Summary: Iran's protests begin what might be the next transformative event in the turbulent history of the Middle East, perhaps ending its four decades-long attempt to roll back the clock of history. An expert in the area, Ellen Wald, explains what's happening and why. "In place of ideology, today’s Iranian protests simply demand change" By … Continue reading Has another revolution begun in Iran? Ellen Wald explains.
Summary: Iran's leaders led it to a draw with Iraq, withstood four decades of sanctions, Israeli assassination of their nuclear scientists, and the collapse of oil prices after 2008. Now Stratfor describes the their greatest challenge: protests by their own people. "The Voices of Discontent in Iran Crank Up the Volume, to a Point" From … Continue reading Stratfor: Iran’s leaders face their greatest challenge
Summary: Here Stratfor looks at the long-rumored tacit alliance between Saudi Arabia and Israel -- against Iran. It has slowly grown for years, and has already had great force on the region. Combined with its third member, the United States, they can reshape the Middle East. Or at least try to do so. In the … Continue reading Stratfor looks at the strange Saudi – Israel alliance
Summary: Trump apparently intends to scuttle the nuclear arms control deal with Iran. Here an expert explains that the reasons he gives are wrong and that the consequences will be ugly for both us and for them. For more information see the previous posts in this series, listed at the end. Iranian students with pictures … Continue reading Jessica Mathews: why scuttling the Iran deal is MAD
Summary: As Trump prepares to wreck the deal with Iran, let's remember our first engagement with Iran -- when we helped overthrow their democracy. We have forgotten about this; they have not. Remembering is the first step to learning. Excerpt from "A Prize from Fairyland" By Andrew Bacevich. London Review of Books, 2 November 2017. Review … Continue reading Vital but lost history: how we overthrew Iran’s democracy
