Publications

Eurasia Security Watch: No. 257

April 19, 2012

Conflict in Kyrgyz government over Manas transit center;

Syrian refugees spilling into Turkey;

Maliki: the next rogue Middle Eastern leader?;

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan quarrel over resources

Faulty assumptions on Iran: Hearkening to regime’s apologists will only put us in greater danger

April 19, 2012 Washington Times

Has the endgame on the Iranian nuclear program finally arrived? Is a deal in the cards? A broad swath of the foreign-policy cognoscenti, including Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria, the National Interest’s Paul Pillar, The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus, Esquire’s Richard Barnett and a host of others, seems to think so. They are optimistic about the current round of negotiations between Iran and the West and confident that - even if negotiations should somehow break down - Iran will not, indeed cannot, pose a real threat to the United States.

Assad’s Success Could Lead to Alliance With Gulf States

April 18, 2012 International Business Times

Will the Assad regime's suppression of its own version of the "Arab Spring" transform Syria into an unwavering ally of Iran and spell long-term hostility between Damascus and the Gulf Arab states now financing the Syrian rebels, as many now seem to believe? Not likely. Alliances in the Middle East are always in flux, and the Syrian case is no different. In fact, the Gulf States could find significant opportunity within their current adversity with Damascus.