Mailing address
One Brattle Square 503
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox 134
Cambridge, MA, 02138
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Downloadable CV
Kayhan Barzegar
Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Contact:
Telephone: 617-495-8995
Fax: 617-496-0606
Email: kayhan_barzegar@hks.harvard.edu
Experience
Kayhan Barzegar is a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is also an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Science and Research Campus, Islamic Azad University, a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), and the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran. Dr. Barzegar was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2002-2003. He has published more than eighty articles and books in Persian and English and participated in numerous international conferences on Iran's foreign policy, Iran-U.S. relations, Iran-Arab relations, and the politics of Iran's nuclear program. His latest publications are: "Iran's Foreign Policy Strategy after Saddam," The Washington Quarterly (Winter 2010), "The Paradox of Iran's Nuclear Consensus" World Policy Journal (Fall 2009); "Iran's Nuclear Program: An Opportunity for Dialogue" (CSR, Summer 2009); "Iran and Obama: the Grand Bargain on Roles" (Fall 2008); "Iran's Foreign Policy in Post-invasion Iraq," Middle East Policy, (Winter 2008); Iran, the New Iraq, and the Persian Gulf Political-Security System" (CSR: Fall 2008); "Iran and the Shiite Crescent,"(Brown Journal of World Affairs, Fall 2008); and "The Shia Factor" (Heartland, Spring 2008). Dr. Barzegar is the Editor of Discourse: An Iranian English Quarterly.
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November 1, 2009
"A Middle Way, Best Solution to Nuclear Crisis"
Op-Ed, Iran Review
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"Although it is difficult under the current circumstances to predict Iran's response to the agreement, but all signs point to a middle way, which if chosen carefully, could be positive and in line with Iran's national interests. In fact, if Iran kept part of the enriched uranium in the country and sent the rest to another country, it would pave the way for the continuation of cooperation."
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July 2009
"Iran, the Middle East, and International Security"
Journal Article, Ortadogu Etutleri, issue 1, volume 1
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"In the years since the September 11 attacks and the onset of crisis in Iraq, Iran's consolidation of its political-security role in the Middle East, and its impact upon regional and international security systems has been the focus of attention in international and Middle East security studies. The prevailing view in the West and the Arab world is that new political-security and geopolitical developments have changed the balance in regional power and political structure in favor of Iran. Accordingly, this situation has had negative effects on the United States' strategic interests, its regional allies in the Arab world, and on Israel's position. During recent decades, preserving a 'balance of power' policy between the regional actors has been the basis of American foreign policies in the region, especially in the Persian Gulf. The recent developments have unbalanced power equations in favor of Iran."
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Fall 2009
"The Paradox of Iran's Nuclear Consensus"
Journal Article, World Policy Journal, issue 3, volume 26
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"...[S]ituated in what it sees as a hostile neighborhood, it is hardly surprising that the Iranian government views an independent nuclear fuel cycle as interchangeable with deterrence, rather than as a bid for building a nuclear arsenal. While building a nuclear arsenal would be a costly endeavor, risking international isolation and assuring Iran's 'pariah status,' acquiring civilian nuclear capability would afford Iran the security and psychological edge it has long sought, and at a lower cost."
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June 2009
"The List: Iran's Presidential Wannabes"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Research Fellow Kayhan Barzegar describes the four candidates for the Iranian presidency (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohsen Rezai) in terms of their credentials, power base, and stances on domestic politics and foreign policy—including the Iranian nuclear program.
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May 2009
"Iran's Nuclear Program: An Opportunity for Dialogue"
Op-Ed
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"During the last decades, the hardest and most controversial processes of détente between rival countries like the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China in the 1960s and 1970s occurred after a hard and intense time following the acceptance of 'comparable roles' in talks. Iran's nuclear program can provide a momentous opportunity for Iran-U.S. détente."
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March 24, 2009
"A Modest Nationalism in Iraq Will Favor Iran"
Op-Ed, Aftab News
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"The success of the party of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki in Iraq's provincial elections has been largely perceived as a challenge to Iran. During his campaign, Maliki focused on Iraqi independence, establishing a powerful central government, and taking nationalistic positions with respect to Iraq's domestic and foreign policies. Implementation of these policies, should they lead to the emergence of a modest nationalism, would favor Iran's national security and interests, especially in the advent of U.S. troop withdrawals...."
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March 4, 2009
"For Iraq Stability, Look to Iran and Syria"
Op-Ed, PostGlobal, A Conversation on Global Issues with David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"If ethnic strife should return to Iraq in the post-withdrawal era, the United States must encourage cooperation between regional actors, especially Syria and Iran. By returning to Iraq, America will only further complicate the crisis in an already complex region. Instead, addressing the security concerns of regional actors and focusing on common interests that exist between them and America, and subsequently getting these regional actors' cooperation, would be a less costly way to avoid the return of civil war."
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February 21, 2009
"Only a Strong Iran Will Talk"
Op-Ed
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"...Iran's strategic value, along with the legitimacy of its role among the friendly political factions and states in the region, is based on playing an independent role and avoiding direct engagement with the U.S. on the regional issues. Instead, Iran should resolve its strategic differences with the U.S. through strength in the region. This policy will give Iran more importance, and subsequently better serve the interests of its friends in the region. Iran's effective role in post-invasion Iraq and post-2006 Lebanon are two examples in this regard."
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January 29, 2009
"The Geopolitical Factor in Iran's Foreign Policy"
Journal Article, Viewpoints, The Iranian Revolution at 30 Special Edition
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"Revolutions either expand to export their ideologies or preserve themselves from the outside world. The 1979 Islamic revolution of Iran is no exception. A careful reading of Iran's actions in the region shows how and why Iran has shifted its policies to meet the latter aim. Since the revolution, Iran's leaders have faced the challenge of balancing their ideological (idealism) and geopolitical (pragmatism) approaches to foreign policy. Gradually, the Iranian leadership has come to focus on the geopolitical factor in the conduct of foreign policy; today, ideology one factor among many other sources of Iran's power, and serves the aim of preserving Iran's national security and interests...."
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Winter 2008
"Iran's Foreign Policy in Post-invasion Iraq"
Journal Article, Middle East Policy, issue 4, volume XV
By Kayhan Barzegar, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
"Many at the grassroots level of Iranian society want good, stable relations between Iran and Iraq because of their cultural-religious priorities, which include having the freedom to visit the sacred cities of Karbala and Najaf. This strong interest exists on the Iraqi side, too. In summer 2006, for instance, some 3,000 visas were issued daily by Iranian consulates in Baghdad, Basra and Najaf for Iraqi pilgrims to visit Mashhad and Qom and other sacred places inside Iran. Since the opening of borders following the removal of the Baathist regime, the Iranian government has been under pressure to preserve an adequate amount of cooperation with Iraqi authorities to secure the routes of pilgrims to the Shia areas and to provide public services. Simultaneously, the families of those who lost their lives in the Iran-Iraq War would like the government to pursue a policy towards Iraq that ensures that the victims were not killed in vain. It is worth noting that the painful memory of the war pervades Iranian society, thus affecting policy options. Trade with Iraq is also a priority. Iranian merchants and businessmen consider certain parts of Iraq, especially predominantly Shia areas such as Basra, to be ideal markets for Iranian exports. Some estimates consider the range of economic activities about $5 billion annually."
