In The News

Iran Crisis – British Oil Tanker Seized: Telegraph

Harriet Alexander and Chris Graham July 21, 2019
Iran seized one British-flagged oil tanker, claiming it had violated international maritime law, and briefly detained another, in what Harriet Alexander and Chris Graham, writing for the Telegraph, called “a major escalation of tensions in the Gulf.” Oil prices are rising. The first vessel had been headed for Saudi Arabia before sailing near an Iranian island and then stopped transmitting...

Saving the Iran Nuclear Deal: Wall Street Journal

Laurence Norman July 15, 2019
Global influence is in the eyes of many beholders. Whether Iran complies with terms of the internationally negotiated nuclear arms deal could determine if Europe is the more influential global power or the United States. The challenge: Iran, anxious about the economic impact of US sanctions, has breached limits on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium since July 1. “European foreign ministers...

Turkey’s Crackdown on Academics: New York Times

Brennan Cusack July 10, 2019
Ayse Gul Altinay’s research focused on violence in Turkey and strategies for breaking the cycles. In May, the Turkish government sentenced the professor of anthropology and director of Sabanci University Gender and Women’s Studies Center of Excellence to 25 months in prison for signing a petition supporting peaceful resolution of Turkeys’ conflict with Kurds, reports the New York Times. “Of the...

Existential Threat to Erdoğan: Spiegel

Maximilian Popp July 3, 2019
The mayor-elect of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, countered authoritarian tactics and demonstrated their weakness. Turkey’s largest city elected Imamoglu, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, rejecting the defeat of the Justice and Development Party candidate and claiming election fraud, ordered a repeat of the election. Imamoglu won again by a greater margin. Erdoğan, a former mayor of...

Iran Breaches Nuclear Fuel Limit: Business Insider

Alexandra Ma July 1, 2019
Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency confirm Iranian reports that the country has exceeded a limit on its enriched uranium hexafluoride as outlined in the 2015 nuclear deal. The United States withdrew from that Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions. Iran initially abided by those limits as requested by the European Union, but announced a change of...

Ending America’s Endless War: Foreign Affairs

Bernie Sanders June 29, 2019
Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2020 Democratic candidate for the US presidential election, has long opposed US intervention in the Middle East, starting with his vote against the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In an essay for Foreign Affairs, he outlines the history of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and warns of consequences far more severe in a potential war with Iran. Syria, Iraq, Israel and the Persian...

US Isolated in Iran Crisis: The Hill

Lawrence J. Haas June 24, 2019
Amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United States, the two countries jockey for international support. The United States withdrew from an international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons development and re-imposed sanctions despite Iranian compliance. The United States has since accused Iran of sabotaging oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, dispatching more troops and military...