Archive for the kurd Category

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan | U.S. House of Representatives | 5 Nov 2015

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On November 5, 2015, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs, spoke in the U.S. Congress alongside prominent U.S. officials. Excerpts from Sheehan’s remarks are available above and additional details are available here. See also recent media appearances here.

Dr. Sheehan is the Director of the graduate programs in Negotiations & Conflict Management and Global Affairs & Human Security in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.

For additional research or media related updates or to learn more about Dr. Sheehan, follow him on Twitter @ProfSheehan or link to his research profiles.

Social Media: @ProfSheehan / @PublicAffairsUB / #Ubalt

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SHEEHAN: Reject the Nuclear Deal in Favor of Regime Change from Within | The Hill | Op-Ed

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On July 30, 2015, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, shared his concerns vis-à-vis the P5+1 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran in the  congressional newspaper The Hill.

With a majority of Americans viewing the proposal to lift sanctions on the Iranian regime in exchange for the promise of limits on its nuclear program negatively, the Obama administration is encountering tough questions on Capitol Hill. Congress next needs to decide how to proceed with an accord they had no hand in drafting. #PDF

Dr. Sheehan is the Director of the graduate programs in Negotiations and Conflict Management and Global Affairs and Human Security in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.

For additional research or media related updates or to learn more about Dr. Sheehan, follow him on Twitter @ProfSheehan or link to his research profiles.

UPDATE: Shared 3,000+ Times in 24 Hours. Follow Dr. Sheehan on Twitter @ProfSheehan.

And stay tuned for additional updates next week.

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2015 Annual Conference for Democracy in Iran

Posted in 9-11, advisory board, analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, bipartisan, briefing, brussels, camp liberty, CIA, civil unrest, clinton, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, delisting, democracy, diplomacy, dissident, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, education, european union, evidence-based, farsi, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, Fox, freedom, fundamentalism, geneva, gingrich, global, haider al-abadi, hostages, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism and Non-Proliferation, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, interview, iran, iraq, irgc, ISIS, israel, Ivan Sascha Sheehan, James Woolsey, kerry, kurd, Louis Freeh, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, mousavi, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, netanyahu, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, PMOI, policy, political science, politics, preemptive, Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, protest, qum, rajavi, regime change, regime change from within, research, rouhani, Rudy Giuliani, sanctions, scholarly, sectarian conflict, security studies, senate, senate foreign relations committee, sheehan, shiite, social science, state department, sunni, syria, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, the hill, threat, Tom Ridge, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war, weapons, white house, zarif with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2015 by Professor Sheehan

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Louis Freeh, Tom Ridge, Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Frances Townsend, Michael Mukasey

In June 2015 Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, traveled to Paris as part of a distinguished research delegation examining the Iranian opposition in the context of the ongoing P5+1 nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime.

A guest of the organizing committee, Dr. Sheehan met with a series of elected officials while at the meeting to discuss U.S.-Iran policy and his research on regime change.

The annual conference – which featured crowds estimated at 100,000 – is the largest annual gathering of the democratic Iranian opposition in exile. The June event featured remarks by leaders from more than fifty countries, a bipartisan delegation of U.S. policymakers, and prominent academics from around the world. The ongoing nuclear negotiations between the P5+1, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and the deteriorating situation in neighboring Iraq were discussed.

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan is the Director of the graduate programs in Negotiations & Conflict Management and Global Affairs & Human Security in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.

For additional research or media related updates or to learn more about Dr. Sheehan, follow him on Twitter @ProfSheehan or link to his research profiles.

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SHEEHAN: Balancing Ends, Ways, and Means: The Case for Reviving Support for ‘Regime Change from Within’ in Iran | The Journal on Terrorism and Security Analysis | Syracuse University | Spring 2015 | 10th Edition

Posted in 9-11, afghanistan, analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, bioterrorism, brussels, camp liberty, chemical weapons, CIA, civil unrest, clinton, congress, council on foreign relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, debate, delisting, democracy, deterrence, diplomacy, dissident, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, european union, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, freedom, fundamentalism, geneva, global, haider al-abadi, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, iran, iraq, irgc, ISIS, israel, Ivan Sascha Sheehan, kerry, kurd, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, mousavi, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, netanyahu, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, PMOI, policy, political science, politics, preemptive, Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, protest, qum, rajavi, regime change, regime change from within, research, rouhani, sanctions, security studies, senate foreign relations committee, sheehan, shiite, state department, strike, sunni, syria, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, threat, u.s. foundation for liberty, unrest, war, weapons, white house, yemen, zakaria, zarif with tags , , on March 7, 2015 by Professor Sheehan

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SHEEHAN: Balancing Ends, Ways, and Means: The Case for Reviving Support for “Regime Change from Within” in Iran | The Journal on Terrorism and Security Analysis | Syracuse University | Spring 2015 | 10th Edition

As a March 31 deadline looms and world powers scramble to negotiate over Iran’s nuclear program – and on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings to a joint session of Congress this week – Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has published his latest paper titled Balancing Ends, Ways, and Means: The Case for Reviving Support for ‘Regime Change from Within’ in Iran in The Journal on Terrorism and Security Analysis (Syracuse University). In the paper he argues that “the U.S. needs to abandon the idea that pressure on Iran in the form of support for “regime change from within” will only derail talks. As Kenneth Pollack has pointed out, Iran does not moderate when the pressure is off but when it is high.

