Tag: Israel

Essays, Publications

America’s Middle East Challenge

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The Middle East is in dire need of cooperation on issues of long-term interest to the stability and well-being of the whole region. The Arab Spring has resulted in political instability in many countries, while extremist and terrorist groups have wreaked havoc across the region. It is imperative for Middle Eastern countries to work collaboratively in order to tackle these region-wide challenges.

The United States faces lack of trust from Iran and suspicion from its Arab allies. America’s oil-centered involvement in the Middle East is becoming less strategically important as the United States moves toward becoming the leading exporter of oil and gas. As a result, the Arabs are losing their oil leverage with Washington and are resorting to suicidal strategies to destabilize the region, by funding various extremist groups, in hopes that it would compel America to stay involved.

America’s increased involvement in the Middle East is inevitable as a result of the expansion of ISIS and other terrorist groups. This heightened involvement could result in positive outcomes if it is calculated carefully. The United States should come to the realization that its military might is not capable of bringing about peace in the Middle East. As Chas W. Freeman Jr. argued in his bookAmerica’s Misadventures in the Middle East, “How do we propose to manage the contradiction between our desire to assure the stability of the Persian Gulf and the fact that our presence in it is inherently destabilizing?” However, U.S. military superiority could be applied positively and used to support regional governments to fight terrorism in the region. Washington’s efforts toward a regional cooperation system in the Persian Gulf (akin to that of the European Union) would fill the vacuum caused by an eventual U.S. departure and assuage Arab fears of a resurgent Iran. President Rouhani, in his 2014 address to the UN General Assembly, pointed out, “The right solution to this quandary comes from within the region and regionally provided solutions with international support and not from outside the region.”

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“America’s Middle East Challenge,” Cairo Review, Hossein Mousavian with Mehrdad Saberi. Published by the Cairo Review of Global Affairs, April 6 2014.

Articles, Publications

How to Fix the Syrian Mess

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The bloody conflict in Syria since early 2011—whether we call it a civil war or by any other name—has brought in its wake actual disaster with vast destruction of the country and its infrastructure and over 200,000 dead, 6.7 million internally displaced, 3.8 million refugees and 13 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Staffan de Mistura, the third in a series of United Nations envoys tasked to find a solution for the Syrian conflict, has introduced an “action plan” aimed to make 2015 the year in which movement toward a political settlement of the conflict takes place.

As things stand, and given the factors that pushed the previous efforts and initiatives, including Geneva I and II, to failure, success of the new plan proposed by UN special envoy depends on a much larger political orchestration. As I see it, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) and the five relevant regional players—Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia/ GCC and Egypt (R5)—should adopt a fresh look and approach to the Syrian crisis. Overall, agreement on the following steps could pave the way for an exit from the current deadly impasse.

There are six steps that must be taken.

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“How to Fix the Syrian Mess,” Hossein Mousavian, The National Interest, March 24, 2015

Articles, Publications

Seventeen points to know about Netanyahu

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s histrionics in the US Congress on March 3 was an implicit effort to overturn US foreign policy and goad Washington into a disastrous war with Iran. Riddled with misinformation and outright conspiracies about Iran’s nuclear programme and Iranian foreign policy, his attempt at undermining the Obama administration has thus far only served to reveal to the world how little he cares for the best interests of the US in the Middle East. “I was near tears during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said after the speech.

The New York Times said of Netanyahu on March 5: “Netanyahu has always been an abrasive and unhelpful figure. In the George H.W. Bush presidency, James Baker was so fed up with Bibi that he banned him from the State Department building.” After Netanyahu’s address to Congress, President Barack Obama also stated that “there was nothing new” presented and that the Israeli PM “didn’t offer any viable alternative” to a peaceful diplomatic settlement with Iran.

The truth is there are many benefits to a US-Iran rapprochement. As US Secretary of State John Kerry has said, Iran and the US have ‘mutual interest’ in fighting Daesh a group that is clearly the biggest threat to international peace and security today. Iran is in fact now a leading force in helping Iraq defend its territorial integrity against the onslaught by the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” terrorist group. A nuclear deal will help the US and the world powers start exploring other possibilities for cooperation with Iran such as in preventing Iraq and Syria from completely falling apart, and even in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan. And these would only be for starters. The US and the world powers should not let Netanyahu to kill this chance.

Here are 17 points to understand about Netanyahu.

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“Seventeen points to know about Netanyahu,” Hossein Mousavian, Gulf News, March 16, 2015.

Lectures

IISS Manama: Regional challenges and their immediate and long-term implications

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Comments at the 5th Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

I think the Muslim powers – like Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, like Egypt, like Iraq, like Iran – can begin to establish a collective regional Islamic package and measure to fight extremism in general. Whether we have Shia extremism or Sunni extremism, whether this is Daesh or whatever it is, this would create a first‑step trust between the regional powers. I really do not support the US interfering in Muslim countries, fighting the Muslim terrorists, or those who call themselves Muslim, because the US is not popular in the Arab world; the image of the US is not good, and this would really give more fuel to the crisis because they would feel this is America, this is Zionism invading Afghanistan, invading Iraq, and they would be able to recruit more. If we have Muslim countries’ forces collectively cooperate to fight these people who are claiming they are Muslim, we would need the US, we would need P5+1’s support and the United Nations support, not military interference.

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Comments at the 4th Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

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Comments at the 2nd Plenary Session of the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue

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Media Exposure: “Analyst urges PGCC member states to engage with Iran,” IRNA, December 7, 2014. Read More

“Regional challenges and their immediate and long-term implications,” Presentation at the 10th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue, December 5, 2014.