SANCTIONS
AP Photo
December 5, 2007
"The View from Iran"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Kaveh L. Afrasiabi and Kayhan Barzegar, Former Associate, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2010–2011; Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/international Security Program, 2007–2010
"...With the United States and Iran poised for a fourth round of dialogue on Iraq's security, and the latest IAEA report confirming Iran's steady cooperation and increasing nuclear transparency, the stage is now set for a thaw in the hitherto hostile US-Iran relations.
Both sides should heed the call by the head of IAEA, Mohammad ElBaradei, to use the intelligence report as the basis for a comprehensive dialogue geared toward normalization."
November 2007
"Energy Supply and Demand in Eurasia: Cooperation between EU and Iran"
Journal Article, China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, issue 4, volume 5
By Abbas Maleki, Associate, International Security Program
Energy diversification has emerged as one of the most important priorities for a majority of the European countries and the EU. Growing energy demand in Europe combined with a high reliance on Russia as an energy producer have led the EU to look to the Caspian Sea region for alternative energy resources, especially in natural gas. Iran has the 2nd largest natural gas reserves in the world and could assist Europe in diversifying supplies. This article argues that there is substantial potential for energy cooperation between Iran and the European countries, particularly Turkey. Increased Iranian participation in the Eurasian energy market, both as consumer and producer, could lead to other benefits including economic development and more efficient energy extraction.
(AP Photo)
October 7, 2007
"Playing Favorites on Dictators Robs U.S. of High Ground"
Op-Ed, Chicago Tribune
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is among the four most repressive countries on Earth, and President Bush is right to strengthen sanctions against the junta of aging generals who have pummeled protesting monks in their monasteries. But what about equally odious regimes with which Washington maintains cordial relations despite appalling human-rights records?
September 26, 2007
"How to Build US-Iran Relations"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Abbas Maleki, Associate, International Security Program and Kaveh L. Afrasiabi
"...Iran has not suspended its uranium enrichment program, but it has not ignored the UN Security Council resolutions on Iran either, as can be discerned in the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency citing "significant progress" in Iran-IAEA cooperation. With the United States and Iran talking in Iraq and Iran-IAEA cooperation yielding concrete results in terms of Iran's nuclear transparency, the stage is potentially set for de-escalating the US-Iran tensions, particularly if both sides adopt a long-term view and sort out the security dimension."
September 11, 2007
Six Years After 9/11
Magazine or Newspaper Article
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- This week’s sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States sees the top American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq speaking to the US Congress about American strategy in Iraq. The juxtaposition is noteworthy: Six years ago, a small band of Al-Qaeda militants attacked the United States and killed some 3000 people. Today, an army of over 160,000 American troops wages a war in Iraq that has seen tens of thousands of people killed since 2003. Neither policy makes much sense to anyone in the world, other than to those fanatics on both sides who decided to pursue these actions.
September 8, 2007
Power and Sanctions or Law and Life?
Magazine or Newspaper Article
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The United Nations should thoroughly review its optimum role in a transforming world, because its existing contradictory policies risk damaging its credibility and efficacy for years to come.
AP Images
Updated September 2007
Case Study: Blocking Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
Memorandum
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
As the conditions in Iraq deteriorate, the rise of Iran becomes more vivid. Many now foresee the rise of Shiite power across the Arab crescent. With the wind at its back, Iran’s nuclear program is on track to cross the point of no return this year.
July 10, 2007
"Teheran's War by Proxy"
Op-Ed, Human Events
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"One cannot win a war against an aggressive, expansionist adversary, simply by fighting a limited war against its proxies."
Summer 2007
"Illicit Activity and Proliferation: North Korean Smuggling Networks"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 32
Policymakers and scholars agree that North Korea’s nuclear program heightens the risk of nuclear transfer to the global black market. Althuogh the North Koreans engage in illicit activity primarily to acquire hard currency, broader economic and ideological factors may also contribute to a decision to export nuclear materials. North Korea also risks losing control over its smuggling networks as it relies more and more on nonstate criminal actors. The United States, then, must seek to develop and employ new strategies to pursue and dismantle these networks as well as offer economic incentives to the regime. In the case of North Korea, countersmuggling and counterproliferation could go hand in hand.
May/June 2007
Who Wins In Iraq?
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Vali Nasr
After nearly 25 years of wrestling with Saddam Hussein, Iran’s Shiite rulers have the war to thank for their newfound power.
