What are Robert Pape's three firebreaks to stop the escalation?

Robert Pape proposes three firebreaks. First, members of the lame-duck and newly elected Congress should declare no Trump administration escalation in Iran until the new Congress is seated, unless Iran strikes first. Second, governors and mayors should call for a two-month moratorium on federally armed agents in their cities unless they request them. Third, the mediating countries Pakistan, Qatar and India should call on all sides to stop directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

• Pape says ordinary people can email, text or call their political leaders to back the three measures.
• Pape believes public discussion after his July appearance helped stall planned CENTCOM strikes on Iran's drone network.

▸In their words

“The core firebreak is no escalation on Iran by the Trump administration” Robert Pape · at 1:19:05 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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