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SHEEHAN: What Is “Regime Change From Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran | Digest of Middle East Studies | Fall 2014 | Vol. 23, Issue 2

SHEEHAN: What Is “Regime Change From Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran | Digest of Middle East Studies | Oct 14

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in the fall 2014 issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies, a peer-reviewed journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Policy Studies Organization. Dr. Sheehan’s latest study — What Is “Regime Change From Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran — clarifies the contested concept of regime change from within via Tehran’s organized opposition and makes contributions to the concept’s formation to increase its policy relevance and classificatory significance.

Abstract: The use of the phrase “regime change from within” has surged in recent years in media, policy, and opposition discourse, especially in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran. But what does “regime change from within” actually mean? Is it just a script to encourage the aspirations of a people, or can it be defined with more specificity? This article argues that to be of value as a concept and the basis for articulate policy, “regime change from within” needs to be better defined. To bring greater clarity to the term, the article tries to unpack the concept by disaggregating it into three analytically separable problem components: the “regime,” “change,” and “from within.” Drawing on the case of Iran, I argue that although most of the current debate around the concept is on the “from within” component, the definitional choices that need more discussion are the “regime” and “change” aspects of the phrase.

Excerpt | What Is “Regime Change From Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran | Digest of Middle East Studies | F.14 | Vol. 23, Issue 2 –

[The concept of] ‘regime change from within’ has been employed for an array of very disparate processes — as a holder for democracy promotion efforts from outside a country as well as indigenous efforts that exclude outside intervention, to highlight the need for radical change and more vaguely to call for continuous reform. But to be of value as a concept and the basis for articulate policy, a term needs to have some degree of specificity of meaning, some shared consensus. Otherwise, it just becomes a proverbial “you know it when you see it” concept that is difficult to distinguish from other types of political phenomena.

To address this gap and bring greater clarity to the concept, this article looks at some of the definitional choices that need to be addressed to come to a consensus on the meaning of “regime change from within.” Using the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I show how different decisions about what constitutes “regime change from within” could lead to very different conceptualizations in empirical cases…

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Sheehan Published in New Book on Middle East

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New Directions in the Middle East / Edited by Mohammed M. Aman and Mary Jo Aman / Westphalia Press / ISBN/EAN13: 194147201X; 9781941472019 / 16 Jun 2014

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in a new book titled New Directions in the Middle East. The book presents articles based on papers delivered at the annual Middle East Dialogue held in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) and the Policy Studies Organization (PSO), and at the Conference of the Association for Middle Eastern Public Policy and Administration (AMEPPA) held in Ifrane, Morocco. The authors suggest much needed and even radical reforms amidst a series of conflicts that include the standoff between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the role and impact of social media as empowered by technology, and citizens’ demands for political, economic, and social change. Those interested in crisis management and conflict resolution will find this a must read. The contributors represent an unusually wide variety of political and religious views and include a number who enjoy considerable standing in the Middle East.

“This exceptional work, composed of two volumes, ‘Middle East: Conflicts & Reforms’ and ‘New Directions in the Middle East’ is a magnum opus. In this book, edited by Mohammed M. Aman and Mary Jo Aman, the reader is introduced to a comprehensive and integrated erudite work addressed by a number of distinguished scholars from different disciplines dealing with the Middle East and North Africa, a most sensitive region of the world. The book identifies significant academic and public policy approaches as well as socio-economic, cultural, and political paradigms that bind together such timely topics as democracy, Islam, Islamism, sectarianism, secularism, globalism, modernity, Arab Spring, social justice, social media, leadership, women’s rights, and peace. The book offers a unique and compelling assessment of the future of the Middle East. Objectively written and eloquently presented, this book will enhance the scholarship of the Middle East and assist in the understanding the ability of political systems, government or state and non-government or civil society, in handling and managing current challenges facing the region.”

el-Sayed el-Aswad, Ph.D.
Prof. of Anthropology and Chair of Department of Sociology
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
United Arab Emirates University

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Sheehan Invited to Present at 2014 Political Studies Association Annual Conference

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The 64th Political Studies Association Annual Conference / Rebels & Radicals / April 14 – 16, 2014 / The Midland Hotel, Manchester, United Kingdom

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to present at the 64th Political Studies Association Annual Conference in Manchester, England between April 14-16, 2014. Dr. Sheehan will be discussing his research on the efforts of an Iranian opposition movement to challenge their terror label and shift the public discourse on the Iranian regime in the U.S. and the E.U. The panel – Social Media and Politics of Protest – will feature scholars from around the world. Related research undertaken by Dr. Sheehan has been presented at recent international conferences including the International Studies Association (Toronto) and the Middle East Dialogue/ Policy Studies Organization (Washington, DC). #AY 13-14 Updates

The Political Studies Association exists to enhance the study of politics. Founded in 1950, PSA is the leading Association in the field in the United Kingdom, with an international membership including academics in political science & current affairs, theorists & practitioners, policymakers & researchers.

