Iran, the Obama Nuclear Deal, and the Lie of a “Just War”: David Cortright on Why Diplomacy Still Matters

Iran, the Obama Nuclear Deal, and the Lie of a “Just War”: David Cortright on Why Diplomacy Still Matters

From The Jim Wallis Podcast by District Productive

April 23, 2026 · 53 min · Season 6 · Episode 111

About this episode

Jim Wallis interviews David Cortright about the implications of the Obama nuclear deal with Iran and the importance of diplomacy over war.

On this episode of the Jim Wallis Podcast, Jim Wallis speaks with David Cortright, Visiting Scholar at Cornell’s Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, about the current crisis with Iran, the fallout from Trump’s decision to torpedo the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA), and why war is not the answer.  They discuss how the 2015 agreement under the Obama Administration worked, why withdrawal accelerated danger, and why the rhetoric of “just war” collapses when politics, escalation, and civilian suffering take over. Cortright also argues that in the nuclear age, diplomacy is not weakness but the strongest and most moral path forward. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Host: Jim Wallis

Guest: David Cortright

Topics covered

  • Iran
  • diplomacy
  • nuclear deal
  • war
  • politics
  • conflict resolution

Keywords

  • Iran
  • Obama nuclear deal
  • diplomacy
  • just war
  • Trump
  • JCPOA
  • conflict studies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cornell’s Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Obama Administration, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Trump

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