Excerpt: The regime’s expanding use of proxies to destabilize its neighbors is another matter of urgent concern. Iran still provides small arms shipments and training to the Taliban in Afghanistan. In addition, and despite its pledge to support Iraq’s stabilization, it gives regular guidance and training to Shia militants in Iraq. It has also deployed several hundred military specialists, including senior Quds Force commanders to Syria and is believed to have spent billions of dollars to support the Assad regime as it continues its brutal crackdown on the Syrian people, a crackdown that has resulted in the deaths of more than 70,000 civilians. Additionally, Iran has been sending weapons to secessionist movements to foment dissent and destabilize Yemen. These activities too are unlikely to stop in the presence of a nuclear deal, if one occurs. As Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, indicated as recently as November 2013, Iran is determined on “challenging the influence of America in the region and extending its own influence”and it does not appear to be inclined to change how it pursues its influence “one iota.” 

Further, to support these activities and defend against potential fallout, Iran has intensified a brutal crackdown on its own citizens. While the regime’s record on human rights has always been poor, its repression of ordinary Iranians reached new heights in the wake of the disputed elections of 2009. Protestors were arrested en masse, tortured, raped and killed in prison. Today, as many as 500 Iranian dissidents, including minority rights and women’s activists, are still behind bars. Leading opposition figures such as Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard have now been held under house arrest for three years without charges or trial, and “despite President Rouhani’s numerous promises to respect people’s rights following his June 2013 electoral victory,” serious rights abuses continue. One of the most alarming trends is the surge in executions. Iran is now ranked number one, above China, in executions per capita. According to Ahmed Shaheed, Iran’s UN special rapporteur for human rights, 176 people were put to death in January, February, and early March of 2014 alone. Several were executed in public and many sources believe the numbers are much higher. According to other reports, including the Human Rights Documentation Center, more than 500 people have been executed since Rouhani took office. These trends, coupled with the regime’s record of arbitrary detention and unfair trials, discrimination against minorities, mistreatment of political prisoners and restrictions on freedom of expression, led the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to deliver a sharp rebuke to Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, as recently as March 2014. The problem is that such abuses not only affect individuals and communities. In “a world of complex interdependencies and trans-border activities,” they also have “spillover effects.” In particular they can increase the flow of refugees with destabilizing effects in neighboring countries. In addition, as Tim Dunne points out they “diminish the constraining capacity of key norms” and in the process give a “green light” to other states to engage in similar repression in blatant violation of international standards of behavior.

Access a full PDF of the newly published article here.

For additional research or media related updates or to learn more, follow Dr. Sheehan on Twitter @ProfSheehan.

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

Posted in analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, camp liberty, CIA, civil unrest, clinton, college of public affairs, congress, council on foreign relations, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, data, debate, delisting, democracy, deterrence, digest of middle east studies, diplomacy, dissident, DOMES, education, european union, evidence-based, farsi, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, framing, freedom, fundamentalism, geneva, global, haider al-abadi, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, international studies association, iran, iran policy committee, iraq, irgc, ISA, ISIS, israel, kerry, kurd, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, middle east dialogue, military, mossad, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, netanyahu, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, PMOI, policy, policy studies organization, politics, preemptive, prof. ali ansari, prof. raymond tanter, protest, qum, quoted, rajavi, regime change, regime change from within, research, rouhani, sanctions, scholarly, sectarian conflict, security studies, senate, senate foreign relations committee, sheehan, shiite, social science, state department, strike, sunni, syria, tanter, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, the hill, think-tank, threat, turkey, u.s. foundation for liberty, university of baltimore, unrest, war, weapons, white house, wocmes, zarif with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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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

Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES); Copyright © Wiley / Policy Studies Organization; Fall 2014; Vol. 23, Issue 2; Pgs. 385-403

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 to Speak at International Studies Association Conferences in 2014 & 2015