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SHEEHAN: Conflict Transformation as Counterinsurgency | Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice | March 2014

SHEEHAN: Conflict Transformation as Counterinsurgency | Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice | March 2014

Posted in 9-11, afghanistan, analysis, baghdad, college of public affairs, conflict resolution, conflict transformation, congress, council on foreign relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, courses, data, databases, democracy, diplomacy, education, evidence-based, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, global, human rights, human security, international relations, international security studies, international studies association, iraq, ISA, media, middle east, militarization, military, obama, peace, peace and conflict studies, peace review, peacebuilding, pedagogy, petraeus, policy, politics, research, scholarly, securitization, security studies, sheehan, social science, soldier, stability operations, state department, teaching, terrorism, transformation of war, university of baltimore, war on March 17, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in the March 2014 edition of Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice. Dr. Sheehan’s latest study — Conflict Transformation as Counterinsurgency — is an empirical examination of the increasing usage of conflict transformation concepts in the context of counterinsurgency doctrine. Peace Review is a peer-reviewed journal published by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC/ Routledge that addresses current issues and controversies that underlie the promotion of a more peaceful world.

Excerpt | Conflict Transformation as Counterinsurgency | Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice | March 2014 –

…By October of 2008, Colonel Patrick Kelleher, in a report submitted to the Joint Military Operations Department at the Naval War College, had proposed that conflict transformation be embraced wholesale by the U.S. government as the primary framework and a “paradigm” for “Security, Stability, Transition and Reconstruction Operations (SSTR)” in what was now being called the “Long War” against insurgency. Borrowing from Lederach the importance of implementing a process to achieve “sustainable results” and from other influential work by Miall, Ramsbotham, and Woodhouse, he addressed the need to achieve transformation at five levels: “context transformation,” “structural transformation,” “actor transformation,” “issue transformation,” and “personal and group transformation.” But at each level, although he used the language of conflict transformation (paying attention to “basic human needs” and “empowering civil society”), he cast its intent in clearly utilitarian and prescriptive terms, such as to “win the peace,” “to establish a new domestic order,” and “to further U.S. objectives.”

Retrieve in #PDF Format – SHEEHAN: Conflict Transformation as Counterinsurgency | Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice | March 2014

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Sheehan to Present at 2014 International Studies Association Annual Conference

Posted in analysis, CIA, college of public affairs, counterterrorism, courses, data, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, education, evidence-based, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, freedom, global, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, international studies association, iran, ISA, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, NCRI, PMOI, policy, regime change, research, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, state department, teaching, terrorism, toronto, university of baltimore on March 17, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

International Studies Association’s 55th Annual Convention / Spaces and Places: Geopolitics in an Era of Globalization / March 26th – 29th, 2014, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to present in Toronto at the 2014 International Studies Association conference. Dr. Sheehan is presenting on a panel titled Terrorism: Tactics and Recruitment (International Security Studies Section). He is also chairing two panels Counterterrorism Strategies: Sources and Effectiveness (Foreign Policy Analysis Section) and Non-State Actors: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Death Squads (International Security Studies Section), as well as serving as a discussant.

The International Studies Association (ISA) has been the premier organization for connecting scholars and practitioners in fields of international studies since 1959… ISA was founded in 1959 to promote research and education in international affairs. With well over six thousand members in North America and around the world, ISA is the most respected and widely known scholarly association in this field. ISA cooperates with 57 international studies organizations in over 30 countries, is a member of the International Social Science Council, and enjoys nongovernmental consultative status with the United Nations.

Panel #1 / Panel #2 / Panel #3

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SHEEHAN: Stiffen the Penalties on Iranian Non-Compliance | The Hill | Commentary

SHEEHAN: Stiffen the Penalties on Iranian Non-Compliance | The Hill | Commentary

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in the congressional newspaper The Hill on January 20 on the merits of the U.S. Senate enacting bipartisan legislation to address shortcomings in White House Iran policy.

The president’s first-term foreign policy pragmatism has regrettably given way to a global passivity that has increased instability in the Middle East.

Syria and Iraq are ablaze with bloody civil wars, Tehran is facilitating al Qaeda in Iraq’s foothold, and Shiite domination of political rivals has gone unchallenged.

Obama’s rhetorical goal of peacefully terminating Iran’s nuclear weapons program is admirable but negotiations without mechanisms to ensure verification are a fool’s endeavor and bargaining without extracting meaningful concessions is a rookie mistake.

Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Ph.D.

The writer is director of the Negotiations and Conflict Management and Global Affairs and Human Security graduate programs in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore. #Image1 / #Image2 / #Image3

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Sheehan to Speak at 2014 Southern Political Science Association Conference

Posted in analysis, APSA, college of public affairs, counterterrorism, courses, data, databases, education, evidence-based, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, global, international relations, international security studies, mapping, media, middle east, peace, pedagogy, research, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, SPSA, teaching, terrorism, university of baltimore on January 7, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan was invited to present in New Orleans at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association between January 9–11, 2014. Dr. Sheehan presented on a panel titled Terrorism and its Consequences where he discussed the results of a paper he published in the journal Perspectives on Terrorism, an empirical study that involved a systematic analysis of contemporary terrorism courses at 106 top-ranked universities and colleges in the United States.

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SHEEHAN: Mandela’s Legacy Lives on in Iranian Resistance – Townhall.com – Commentary

Posted in analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, chemical weapons, CIA, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, freedom, geneva, global, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, iran, iraq, israel, kerry, maliki, mandela, media, MEK, MI6, military, murder, NCRI, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, peace, PMOI, policy, politics, protest, rajavi, regime change, sanctions, sheehan, state department, strike, syria, tehran, terrorism, the hill, threat, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war, weapons, white house on December 10, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

SHEEHAN: Mandela’s Legacy Lives on in Iranian Resistance – Townhall.com – Commentary

As the international community commemorates Human Rights Day and world leaders gather to mourn the loss of former South African President Nelson Mandela, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan takes to Townhall.com to contend that Mandela’s commitment to freedom and human rights lives on in the Iranian opposition.

UPDATE: 12/13 – Syndicated @ The Hill

Speaking from the White House briefing room shortly after Mandela’s passing, President Obama remembered his fellow Nobel Peace Prize recipient as a “a man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.” Mandela’s principles – like those of the Iranian opposition – were forged in the crucible of injustice, exclusion, imprisonment, and exile. Like the Iranian opposition, he challenged the terror tag used to delegitimize his country’s quest for freedom. And like the Iranian opposition he rejected overtures that failed to address non-negotiable issues of injustice, asymmetry, and human rights. His tireless commitment to peace and justice inspired both hopes and fears but the long road to freedom he charted provides the contemporary architecture that inspires democratic movements seeking regime change from within.

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Sheehan Speaking at GMU on U.S. – Iran Conflict

Posted in analysis, ashraf, assad, baghdad, CIA, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, courses, covert, crimes against humanity, data, delisting, democracy, deterrence, diplomacy, dissident, DOMES, education, european union, evidence-based, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, global, gmu, hostages, human rights, human security, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, iran, iraq, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, NCRI, negotiation, nuclear, obama, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, regime change, research, S-CAR, sanctions, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, state department, strike, syria, teaching, tehran, terrorism, threat, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war, weapons, white house on November 15, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

U.S. – Iran Conflict: Beyond the Current Discourse / School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution / Center for the Study of Gender & Conflict/ George Mason University

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan will participate in a conference on U.S.-Iran policy at George Mason University on November 23. Also speaking at the event will be:

Dr. Walid Phares, Adviser to Anti-Terrorism Caucus in U.S. House of Representatives and Co‐Secretary General of Transatlantic Euro-American Caucus Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism
Dr. Donna Hughes, Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies at the University of Rhode Island
Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Director of Graduate Programs in Negotiations and Conflict Management and Global Affairs and Human Security at the University of Baltimore
Dr. Ramesh Sepehrrad, Scholar and Practitioner at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University

Conflict Management in the Iranian Context: Diplomatic Engagement vs. Democratic Change from Within

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan

Presentation Abstract: Washington policymakers concerned with the Iranian regime’s human rights violations, proxy violence, and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction have grown accustomed to the false dichotomy of prolonged negotiations and tactical military strikes. Such framing treats the Iranian regime as a fixture of the Middle East landscape and forecloses any potential for democratic change from within. This discussion will challenge conventional assumptions about conflict management in the Iranian context by exploring the unintended consequences of the U.S. policy of engagement as well as the military option. The discussion will also explore the prospect of regime change from within via the organized Iranian opposition.

The Washington D.C. Summit on Cross Continental Cooperation 2013 / “Future Prospects in Enhancing Continental Cooperation to Secure Political, Economic, and Social Progress”

Sheehan to Deliver Keynote Address at Summit on Cross Continental Cooperation

Posted in analysis, college of public affairs, democracy, diplomacy, education, european union, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, global, human rights, human security, international relations, keynote, media, policy, politics, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, state department on October 31, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to deliver a keynote address at the The Washington D.C. Summit on Cross Continental Cooperation. The Summit, held between November 4-7, will address themes related to “Future Prospects in Enhancing Cross Continental Cooperation to Secure Political, Economic, and Social Progress.”

