Article by Professor Yonah Alexander, Director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the Potomac Institute -- "Iran entered the last century as the 'sick man' of West Asia, subject, because of its unique geographic position, to external influence and intervention, particularly from Britain and Russia. Now, as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues in power, the question is how to stop Tehran’s continued nuclear program from escalating eventually into the physical destruction of this Islamic region in the 21st century."