Over the past centuries, Western diplomats have continually projected pragmatism onto their ideological opponents. They have often assumed that our enemies are driven by the same sort of national interest calculations that motivate most regimes. They have assumed that economic … Continue reading
Despite statements to the contrary, the Obama administration appears determined to achieve an agreement with Iran and seems willing to breach its repeated undertakings that it would never countenance Iran becoming a nuclear power. With the mullahs’ increased intransigence as … Continue reading
They call themselves the Army of God (Jund Allah) and claim to be fighting to unite mankind under the banner of Islam as “the only true faith.” To achieve that goal, they believe they should revive the Islamic Caliphate, the … Continue reading
Radical, theologically based hatred of Judaism, Zionism, and the state of Israel is part of the core ideological beliefs of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet U.S. policymakers all too rarely consider Iran’s endemic anti-Semitism. In fact, … Continue reading
“I think today is the day in which I witnessed a feature of nuclear war in the Middle East in the future someday that will be part of our children’s heritage,” stated US Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois in November … Continue reading
When he felt the noose around his neck, Balal must have thought he was about to take his last breath. Minutes earlier, crowds had watched as guards pushed him towards the gallows for what was meant to be yet another … Continue reading
As the Obama administration prepares for its next negotiating session with Iranian representatives in picturesque Vienna over Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, three Americans are languishing in Iranian custody. Sadly, the U.S. has made no assertive effort to secure the … Continue reading
When US Secretary of State John Kerry said last month, in a Nowruz interview with the Voice of America’s Persian service, that he and President Barack Obama were “grateful” that Iran’s leader had issued a fatwa banning nuclear weapons, he … Continue reading
Lecture by Matthias Küntzel, delivered on behalf of ISGAP at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambrigde, MA. [1] The topic of my talk “Iranian antisemitism” is controversial in two respects. Some will say that this is a topic of the … Continue reading
There has never been such a thing as the “Arab Spring”; a true Arab spring can only develop when the Arabs start developing civil societies. But until now the value systems of ethnicity and tribalism, which fit organically within the … Continue reading