Issues to be examined at the Summit include:

The Promotion of Democracy & Human Rights
The UN Security Council & International Law
The Middle East Conflicts
International Trade & Global Economic Prosperity
Intercultural Relations to Strengthen International Relations

The Summit in Washington, D.C. is part of a larger series of meetings in Berlin, Skopje, Addis Ababa, Brussels, Moscow, and Beijing between September 2013 – March 2014 that address the topic of Unlocking Potential: Uniting the World’s Leading Powers.

Speakers and delegates during the conferences will include, among others, heads of state and leading politicians, chief diplomats, leading governmental officials, senior academics, renowned authors, journalists, and celebrated artists.

The Summit is operated under the Leadership of: The Hon. Bertie Ahern (Former Prime Minister of Ireland) and The Hon. Franco Frattini (Former Foreign Minister of Italy).

Time for Scholars to Examine Iranian Opposition – UPI.com – Commentary

Posted in analysis, briefing, CIA, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, debate, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, freedom, gingrich, global, human rights, human security, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, iran, iraq, israel, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, NCRI, negotiation, nuclear, obama, paris, peace, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, rajavi, regime change, republican, sanctions, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, state department, strike, syria, terrorism, threat, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war on October 18, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

SHEEHAN: Time for Scholars to Examine Iranian Opposition – UPI.com – Commentary

With the latest round of P5+1 nuclear negotiations in Geneva concluded, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published through United Press International on the need for the academic community to consider the wisdom of existing Iran policy in light of recent violence directed at the Iranian opposition detained in Iraq.

Tehran’s negotiating style, which relies on the cyclical use of threat and accommodation, has frustrated the West and served the regime’s ultimate interest – buying time for nuclear armament… Attention to these matters in scholarly circles is needed to ensure that the false dichotomy of prolonged negotiations and tactical military strikes is rejected and other tools for averting an Iranian nuclear crisis considered…

…The slaughter of Iranian dissidents comes at a challenging time for the Obama White House. Condemning the act of Iraqi aggression, carried out on behalf of Iran, could jeopardize sensitive backroom negotiations on the nuclear issue and the policy of appeasement that the administration seems inclined to pursue. It also raises questions as to the legality of providing military assistance to Iraqi forces in view of the Leahy law and Arms Export Control Act.

Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) / Wiley-Blackwell / Policy Studies Organization / Online ISSN: 1949-3606 / Fall 2013, Vol. 22, Issue 2

Sheehan Study on Iranian Opposition Published in Digest of Middle East Studies

Posted in analysis, APSA, CIA, clinton, college of public affairs, congress, council on foreign relations, counterterrorism, courses, covert, crimes against humanity, data, databases, debate, delisting, democracy, deterrence, digest of middle east studies, diplomacy, dissident, DOMES, education, european union, evidence-based, faculty fellow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, freedom, global, human rights, human security, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, international studies association, iran, iran policy committee, iraq, ISA, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, middle east dialogue, military, NCRI, negotiation, nuclear, obama, paris, peace, PMOI, policy, policy studies organization, politics, preemptive, protest, rajavi, regime change, research, rhetoric, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, state department, syria, teaching, terrorism, think-tank, threat, toronto, u.s. foundation for liberty, university of baltimore, unrest, war on October 11, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

Challenging a Terrorist Tag in the Media: Framing the Politics of Resistance and an Iranian Opposition Group – Digest of Middle East Studies – Fall 2013 – Vol. 22, Issue 2

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in the latest edition of the Digest of Middle East Studies, a peer reviewed journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Policy Studies Organization. The journal is edited by Middle East scholar Professor Mohammed M. Aman of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Study Abstract:

Scholars have shown that media framing has a powerful effect on citizen perception and policy debates. Research has provided less insight into the ability of marginalized actors to promote their preferred frames in the media in a dynamic political context. The efforts of an exiled Iranian opposition group to get its name removed from official terror lists in the US, UK and EU provides a valuable platform to examine this problem. Using content analysis, I explore how the group promoted its frames in the opinion sections of major world news publications over nine years (2003–2012). I then examine the extent to which journalists aligned to its frames, as opposed to rival official frames, over time in the larger arena of news. The results support research showing that by nurturing small opportunities, marginalized political actors can expand media capacity and influence, but these effects are mediated at least in part by critical or focusing events that make rival frames less salient. The study sheds light on the complex relationship between activists, the government and the media. It has implications for the ability of marginalized political actors to get their frames into public discourse. It also has implications for terror tagging and media coverage of other controversial issues.