Posted in afghanistan, analysis, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, bioterrorism, camp liberty, chemical weapons, CIA, civil unrest, clinton, college of public affairs, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, debate, delisting, democracy, deterrence, digest of middle east studies, diplomacy, dissident, DOMES, education, european union, evidence-based, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, freedom, fundamentalism, global, haider al-abadi, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, international studies association, iran, iraq, ISA, ISIS, israel, kerry, kurd, maliki, media, MEK, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, mousavi, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, New Orleans, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, rajavi, regime change, research, rouhani, sanctions, scholarly, sectarian conflict, security studies, sheehan, shiite, social science, state department, strike, sunni, syria, tanter, teaching, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, threat, turkey, u.s. foundation for liberty, university of baltimore, unrest, war, warships, weapons, white house, zarif with tags , , on September 20, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to speak at several international meetings organized by the International Studies Association in 2014 and 2015. In addition to delivering papers, Dr. Sheehan has also been asked to serve as a chair and discussant for panels on a range of topics related to his research. Panel I / Panel II / Panel III

2015 International Studies Association 56th Annual Convention
Global IR & Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for Int’l Studies
New Orleans, Louisiana / #PDF
February 18th – 21st, 2015

  • International Studies Association’s 56th Annual Convention, Global IR and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies. “What is “Regime Change from Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran.” At Panel on “Vying for regional supremacy in the Middle East: Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey,” New Orleans, Louisiana. February 18-21, 2015.
  • Chair, International Studies Association’s 56th Annual Convention, Global IR and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies. At Panel on “Networks, violence and non-state actors,” New Orleans, Louisiana. February 18-21, 2015.
  • Discussant, International Studies Association’s 56th Annual Convention, Global IR and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies. At Panel on “Effective Counterterrorism Strategies: Causes, Connections, and Innovations,” New Orleans, Louisiana. February 18-21, 2015.

2014 International Studies Association Northeast Annual Conference
Concept & Conceptualization in International Relations
Baltimore, Maryland / #PDF
November 7th – 8th, 2014

  • International Studies Association (Northeast Regional Meeting), At Panel on Conflict and Healing. “Untangling the Concept of Regime Change from Within,” Baltimore, MD, November 7-8, 2014.
  • Chair/ Discussant, International Studies Association (Northeast Regional Meeting), At Panel on Terrorism, September 15, 2014, Baltimore, MD, November 7-8, 2014.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

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SHEEHAN: Iran is the Real Middle East Threat | The Hill | Commentary

Posted in analysis, ankara, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, bioterrorism, bipartisan, bloomberg, BloombergTV, brussels, camp liberty, chemical weapons, CIA, civil unrest, clinton, college of public affairs, congress, counterterrorism, covert, crimes against humanity, delisting, democracy, deterrence, diplomacy, dissident, european union, farsi, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, freedom, fundamentalism, geneva, global, haider al-abadi, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, interview, iran, iraq, irgc, ISIS, israel, kerry, killing, kurd, maliki, media, MEK, metu, MI6, middle east, military, mossad, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, netanyahu, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, peace, PMOI, policy, politics, preemptive, protest, putin, qum, quoted, rajavi, regime change, republican, research, rouhani, sanctions, scholarly, sectarian conflict, security studies, senate, senate foreign relations committee, sheehan, shiite, state department, strike, sunni, syria, tanter, teaching, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, the hill, threat, turkey, u.s. foundation for liberty, ukraine, uncategorized, university of baltimore, unrest, war, weapons, white house, wocmes, zarif with tags , , , , , on August 25, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

Press Release -- International Affairs Professor: U.S. Must Keep an Eye on Iran

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SHEEHAN: Iran is the Real Middle East Threat | The Hill | Commentary

While presenting at the World Congress of Middle East Studies in Turkey on August 19, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan published an article in the congressional newspaper The Hill on Iraq, Iran, ISIS and the growing unrest on the Iraqi street. In the article, he questioned whether White House officials have a plan to counter the larger threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“…U.S. policy on Iran must ensure significant consequence for continued Iranian interference in Iraq. The failure to act against Assad by enforcing the red line in Syria or push back on Putin’s adventures in Ukraine diminished U.S. credibility and squandered valuable influence. But Congress can correct these missteps by insisting that the White House lean in on Iran by giving the ayatollahs a new problem to keep them busy.

Since Tehran fears internal threats more than external ones, U.S. legislators should embrace a policy of regime change from within via Iran’s organized opposition.

Obama’s declaration that there is no military solution to Iraq’s troubles and that a legitimate Iraqi government must be established is an accurate diagnosis insofar as it goes. But the intoxication resulting from a combination of U.S. impotence, Iranian interference, and Iraqi frustration will only lead to continued regional instability.

Solving the Iraq puzzle requires that U.S. officials double down on the real threat in the Middle East and increase the prospect of collapse in Tehran.” #PDF

You can learn more about Dr. Sheehan’s recent media appearances in a University of Baltimore press release.

Please also stay tuned for forthcoming publications in fall 2014 on topics related to regime change in Iran and suicide terrorism.

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