On Friday, the Cato Institute hosted a two panels questioning current U.S. policy towards Iran, focusing on whether the Obama Administration’s definition of "diplomacy" was limited to sanctions or pressure. In the first panel, “Can Diplomacy Work?,” featured Michael Adler, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Barbara Slavin, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Alireza Nader, a senior analyst at the RAND Corporation, and Justin Logan, director ...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on U.S. foreign policy options pertaining to Iran. The speakers were the Honorable Thomas R. Pickering, former under Secretary of State for political affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, General James E. Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate at the Middle East Program Carnegie Endowment for International ...

On Tuesday, more than 80 retired military officials advised Congress against cutting the nonmilitary foreign policy budget, declaring that it is of “the utmost importance” that “civilian programs have the resources to maintain the hard-fought gains of our military.” The retired officials said in a letter that the State Department and other civilian-led programs are “particularly critical” during this time of withdrawal, as they will take on greater responsibility. The letter ...

On Wednesday, the Middle East Institute hosted a discussion on the impact of the elections on the future of Iran's nuclear program, and the outlook for the forthcoming negotiations aimed at de-escalating U.S.-Iranian tensions. The speakers were Seyed Aliakbar Mousavi, a visiting fellow at the University of Maryland and former Member of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of Iran, and Geneive Abdo, the director of the Iran Program at The ...

With Egypt in the midst of a political transition, this is a crucial time to rethink the U.S.'s relationship with Egypt according to Michele Dunne in POMED's latest policy brief. Although the events of the January 2011 revolution and the ensuing months of political transition have shown strained relations between the two nations, dissatisfaction with the relationship is nothing new to either party, thus making a recalibrated approach to Egypt ...

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council put aside its differences, agreeing on a draft resolution that demands Syria immediately implement Kofi Annan’s proposed six-point plan. The statement from the president, which carries less weight than an official resolution, gave a “veiled warning of future international action.” The Security Council statement urged the Syrian government and opposition to work in good faith with Annan towards a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis and to implement ...

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted a hearing assessing the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) budget priorities in fiscal year 2013. The witness was the Honorable Rajiv Shah, administrator to USAID. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) presided over the committee. For full event notes, continue reading below or click here for the PDF Ilena Ros-Lehtinen opened the hearing, saying that over the last year not much has changed ...

On Tuesday, Russia announced its position supporting Kofi Annan’s proposal, announcing that the documents should be revealed and that Moscow stands ready to head back to the U.N. Security Council. Additionally, France circulated an additional draft statement for the Security Council “deploring the turmoil and backing peace efforts by U.N.-Arab League Envoy Annan.” "The Security Council should support them not as an ultimatum, but as a basis for the continuing efforts ...