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong>, Michael Butler, chair of Clark&#8217;s Political Science Department and professor of international relations, analyzes the war in Iran through the lens of international security and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no real incentive or need for Iran to seek an exit strategy here,&#8221; says Butler. &#8220;The Strait of Hormuz is a particularly good example of that. It\u2019s a highly defensible waterway. It&#8217;s a hugely significant one, but it&#8217;s so narrow \u2014 with a few mines and with a relatively short distance, cruise missiles, and drones, they can turn that into a strategic nightmare. And there&#8217;s not much that the U.S. can do about it, at least not without a more extensive escalation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: This episode was recorded on March 16. Details about the war in Iran have evolved since then.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong>\u00a0is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\">Spotify<\/a>\u202for\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile has-white-color has-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-760f0dbd3fb379efc09d7cb5582ea178\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"students and professor walk on city sidewalk\" class=\"wp-image-20738 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Urban_Ethnography_Lab_28_MAR_2025-0022-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-more-from-challenge-change\">More from Challenge. Change.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/10\/rags-to-rags-the-multi-generational-shock-of-the-victorian-poor-law\/\">Do Cash Transfers Have an Intergenerational Impact? with Economics Professor Jon Denton-Schneider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/29\/space-culture-violence-professor-explores-alternative-history-of-colonial-maps\/\">How Maps can Erase or Unify with History Professor Nathan Braccio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/02\/building-equitable-cities\/\">What Does Justice Look Like in Your City? With Geography Professor Asha Best<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Butler, professor of international relations, analyzes the war in Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27683,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-true-black)","story_headerImg":27683,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223,245],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[494],"topic":[150,160,152,338,176,264],"class_list":["post-27681","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","category-social-sciences","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","featured-secondary","topic-faculty","topic-faculty-research","topic-international","topic-international-relations","topic-podcast","topic-political-science"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - 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