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Open Think Tank Articles
Victoria Naselskaya: Creating a framework to distinguish between freedom of expression and hate speech is one of the most challenging tasks lawmakers face. Since, “theoretically, the expression of anti-Semitic or racist speech may also fall into the scope of this basic freedom.”
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Editorial Team: Amid chaos in the streets of Tehran, uncertainty remains as to the legitimacy of the election results and the appropriate response by Western countries. Please weigh in on the situation in our poll.
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Sanam Vakil: Tehran’s factional disputes are rooted in the very character of the Iranian regime. They ensnare even its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But this can also mean that these figures’ political resilience in face of criticism can be underestimated.
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Charles Kupchan and Ray Takeyh: Rather than continuing to pursue strategies which isolate and attempt to contain Iran, the US needs to follow the lead of its Arab Allies, practice diplomacy, and encourage regional integration.
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Tony Karon: The West should not be asking whether Tehran will build nuclear weapons in the future, but rather how the regime can be persuaded that it doesn’t need them.
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Global Must Read Articles
The Iranian assassination plot makes sense when viewed through the lens of domestic political struggles. ++ Competing factions in the Islamic Republic have always put their interests ahead of national interests and been willing to ally with foreign powers if it suited them. ++ The assassination plot was likely intentionally designed to fail by elements that want to forestall any openings to the
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Three times during September’s UN General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made an offer to stop weapons-grade uranium enrichment in exchange for access to specialized fuel for its research reactor. ++ President Obama should move quickly to take Iran up on their offer. ++ Though this will not solve the problem of a nuclear Iran, President Obama should ask himself the same
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As the world watches to see how the political crisis in Iran will play out, its neighbors in the have been silent on the matter. ++ “From the prism of Arab Gulf interests, there is no need to pick a side in this fight, especially when it is unclear who will win and whether it will make a difference.” ++ Arab states need to be more pro-active in shaping a stable outcome for Iran and its subsequent
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Washington’s containment policy towards Iran is based on outdated Cold War logic. ++ The doctrine of mutually assured destruction does not work as even the most ardent hawks have doubts about US resolve to obliterate Iran in case of a nuclear attack. ++ Although many question whether Ahmadinejad would use a nuclear weapon, “no-one knows whose finger is on Iran’s nuclear trigger.” ++ Relying on
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Ahmadinejad and Khamenei made a major misjudgement in assuming they would succeed in suppressing their people, if they would beat down hard enough. ++ The green movement has only become stronger over the past six months, with protesters even stamping on photos of the supreme leader. ++ Now it is up to Obama and western governments to start paying more attention to Iran’s green movement - whose
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Although Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tries to rest the blame of the post-election domestic unrest on foreign powers, those protesting are not directing their chants at outsiders but at their own government. ++ Iran’s youth disillusionment with the regime can no longer be denied, with voices calling for political and social reform becoming louder. ++ Ahmadinjead and his coterie of hardliners are aware
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The Obama administration needs to balance its approach towards Iran, by taking up its moral responsibilities. ++ Whilst the West has been placing the nuclear issue above all other concerns, Tehran has been establishing an “infrastructure for repression.” ++ Ahmadinejad only sporadically agrees to discuss the nuclear issue, to shift the attention from his regimes’ human rights abuses. ++ The US
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Despite Iran’s development towards an Islamic military dictatorship, the political and civil countermovement gains ground. ++ As long as gas imports rise and oil profits are not passed down to the population protests will continue. ++ Iran’s countermovement involves the top of its political elite. ++ “Despite torture and execution… the leaders of the opposition Karrubi
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Despite controlling some of the most extensive oil resources worldwide, Iran is heading towards an economic crisis. ++ In order to use its oil reserves, the Islamic Republic needs new technologies for oil production and further processing. ++ “This is Iran’s Achilles’ tendon.” ++ Ahmadinejad has maneuvered the country into political alienation and can no longer count on foreign investment and
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The current demeanor of both, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lead to war in 2010. ++ Although the leaders aim at different goals, “they are united in their apocalyptic religious visions.” ++ The probable failure of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations must result in more sanctions against Iran. ++ The international community should prepare for
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As the casualties from the protests in Iran begin to mount, critical voices have accused US President Barack Obama of being too soft and indifferent towards Tehran. ++ In spite of his tone getting tougher in regards to the escalating violence on Tehran’s streets, “Obama keeps avoiding open confrontation with Iran’s potentates.” ++ Tehran has a tendency to use any US statements against protesters.
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Returned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has actually staged a creeping, silent coup, wresting control of Iran from the clerics and installing his military cohorts in their place. ++ Supreme Leader Khamenei shows strong support for the regime because he and the President - a former soldier - are dependent one each other to retain power. ++ Even the events after the election result seem
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The protests in Teheran following the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are the broadest since the 1979 revolution and include disaffected members of the revolutionary elite. ++ The leadership faces a crisis of authority. ++ The arrest of 110 reformist politicians has given “further credence to suggestions that more is afoot than simple election manipulation,” and that the
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Iranian religious leaders have suppressed efforts by any moderates to gain political power - culling all but four of the original 475 Presidential candidates for the elections. ++ President Ahmadinejad is favored to retain office, meaning social change in Iran is unlikely, even though “the majority of Iranians do not desire to live in a country that is regarded as an international pariah.” ++ But
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It is silly to think that Mr Ahmadinejad is not aware of the enormity of reprisals to which he would be exposed should he attack Israel. ++ Thus, it is by no means excludable that the sole reason behind Iran’s insistence to continue its nuclear program is to be regarded as an equal partner. ++ After all, several countries such as France or Israel went through the same logic. ++ Yet, reproducing
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The upcoming Iranian election is a critical one: the big question is whether the new president will seek to normalize relations with the West. ++ The former reformist President Khatami disappointed reform aspirations and the current president is criticized for his economic policy but his popularity is thriving. ++ America should avoid aggressive confrontation. ++ “Given that Ahmadinejad
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Aside from the mystical fluke that Barack Obama’s name fulfils a Shiite Muslim prophesy of the “End of Times,” his proposed talks with Iran are also seen by many there “as a sign that the US is ready to admit defeat.” ++ Khomeinist officials prefer Obama especially because Biden supported their revolution and has voted against sanctioning Iran. ++ Obama’s
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Russian President Medvedev continues the wave of anti-US invective of his predecessor. ++ After 9/11, the US failed to spread democracy around the world, choosing to “consolidate its global domination” instead. ++ Europe should intensify its relations with Russia to “unite the whole Euro-Atlantic region.” ++ The US suffers from a “very dangerous disease” called
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On Israel’s 60th anniversary and the Islamic revolution’s 30th, both countries are actually more similar than one may think. ++ Israel fears a loss of power from shifting demographics, and similarly Iranian conservatives fear losing power to supporters of former president Mohammad Khatami. ++ Both countries also feel isolated: Israel, a Jewish state in an Arab region, and Iran, a Shiite state
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The US’s current “insistence on zero enrichment of uranium” in Iran is unreasonable. ++ The US needs to encourage Iran to abandon its national enrichment activities in favor of a multilateral program based in Iran. ++ While there would be many risks, such a program would deter Iranian proliferation, help Iran further its nuclear power agenda, and ensure greater transparency regarding its nuclear
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