May 20, 2010

The Return of Iranian Diplomacy

Joe Klein, Time

AP Photo

"Diplomacy emerged victorious," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared on May 17, after his country and Turkey signed its sketchy nuclear deal with Iran. That was something of a reach. But, if not victorious, diplomacy was taking a rare turn on center stage — especially after the U.S. announced, the very next day, that it had completed the far more tricky feat of getting the Russians and Chinese to sign on to a new round of sanctions against Iran. Neither of these deals will prevent Iran from building itself a nuclear weapon, if that's what it desires — indeed, the Turkey-Brazil deal would allow Iran to enrich uranium at much higher levels of purity than currently allowed by international law. But both, as Vice President Biden might say, are big ... deals....

Read Full Article ››

TAGGED: Turkey, Brazil, Iran

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

May 18, 2012
The Rise of Latin America
Jaime Daremblum, PJ Media
Over the past month, Latin America has seen two high-profile nationalizations of Spanish-owned companies. In Argentina, Cristina Kirchner announced the expropriation of a majority stake in her country’s biggest oil firm, YPF.... more ››
May 11, 2012
Brazil Is Making an Example of Chevron
Barrett & Millard, BusinessWeek
Chevron got caught up in Brazilian political crosscurrents having little in particular to do with the U.S. company but revealing much about the delicate state of Brazil's burgeoning oil industry. more ››
May 15, 2012
Building a New Future for Turkey
Albright & Hadley, The Great Debate
The crisis in Syria and the confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program have highlighted the renewed importance of one of the oldest and most enduring relationships of the United States: its alliance with Turkey. The... more ››
May 18, 2012
Turkey in the Syrian Hot Seat
Crown Center for Middle East Studies
As the ongoing humanitarian disaster unfolds in Syria, Turkey is increasingly placed in the international hot seat. With strong strategic and economic ties to Syria, the government in Ankara is in a key position to affect Syria's... more ››
May 14, 2012
Can Islamists Be Liberals?
Mustafa Akyol, New York Times
For those concerned about extremism in the Middle East, this is good news. It was the exclusion and suppression of Islamists by secular tyrants that originally bred extremism. (Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s leading ideologue,... more ››