This semester, some SPP students are benefiting from an invaluable opportunity to learn about the complex relationship between Iran and the West, and to discuss and debate their nuclear dispute with former diplomats from Iran and the United States. They are enrolled in “Iran and the West: Crisis Policymaking in Practice.” The course, led by Visiting Professor Jon Greenwald, a former senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer and current Vice President at the International Crisis Group, gives its participants practical insight into how both governments and a major non-governmental organization seek to find ways to resolve potential conflict.
In a recent session, students engaged in a video conference with Ambassador Hossein Mousavian, an Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs who is a former high-ranking diplomat and government official in Iran and retains close ties to his homeland’s president and foreign minister. Outlining the development of its nuclear capabilities since the 1970s, Ambassador Mousavian explained Iran’s position at the negotiating table. “We have many opportunities to hear the Western point of view in negotiations,” Professor Greenwald said. “Guest speakers like Ambassador Mousavian give us an opportunity to hear another point of view.”
“Professor Greenwald’s walk through Iran’s history broadened my understanding of the nuclear dilemma there,” commented Pasqualino Okello (MPA ’15) when reflecting on the course. “In particular, the session with Ambassador Mousavian gave me deeper insight into the ongoing nuclear negotiation process."
In an earlier session, Ambassador James Dobbins, the former long-time special U.S. representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, described his experiences negotiating with Iran. In subsequent weeks, the students will have the opportunity to hear and question Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst of the International Crisis Group, and retired U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering.
A November 24 deadline is approaching for negotiation in Vienna of a comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia, the UK and the U.S., plus Germany). Ambassador Mousavian and Professor Greenwald agreed that prospects for a settlement are better than they have ever been. “Both sides actually want this,” concluded Professor Greenwald, “which isn’t always the case in a negotiation.” At the same time, the remaining differences are significant and will require the parties to make difficult political choices and compromises if the opportunity is not to be lost for an agreement that could also open possibilities for cooperation on other Middle East problems, including the rise of the extremist “Islamic State” movement.