The congressional debate over the Iran agreement is one of the most crucial debates in recent American history. At stake here is not only the Vienna agreement, but mainly US international posture. It could even touch upon its identity as a liberal country.

A senior source at the State Department told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the administration will leave no stone unturned in convincing Congress to approve the agreement. “The White House will reach out to every single member of Congress. We have no doubt that the agreement will pass, possibly with a presidential veto. The credibility of our Middle Eastern policy is at stake, as well as our credibility vis-a-vis our global partners of the P5+1 [five permanent member of the UN Security Council plus Germany].” He added that the agreement met the target set by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry: ensuring that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons at least in the next 15 years and keeping the Iranians from feeling humiliated. The negotiations, according to the source, reached a win-win balance, offering the best possible conditions to assure the sustainability of the agreement. The senior State Department source made it clear that the Vienna agreement is part of a larger Obama foreign policy doctrine.

This agreement fits the ideological guidelines of Obama’s foreign policy, where diplomacy comes first and the war option comes last. He places great value on America’s economic, technological and academic assets. Thus, Obama attempts to adapt US policies to a changing international ecosystem, in which wars are no longer winnable, as witnessed by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Clear-cut victories are a past concept, while wars in our era often provoke lasting instability and insecurity and even more conflicts.

Collective diplomacy is at the heart of this foreign policy doctrine. The US administration considers collective sanctions, the P5+1 collective negotiation structure and collective agreements as keys to international success. Obama’s America listens to the European Union (EU) and even to Russia and China.