Middle East Strategy at Harvard

From Mark N. Katz
After months of seemingly fruitless effort, the Obama administration suddenly appears to have made progress both on improving Russian-American relations and on resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. After the Obama administration announced that it would not implement the Bush administration’s plan to deploy ballistic missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic [...]

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From Raymond Tanter
President Obama continues to seek direct talks with Tehran in face of its suppression of Iranian oppositionists. But now is not the time to engage Tehran, given its violent suppression of the Iranian people and the American troop pullback from Iraqi cities.
If President Obama extends a warm hand toward the clerical-military rulers of [...]

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From MESH Admin
The latest contribution to Middle East Papers is by Robert O. Freedman, who blogs about Israeli affairs at MESH. As Iran’s nuclear drive continues unimpeded, and the Obama administration pursues a policy of “engagement,” Israel approaches a moment of decision. Freedman explains why diplomacy and sanctions are unlikely to succeed, and considers plausible [...]

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From Matthew Levitt
There are no foolproof metrics by which to measure the impact of sanctions, whether related to proliferation, terrorism or other issues. On that discreet point the recent GAO report on the impact of Iran sanctions gets it right, and its recommendation that more be done to assess the impact of sanctions is [...]

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From Jacqueline Newmyer
The Chinese national oil company Sinopec has signed a contract to develop Iran’s Yadavaran oil field, according to articles in today’s Financial Times and International Herald Tribune. From Iran’s point of view, the deal is a triumph. It exposes the inability of the United States to build a global coalition to impose economic [...]

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From Matthew Levitt
Conventional wisdom, if one reads the daily papers and the unnamed European officials quoted therein, is that a third UN Security Resolution targeting Iran is now highly unlikely in wake of the release of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran’s nuclear intentions and capabilities. The assessment opened with the zinger that Tehran [...]

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