Middle East Strategy at Harvard

From MESH Admin A journalist has described President Obama’s approach to foreign policy as “applying the same tools to international diplomacy that he once used as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side.” In a new number of Middle East Papers, Mark N. Katz explains why these tools are likely to be ineffective in influencing […]

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From Raymond Tanter On November 27, 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted a strong resolution that expressed “serious concern that Iran has constructed an enrichment facility at Qom [Iran] in breach of its obligation to suspend all enrichment related activities.” This censure of Tehran was preceded by a November 16 report that the […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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