professorsheehan

WATCH @: Islamic State vs. Iran: Which Threat Is Bigger? / Bloomberg TV / August 13, 2014

University of Baltimore Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan and the Heritage Foundation’s Steven Bucci discuss the threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and Iran’s influence in the country live on Bloomberg Television on August 13, 2014.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s departure is a very positive development for Iraq and represents an opportunity for the creation of a more inclusive, truly representative government in Baghdad.

–Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan

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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: The Ivory Tower and the Iranian Regime | Townhall.com | Commentary

SHEEHAN: The Ivory Tower and the Iranian Regime | Townhall.com | Commentary

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In response to Nicholas Kristof’s recent column in The New York Times, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan weighs in at Townhall.com on why scholars should examine policy issues and inform the public discourse.

As Washington looks for fresh ideas on Iran policy in the lead up to the next round of nuclear discussions in March, policymakers would be wise to examine some of the sharpest thinkers on Iran and adopt policy prescriptions informed by scholarly analyses.

The unfortunate decision to investigate banality may be the characteristic that distinguishes the contemporary ivory tower from the public forum.

But not every intellectual suffers from the affliction and some have ideas that could inform policy decisions.

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UPDATE: 2/25 – See Farsi Translation

Sheehan Policy Recommendations Featured on Iranian Television

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The segment featuring Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan begins at 00.45

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SHEEHAN: Face the Facts on Iran Agreement | The Hill | Commentary

SHEEHAN: Face the Facts on Iran Agreement | The Hill | Commentary

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As world powers gather in Vienna to discuss a comprehensive agreement to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in the The Hill on what Congress can do to correct White House missteps on Iran policy.

As the White House rolls the dice on a permanent pact and embraces the failed strategy of appeasement, Congress should place a check on the administration’s unwillingness to face the facts.

A nuclear compromise with Tehran will surrender the peace, not secure it. #PDF

UPDATE: 2/25 – This article was translated into Farsi and reprinted for a global audience. The policy recommendations were also featured Iranian National Television. Details soon.

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SHEEHAN: Facing the Facts on the Iran Agreement | Townhall.com | Commentary

SHEEHAN: Facing the Facts on the Iran Agreement | Townhall.com | Commentary

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published at Townhall.com on February 11 on why Congress must pass the Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act as well as protect the intelligence capabilities of the Iranian opposition detained in Iraq.

The U.S. policy of engagement with the Iranian regime at the expense of concerns raised by key allies – including Israel and Saudi Arabia – has chilled U.S. relations with global partners and strengthened Tehran’s hand in ongoing discussions with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.

Iranian interpretations of the interim agreement have somehow preserved the domestic perks of the arrangement – including access to currency and the lifting of sanctions – while necessitating few of the actual obligations that would serve regional security interests.

Update: 2/26 – Syndicated in the Augusta Free Press

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FOX Baltimore: Iran Says Warships Headed Close to US Borders

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan Interviewed on Fox 45

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On February 10, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan was interviewed on Baltimore’s FOX 45 on the threat posed by Iranian warships dispatched to the Atlantic Ocean just one week before P5+1 nuclear negotiations are set to resume in Vienna. You can view the segment at:

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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 Published in Roll Call on Pending House Legislation

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SHEEHAN: Mandela’s Legacy Lives on in Iranian Resistance | Roll Call | Commentary

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan was published in the congressional newspaper Roll Call on January 7, 2014. He calls on Congress to take up legislation that would protect Iranian dissidents detained in Iraq at Camp Liberty. The Department of State has condemned the most recent violence directed at the group but more must be done to ensure that additional lives are not lost.

Recently, 17 members of the U.S. House of Representatives took an important step in this regard by filing H.R. 3707 “To ensure the emergency protection of Iranian dissidents living in Camp Liberty.”

The legislation calls on the U.S. to take “all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty” in accordance with international agreements, and to assist the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the timely resettlement of “Liberty” residents to safe locations outside of Iraq, including in the United States.

Passing the legislation would be a clear signal to Tehran that the U.S. is committed to living up to its prior agreements, enforcing human rights, and protecting those in harms way. But Congress should also push the White House to address the apartheid-like conditions in Iran and explain why the U.S. should compromise human rights to strike a deal with Tehran on uranium enrichment.

Sheehan Article Translated into Farsi

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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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Turn up Heat on the Iranian Regime – The Hill – Commentary

Posted in analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, chemical weapons, CIA, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, european union, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, freedom, geneva, gingrich, global, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, iran, iraq, israel, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, NCRI, negotiation, netanyahu, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, peace, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, rajavi, reagan, regime change, republican, sanctions, security studies, sheehan, state department, strike, syria, tehran, terrorism, the hill, threat, unrest, war, weapons, white house, wsj, zarif on November 15, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

SHEEHAN: Turn up Heat on the Iranian Regime in Advance of P5+1 – The Hill – Commentary

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan takes the White House to task in The Hill for promoting a policy of engagement with the Iranian regime at the expense of concerns raised by key allies – thereby chilling U.S. relations with valuable global partners – and undermining U.S. security interests.

Wendy Sherman, the administration’s trusted Iran hand, appears intent to reach an agreement at all cost. Her recent efforts to convince the U.S. Congress to back off the sanctions that forced Iran to the negotiating table in the first place were as naïve as they were ill conceived. Sanctions imposed under a provision of the 2011 Defense Authorization Act known as the Kirk-Menendez Amendment crippled Iran’s economy and facilitated the regime’s current crisis. Far from being paused, eased, or lifted, the penalties should be increased, extended and enhanced to further ensure Iranian compliance. Congress should ignore White House requests to delay further sanctions and turn up the heat on the regime by slashing oil exports and targeting the Iranian currency.

SHEEHAN: Use al-Maliki Visit to Send Iran a Clear Message – The Hill – Commentary

Use al-Maliki Visit to Send Iran a Clear Message – The Hill – Commentary

Posted in analysis, ashraf, assad, baghdad, chemical weapons, CIA, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, european union, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, freedom, gingrich, global, hostages, human rights, human security, intelligence, international relations, iran, iran policy committee, iraq, israel, killing, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, military, mossad, murder, NCRI, negotiation, nuclear, obama, paris, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, rajavi, regime change, republican, rhetoric, sanctions, security studies, sheehan, state department, strike, syria, tehran, terrorism, the hill, threat, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war, weapons, white house on October 24, 2013 by Professor Sheehan

In advance of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s visit to the U.S., Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is published in The Hill on the need for the White House to press the Iraqi leader to explain the recent massacre of Iranian refugees in northeast Iraq and signal a decisive shift in policy toward Tehran.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s November 1 visit to Washington will say as much about the United States’ Iran policy as it does about future relations with Baghdad… Analysts will be watching closely to see if Mr. Obama leverages his influence over the leader that many are calling a puppet of the Iranian regime…

…The meeting poses a dilemma for the Obama White House: Embrace the Iraqi leader and signal the Iranian regime that the U.S. will bless the unholy alliance between Tehran and Baghdad by turning a blind eye to the slaughter of Iranian dissidents; or reject the failed strategy of appeasement and engage Tehran – via Baghdad – from a position of strength.

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

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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.