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Iran
Sept 30, 2009 12:17:56 GMT 10
Post by Hornblower on Sept 30, 2009 12:17:56 GMT 10
Significantly tougher sanctions have oft been touted as the best way to end Iran's nuclear ambitions. However, because of China's veto on the UNSC,it is not so straightforward to do this. Fascinating article argues that while China will try and continue to work with the US on this, at the end of the day China's interests are not neccessarily opposed to a nuclear Iran, and certainly not at any cost. www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&ref=global-homeHave a read for a great explanation of motives in IR.
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Iran
Oct 1, 2009 13:42:18 GMT 10
Post by smartarse on Oct 1, 2009 13:42:18 GMT 10
Thats some interesting analysis. I read this the other day and i thought it would make a smart model for a sanctions debate that avoids the 'China/Russia won't allow sanctions' problem. www.csmonitor.com/2009/0922/p09s01-coop.htmlA little tricky to explain in a debate, but it would be hard for opponants to nit-pick, so you'd get a better clash on the fundamental issue of whether sanctions are the best approach.
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Iran
Oct 21, 2009 19:59:33 GMT 10
Post by McGreevy on Oct 21, 2009 19:59:33 GMT 10
When reading up on some different opinions of the Iran situation, a few things came to light that seem important, that I just wanted to confirm with people.
Firstly, whilst Iran is quickly developing its technology, does it infact have nuclear weapons at this point in time? From what I have heard it does not, making the military option possible, but very difficult and very dangerous.
Secondly, one view I heard espoused was that sanctions and diplomacy must be used in tandem to produce the best changes in Iran. This is fairly straight forward, but the author then went on to say that to improve the chances of diplomacy working in this region, the US should not limit talks solely to the nuclear issue, in which it has the least leverage, and instead broaden it to include things such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran's human rights issues, where it has more leverage.
Does the US have any actual leverage over Iran? I know it can offer it things like assistance in terms of regional security, but when talking about power, how much sway does the US have?
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