Considerable excitement was evinced recently by media reports that the US and Iran had agreed to hold bilateral talks on Iran’s nuclear program. The media started calling it “the October surprise” by Obama to ostensibly appear statesman-like before the Presidential election in November. Denials by both Washington and Tehran of the media speculation, poured cold water on these conjectures. I was immediately reminded of a paper I had seen a few years back by the libertarian Ron Paul, in which he had argued persuasively for the United States to start negotiating seriously with Iran to normalize their relations. His advice appears not to have made much of a dent either with the Bush or Obama administrations. Some intermediaries in the late 1990s had tried to bring the Iranian and US leaders together, for instance, at the annual UN General Assembly gathering, but that laudable initiative also could not be pursued to a fruitful conclusion because of 9/11. The New York Review of Books sometime back published an interesting proposal by some American foreign policy experts, aimed at resolving the uranium enrichment issue between Iran and the Western countries to what it claimed might be mutually acceptable to both parties. However these ideas, as far as I know, were not built upon and, absent any innovative initiatives, the P5+1- Tehran, talks are at a stalemate. We know from past history that diplomacy, if it is stalled, could easily degenerate into armed conflict. As far as Iran is concerned, President Obama and his Republican rival for the Presidency, Mitt Romney, both cannot appear to be overly conciliatory, especially in the last few weeks before the Presidential election. If Obama gets re-elected, he could conceivably try to resuscitate the diplomatic path. If Romney wins the White House, he would find it far more difficult to go that route if his campaign pronouncements vis-a-vis Iran are to be believed. In any case, Romney appears to be the proponent of a muscular show of American military strength, quite reminiscent of the neo-con philosophy a decade ago, which directly or indirectly led the United States to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many foreign affairs experts and US public opinion in general has swung to the point of view that both wars were unnecessary and have seriously affected America’s political and economic standing in the world.
-
Obama and Karzai Sparring in Afghanistan
Reproduced below is my latest blog on the above subject which was published by the Huffington Post on 2/5/2014....
-
UN Conference on Syria
Attached is my blog on the above subject which was carried by the Huffington Post on 1/24/2014. The UN...
-
Turmoil in Egypt: Part II
Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson had proclaimed some time ago that “a week is a long time in...
-
P5 Plus 1 — Iran Nuclear Accord
Until the very last minute, the outcome of one of the most tortuous diplomatic negotiations of recent times —...
-
Reshuffling of Obama’s national security team
The departure of Thomas Donilon President Obama’s National Security Advisor was not a surprise as he had earlier indicated his...
-
India-China border flap
India and China have a long disputed border, which led to war between the two in 1962. India was...
-
Hassan Rouhani-President-elect of Iran
In a crowded field of eight “approved” candidates, approved that is by a vetting body called the Guardian Council,...
-
The Politics of Judicial Repression in Egypt
This is from my blog carried by the Huffington Post on 4/30/2014 According to a recent op-ed in the...