Last week, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu pulled off either the most despicable or brilliant political manoeuvre in the nation’s 64 year history. A day after having called for new elections that many expected him to win, Bibi, as he is affectionately called, did a U-turn and formed a new coalition with the Centrist Kadima party. It became a media sensation, causing wonderment, shock and anger while raising plenty of questions. Why did the Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz become bed fellows with the man (the “liar”) he vowed to oppose in the upcoming elections? Why did Bibi and Likud change their stance on new elections a day after the announcement? Moreover, what does this deal mean for Israel? Iran? The Peace process?
Posts Tagged ‘Iranian Nuclear Program’
Israel’s Coalition: Much ado about…
Posted: May 14, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle EastTags: Iranian Nuclear Program, Israel, Kadima, Lebanon, Likud, Mahmoud Abbas, Mofaz, Netanyahu, Palestine, Politics, Preventive War
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Video: Containment: Containment: A Viable Strategy for Iran? (MEI)
Posted: April 19, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, North America, United States of AmericaTags: American Foreign Policy, Containment, Iran, Iranian Nuclear Program, Islamic Republic, Middle East, Nuclear War, United States
The Middle East Institute hosts Georgetown University professor Paul Pillar and Atlantic Council fellow Barbara Slavin on American options for dealing with Iran. Pillar expels doomsday theories of Iran being a suicidal Islamic Regime that would use nuclear weapons against Israel or any other state. He also argues that containment is preferable to war, one that could be worse than the conjectured consequences of an Iranian bomb. Both Pillar and Slavin state that the United States will be able to successfully contain a nuclear Iran as it has for the last three decades. Through patience and reassurances to its allies in the Middle East (Israel and the Gulf in particular), the United States could dissuade Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
|Guest Column| What Next for Iran?
Posted: April 16, 2012 in Guest Opinions, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, Syrian Civil WarTags: Arab Spring, IAEA, Iran, Iranian Nuclear Program, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Negotiations, P5+1, Politics, Shiite, Sunni, Syria, United Nations
By Uri Marantz
Iran. The country is without a doubt one of the most geopolitically sensitive states in the international system. It is also one of the most challenging and chimerical countries for its immediate neighbours, the region’s rising powers, the world’s great powers and the international community as a whole to fathom. Just this past weekend (April 14, 2012), the first nuclear talks between the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. – and Germany) and Iran in 15 months took place. During the past decade, subsequent rounds of these talks have led to little or no progress. The most recent talks in Istanbul have been hailed by the Americans, Europeans and Iranians as ‘constructive and useful’, although nothing of substance was actually achieved at these negotiations. If the universally positive atmosphere emanating from Istanbul lasts for another month, the real negotiations on Iranian uranium enrichment and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections will begin in earnest on May 23 in Baghdad.
Video: Trita Parsi – Iran, Israel and the United States (UCBerkeley)
Posted: April 3, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle EastTags: American Foreign Policy, Iran, Iranian Nuclear Program, Israel, Middle East, Politics
Harry Kreisler hosts Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian American Council, for a discussion on the struggle for
power in the Middle East. Drawing on the perspective of the Realist School of International Relations Theory, he focuses on the region’s dominant powers – Israel and Iran – and examines the evolution of their relations with each other and with the United States, the world’s only superpower.
Much of this content and the interesting history behind the relationship between Israel, Iran and United States can be found in Parsi’s 2007 book, The Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States.
Video: Hans Blix: The Iranian Threat (Al Jazeera English)
Posted: March 24, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle EastTags: American Middle East Policy, Iran, Iranian Nuclear Program, Israel, Nuclear Non-proliferation, Politics
Former UN Weapons Inspector talks to Al Jazeera English on the Iranian threat and cautions the International community of “another Iraq.” He states that war is not inevitable and offers some suggestions to help solve the matter.
Iranian Nuclear Issue: Risk or Reward?
Posted: March 21, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle EastTags: Hezbollah, Iran, Iranian Nuclear Program, Israel, Nuclear War, Politics, Preemption, Shiite Crescent, Syria
Throughout the past decade, we’ve seen consistent spikes in the news coverage over Iran’s nuclear program. Yes, it has been a decade since the “full extent” of Iran’s nuclear program was disclosed to the world by an exiled opposition group known as National Council of Resistance of Iran. Tens years later, the truth about Iran’s nuclear program still remains opinionated. Currently, there’s a suggestion that neoconservatives and their media machine are pushing U.S. President Barak Obama’s administration to act against Iran before it’s too late. On the other hand, Obama seems determined to stay put and ensure Israel is restrained from launching a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. What is less discussed are the political risks Iran and Israel face in pursuing what many see as their national interests. In other words, would a nuclear weapon really be beneficial for the Islamic Republic? Would the consequences of an Israeli strike improve its security and safeguard its future?
