As you have probably heard. President Donald J. Trump has accepted an invitation to visit North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.* People who were genuinely worried that Trump was going to start a needless war with North Korea now seem to be nearly as worried that he is going to talk to them and inadvertently trigger […]
Reza Taghizadeh on Iran’s Energy Policy in Disarray Reza Taghizadeh is a senior Iran analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering Iranian geopolitical affairs and energy policy. Dr. Taghizadeh’s expertise is sought by major news organizations and foreign governments on Iran’s foreign and energy policies. He sat down with Reza Akhlaghi of Foreign Policy Association to […]
Meir Javedanfar on Israel’s View on Iran’s Elections Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-born Israeli Middle East expert. He lived in Iran until eight years after the revolution. He was educated in British universities and now lives in Israel. Asia Times called him “one of the best informed observers” of the Middle East. Mr. Javedanfar is the publisher and editor of the website Iran–Israel Observer. Previously, he […]
Trita Parsi on Sanctions and Iran’s Strategic Imperatives Trita Parsi is is the founder and president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a non-partisan, non-profit organization through which Iranian-Americans could participate in American civic life. Dr. Parsi is considered a leading analyst and observer of US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign politics, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He is […]
The insufferable Thomas Friedman has been ranting in recent columns about how North Korea threatens to step over a “red line” in the country’s latest belligerence towards the West which would disrupt the world’s conflict-free period. The New York Times’ champion of neoliberalism explains: “Think about what a relative luxury we’ve enjoyed since the Great […]
I’m looking forward to the State of the Union address tomorrow night; it promises to mark the back-to-business start of Obama’s second term and the official proclamation of his agenda. While I would understand if the bulk of the speech is taken up with matters of domestic policy, I do hope to get a few […]
On November 27 the Associated Press published a diagram it received from officials, “of a country critical of Iran’s atomic program.” It allegedly calculates the explosive force of a nuclear weapon, which the sources have labelled, “a key step in developing such arms.” It has been touted as proof of Iran’s nuclear aims and purportedly […]
It is close to a decade that Iran’s controversial nuclear program has been at the forefront of foreign policy debates. The U.S. has considered an array of options such as threat of a military strike, diplomatic efforts and most recently tightened sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nevertheless, the issue remains unresolved […]
Only in December 2011 did Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ruling Labor Party vote to overturn a long-standing ban on Australian uranium exports to India in order to strengthen diplomatic ties between those two countries, thus elevating the relationship to a more strategic level while boosting Australia’s resources-dominated economy. Australia, holder of the world’s biggest known […]
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama advocated diplomacy over coercion to resolve the Iranian nuclear threat, pledging to open the lines of communication and work to reinstate trust between Washington and Tehran. Barely having time to file for a change of address to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, newly sworn-in President Obama’s Iran policy was challenged […]
The following piece was originally published in on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. by R. Scott Kemp R. Scott Kemp is an associate research scholar with the Program on Science and Global Security at the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Before this, he was science advisor in the Office […]
I’ve often wondered if the pace of modem life, the 24/7 new cycle, and the need for governments to respond in real-time to what is happening have had a negative impact on the conduct of diplomacy. Take, for example, the odd incident last week in which two American allies made great progress in a matter […]
President Obama has completed a remarkable foreign policy trifecta. First he redefined the U.S. nuclear strategy governing when the U.S. would use nuclear weapons, then he signed a new arms control treaty with Russia aimed at reducing nuclear weapons, and then this week he hosted a large gathering of countries in Washington who pledged to […]