Iran

Latest from USIP on Iran

February 14, 2013 | Publication
USIP, ROA Hold Forum on “Training for War and Fragile Peace”

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Reserve Officers Association held a joint program on Capitol Hill on February 12 to explore new education and training approaches to help U.S. troops better prepare for complex missions in fragile and conflict states.
February 7, 2013 | Publication
Iranian Supreme Leader Declares He’s “Not a Diplomat” in Rejecting U.S. Talks on Twitter

Khamenei has become an avid user of Twitter and posted more than 30 comments on the topic of U.S.-Iran talks. USIP’s Iran Primer has the highlights.
February 5, 2013 | Publication
Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Egypt Unlikely to Herald New Alliance With Iran

The Iranian president arrived in Cairo today, the latest in a series of exchanges that suggest mending ties. An analysis on USIP’s Iran Primer website explains why the relationship still has its limits.
January 31, 2013 | Publication
Who is the Feared Head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards?

Iran was a hot topic at the Senate Armed Services Committee’s confirmation hearing for Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense. And Iran’s military capabilities will be a key consideration in U.S. strategy during the second Obama term. USIP’s Iran Primer has a fascinating profile of the general who heads the most feared element of the Islamic Republic’s military.

USIP conducts ongoing research and policy analysis on major developments in Iran through the Iran Study Group and "The Iran Primer." USIP experts provide regular briefings for Congressional staffers and officials at the Department of State.

USIP Goals

To increase the breadth and depth of knowledge about developments in Iran among the foreign policy community.
To elucidate domestic and regional challenges in the Persian Gulf and identify non-violent political reform strategies.
To assess opportunities for and obstacles against pursuing a negotiated solution to the conflict with Iran.

The Iran Study Group

The Iran Study Group, co-chaired by USIP Senior Advisor Daniel Brumberg and Farideh Farhi, brings together a dozen scholars who are engaged in original research and analysis on the complex internal dynamics and developments in Iran, with a focus on factors and institutions that shape public policy making, government-opposition relations, and the evolution of Iran's judiciary. The Study Group papers will be completed in summer 2012 and USIP will host a series of public events to set out the findings. | Study Group Bios

USIP and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars will host six distinguished Iran analysts on June 27, 2012. Drawn from USIP’s Iran Study Group these scholars will consider a diverse range of political struggles now unfolding in Iran. To find out more about and to register for this public event, visit Change and Continuity in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
On November 18, 2011, USIP hosted What's Parliament Got to do With It? Elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Q+A with USIP Expert Daniel Brumberg.
USIP's January 2012 Prevention Newsletter examined the tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

The Iran Primer

"The Iran Primer" (December 2010), a new book published by USIP Press and edited by Senior Fellow Robin Wright, offers a comprehensive but concise overview of Iran’s politics, economy, military, foreign policy, and nuclear program. It chronicles U.S.-Iran relations under six American presidents and probes five options for dealing with Iran. Organized thematically, this book provides top-level briefings by fifty experts on Iran (both Iranian and Western authors) as well as a handful of rising talent. | Read more

The Iran Primer
USIP Press | December 2010
The Iran Primer website
Q+A with USIP Expert Robin Wright.

Highlights

Engagement, Coercion, and Iran’s Nuclear Challenge (2010), a co-publication of the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Stimson Center, is a culmination of recommendations from a distinguished group of more than 40 scholars and policy analysts, who met regularly during the past year to evaluate how the United States should proceed in its strategy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. | Read the full report

Read the executive summary
Read "Strategic Engagement with Iran," co-authored by Daniel Brumberg, acting director of USIP's Muslim World Initiative.
Read "Faint Progress in Geneva?" by Daniel Brumberg.

Grant-Funded Projects

U.S.- Iran Relations: An Analytic Compendium of U.S. Policies, Laws, and Regulations
Through a USIP funded grant, Kenneth Katzman of the Atlantic Council compiled a compendium of U.S. policies, laws and regulations on Iran as well as relevant U.N. resolutions focusing particularly on the post 9/11 period.
Iran's Heavenly Chorus: The Political Elite of a Theocratic State
With USIP funding, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, associate professor of political science at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is compiling a database with detailed information on nearly 2,000 members of Iran’s political elite to analyze important social and political dynamics in post-revolutionary Iran.

Online Courses

Certificate Course in Conflict Analysis

Academics and professionals in the field of conflict management face extraordinary challenges when dealing with the three major phases of conflict: rebuilding in the aftermath, stopping conflict in progress, and preventing conflict before it begins.

USIP offers a free, online introductory course on the complexities of conflict analysis, illustrating analytical tools used by practitioners in the field. The conflict in Kosovo and the Rwandan genocide will be used as two case studies.

Learn more and take this course online.

The course is also offered in Farsi and Arabic.