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May 28, 2015

Europeans Do Heavy Lifting on Iran Nuclear Negotiations

By Barbara Slavin

As a June 30 deadline for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program approaches, casual observers of the talks might be forgiven for thinking that this is mostly a duel between U.S. and Iranian negotiators. But without the participation of the so-called E-3 – Britain, France and Germany – nuclear diplomacy with Iran would probably never […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

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May 22, 2015

Tunisia Looks to US to Secure Fragile Democracy

By Barbara Slavin

President Barack Obama hosted Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi at the White House, where they held talks. Ahead of their May 21 meeting, The Washington Post published an opinion editorial, jointly written by the two leaders. Excerpts follow. Helping Tunisia Realize its Democratic Promise Amid the turmoil that so often dominates the headlines, it can […]

North Africa

Article

May 12, 2015

Camp David Summit Can’t Address Core GCC Problems

By Barbara Slavin

White House spinmeisters were in full damage-control mode Monday after Saudi Arabia announced that King Salman would not be attending a Camp David summit expressly arranged to reassure him and other U.S. Arab allies that an impending nuclear agreement with Iran is not coming at their expense.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

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May 8, 2015

Iraqi Kurds Navigate a Cautious Path Toward Independence

By Barbara Slavin

Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq, got head-of-state treatment in Washington this week: two meetings with Vice President Joe Biden with a “drop-in” by President Barack Obama plus talks on Capitol Hill and the State Department and appearances at several Washington think tanks.

Article

May 1, 2015

Iran’s Zarif Dancing As Fast as He Can

By Barbara Slavin

EW YORK —This week, this reporter got a chance to witness two impressive performances in rather different fields. On Tuesday night, Robert Fairchild, the New York City ballet star turned Broadway phenomenon, managed to eclipse his idol Gene Kelly in a reimagining of the movie musical “An American in Paris.”

Article

May 1, 2015

Coalition Scores Victories Against Boko Haram

By Joshua Meservey and Kelsey Lilley

Bottom Line Up Front:  • On April 28 and 30 the Nigerian military rescued hundreds of female hostages from Boko Haram’s stronghold in the northern Sambisa Forest • The origins of the freed kidnap victims are unknown, but the military has announced that most of them are not the schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok in April […]

Africa Nigeria

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Apr 30, 2015

Sun Tzu Meets Muhammed Jinnah

By Harlan Ullman

The visit of China’s President Xi Jing Ping to Islamabad and the promised commitment of some $45 billion to develop a new “silk road” through Pakistan could be a stunning geopolitical as well as economic development Of course, Pakistan and China have enjoyed a long-standing relationship in part impelled by India’s role as a rival […]

Article

Apr 24, 2015

Opinion: Saudi Arabia Scales Back Yemen Bombing

By Barbara Slavin

After four weeks of pounding one of the poorest and most dysfunctional places on earth, Saudi Arabia has wisely reduced its bombing campaign in Yemen. While Saudi officials proclaimed “Operation Decisive Storm” a victory against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the campaign weakened but did not dislodge the Houthis and expanded the power of al-Qaeda in the […]

Article

Apr 17, 2015

Congress Can’t Stop Iran Sanctions Unraveling

By Barbara Slavin

For months now, Russia has been a constructive member of the international consortium negotiating with Iran, often proposing creative fixes to technical hurdles. But this week, just as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was taking up sensitive Iran-related legislation, Russia announced that it was going forward with an old contract to sell Iran an air […]

Article

Apr 16, 2015

“The Iran deal’s rare achievement”

By Nicholas Burns

WHAT SEEMS lost in the furious, partisan debate about the Iran nuclear deal is just how long it took the United States to actually get back to a negotiating table with the Iranian government — nearly 35 years. The talks have already achieved something tangible and rare: The United States and Iran are talking again, […]

Iran Middle East
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