Day: March 2, 2014

Peace Picks March 3 –7

The weather prediction suggests a good deal of this may not happen, especially Monday and Tuesday, but here are our picks for DC events if that turns out to be a false alarm:

1. Growing Opposition to President Hassan Rouhani: Is the Honeymoon Ending?

Monday, March 3 | 9:30am – 11am

12th Floor, The Stimson Center; 1111 19th Street NW

REGISTER TO ATTEND

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seeing escalating public criticism from Iran’s conservative factions, once seemingly stifled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Will Rouhani’s presidency follow in the footsteps of the Mohammad Khatami era?

The Stimson Center and the Heinrich Boll Foundation North America invite you to join us for a discussion on the shifting internal political dynamics in Iran and how these events will shape the future of Iran’s relations with the West.

Panelists:
Mohammad Ayatollah Tabaar, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Mehdi Arabshahi, Former President of the Office for Consolidating Unity, the largest student union for democracy and human rights in Iran

Moderator:
Geneive Abdo, Fellow, Stimson’s Middle East Program Read more

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Putin has put Obama on the spot

Though events have moved quickly, it is already apparent that there is little the United States can do to get Russia to leave Crimea any time soon.  The proposals from left and right for action are nowhere near sufficient to get Vladimir Putin to reverse his successful military seizure of the province’s vital security and governance installations.  American military action is not in the cards.  While the West notes Russia’s inconsistency in violating the principle of sovereignty, Putin even claims legal justification:  the province’s prime minister asked for help, which he says is permissible under Russia’s security agreements with Kiev.

The most immediate requirement is not to push Russia out of Crimea, which may take a decade or more.   Washington lacks non-military means capable of doing it, and no one is advocating war with Russia over Ukraine.  But Moscow, successful in Crimea, may well be thinking of similar takeovers in other southern and eastern provinces with large Russian-speaking populations that voted for Viktor Yanukovich: Read more

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