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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 Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan on August 25, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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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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Sheehan Presenting at 2014 World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies

Posted in analysis, ankara, arak, ashraf, assad, baghdad, ballistic missiles, brussels, chemical weapons, CIA, clinton, college of public affairs, conflict resolution, congress, courses, covert, crimes against humanity, debate, delisting, democracy, digest of middle east studies, diplomacy, dissident, DOMES, education, european union, evidence-based, fordow, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, global, hostages, human rights, human security, IAEA, intelligence, international relations, international security studies, iran, iraq, kerry, maliki, media, MEK, metu, MI6, middle east, middle east dialogue, military, mossad, natanz, NCRI, negotiation, nuclear, obama, P5+1, paris, PMOI, policy, policy studies organization, politics, protest, qum, rajavi, regime change, research, rhetoric, sanctions, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, social science, state department, syria, tanter, tehran, terror tagging, terrorism, threat, turkey, united kingdom, university of baltimore, unrest, war, weapons, wocmes, zarif on June 19, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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2014 World Congress of Middle East Studies / Strategies for Change in the Middle East: Clarifying the Contested Concept of Regime Change from Within / Panel on Democracy and Reform in Iran from a Historical Perspective / August 18-22, 2014 / Middle East Technical University (METU)

Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to Ankara, Turkey to present at the 2014 World Congress of Middle East Studies (WOCMES) between August 18-22, 2014. The symposium will be held at Middle East Technical University (METU), one of Turkey’s leading universities. Dr. Sheehan is scheduled to present a paper titled Strategies for Change in the Middle East: Clarifying the Contested Concept of Regime Change from Within.

Presentation Abstract: The term “regime change from within” has become increasingly popular in opposition and policy discourse, especially in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has also begun entering the academic literature. But what does it mean? Despite its increasing use “regime change from within” is rarely defined and scant scholarly attention to date has been paid to defining it. This is problematic since, as an “umbrella concept,” the term can be stretched to include a wide variety of discrepant processes. In fact, “regime change from within” has been used as a holder for democracy promotion efforts within a country that start both inside and outside a country, as well as indigenous efforts that exclude outside support, to highlight the need for radical change, and more vaguely to call for “continuous” change or reform. This paper argues that coherent strategic policy demands better articulation of the meaning of the term. As a first step, the paper traces the evolution of use of the term “regime change from within,” tries to unpack its components, and develops a preliminary framework that partitions the concept into ends (vision) and means (strategy) to assess its utility for policy.

Stay tuned for two forthcoming articles by Dr. Sheehan:

SHEEHAN: What is “Regime Change from Within?” Unpacking the Concept in the Context of Iran | Digest of Middle East Studies | Fall 2014

SHEEHAN: Balancing Ends, Ways, and Means: The Case for Reviving Support for “Regime Change from Within” in Iran | Under Review

More on Dr. Sheehan’s research can be found at the below links.

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