Iran

This Week in South Asia: November 2-8

Commentary from the South Asia Center on the most relevant news from the region, and suggested “must-read” analyses from the week.

Protecting the East Coast from Iranian Missiles

By Ian Brzezinski

In the wake of the government shutdown’s interruption of fiscal 2014 budget deliberations, Congress still faces tough decisions about national defense priorities. One controversial issue that will resurface shortly is the need to protect the East Coast from the threat of Iran’s growing ballistic-missile capability. When it does so, Washington should avoid repeating what has been an unnecessarily bipolar debate […]

A Balancing Act for Iran End Game

By Nicholas Burns

While extremists in Congress were hijacking the government during the shutdown, State Department diplomats were pursuing much more productive work a world away in Geneva. With surprisingly little fanfare, American and Iranian negotiators launched long-awaited talks over Iran’s increasingly advanced nuclear program. They described their first meeting as “substantive and forward-looking.” In diplo-speak, that means […]

Syria & Sectarianism: Drivers (Part I)

By Jonathan Paris

The Arab Spring accentuated two long-standing developments in the region: political Islam and Sunni-Shia sectarianism. While the path of political Islam is less certain following Egypt’s hot summer, the rise of sectarianism, especially in Syria, continues unabated.

Why Russia Keeps Moving The Football On European Missile Defense: Politics

By Joan Johnson-Freese and Ralph Savelsberg, Breaking Defense

The Russian Foreign Ministry has continually insisted on legally binding guarantees that US missile defenses are not aimed at it and that would allow Russia access to sensitive aspects of the system.

Geneva Talks on Iran: A New Beginning?

On October 18, 2013 the Atlantic Council held a members’ conference call entitled “Geneva Talks on Iran: A New Beginning?” with R. Nicholas Burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at the Kennedy School. The call was moderated by Atlantic Council President and CEO Fred Kempe. Download the Transcript

Iran Nuclear Talks in Geneva Get Down to Details

By Barbara Slavin

From the European venue to the power point presentation in English, this week’s nuclear negotiations with Iran showed a new seriousness that bodes well for a future agreement, even if it does not guarantee one. Iranian officials from US-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on down spoke in English, dispensing with time-consuming translations, and outlined […]

Iran Nuclear Talks Return to Geneva with Better Prospects

By Barbara Slavin

There’s an element of déjà vu about next week’s planned talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program.   Four years ago, the United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement on a confidence building measure that would have sent out most of Iran’s stockpile of lightly enriched uranium in return for fuel for a reactor […]