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No More Iran Deal? The U.S. Has A History Of Backing Out Of Agreements

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A League of Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1923. The multinational coalition grew out of World War I as a way to promote world peace. President Woodrow Wilson won a Nobel Peace Prize for his help establishing it, but the U.S. never joined. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
A League of Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1923. The multinational coalition grew out of World War I as a way to promote world peace. President Woodrow Wilson won a Nobel Peace Prize for his help establishing it, but the U.S. never joined. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

President Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal is raising questions about what comes next.

Historians Ed Ayers and Brian Balogh say the past may shed some light on the answer: Americans have long broken international promises, including their agreement to live peacefully as a British colony in the 1700s and, two centuries later, to join the League of Nations.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with (@edward_l_ayers) and Balogh (@historyfellow), co-hosts of the podcast "BackStory," which is produced at Virginia Humanities.

This article was originally published on May 10, 2018.

This segment aired on May 10, 2018.

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