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Clarifying a Contested Concept: Regime Change from Within

Sheehan to Present at 2014 Middle East Dialogue

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Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan has been invited to deliver a talk at the 2014 Middle East Dialogue hosted by the Policy Studies Organization on February 27. Dr. Sheehan’s talk titled Clarifying a Contested Concept: Regime Change from Within will trace the evolution of the concept of regime change from within and argue that meaningful policy demands more precise articulation of the term. The conference, held at the Whittemore House in Washington, D.C. will feature scholars and policy analysts that address the event’s 2014 theme of Strategies for Change in the Middle East. Dr. Sheehan’s remarks at the 2013 Middle East Dialogue resulted in the publication of an article in the peer-reviewed journal, Digest of Middle East Studies.

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.

PSO/MED / Speaker Bios / Invitation

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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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Upcoming Sheehan Speaking Engagements

Posted in analysis, college of public affairs, contact, counterterrorism, courses, data, education, evidence-based, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, international relations, international security studies, media, pedagogy, policy, research, scholarly, security studies, sheehan, teaching, terrorism, university of baltimore on January 7, 2014 by Professor Sheehan

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Between January and April 2014, Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan will be delivering invited talks at international conferences in New Orleans, Washington DC, Toronto, and the United Kingdom. Stay tuned for details!

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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

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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 Speaking at GMU on U.S. – Iran Conflict

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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.

Sheehan Article Featured on MSNBC

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An article by Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan was featured on MSNBC in advance of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit to the White House on Nov. 1. The commentary was featured in an interview with Ambassador Marc Ginsberg, former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco., who described Maliki as part of the problem and not the solution. #Screenshot

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

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).