Monthly archive : "June, 2015"

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The rebirth of Iran through diplomacy

The rebirth of Iran through diplomacy

Kourosh Ziabari - Gateway House: In the last hours of the night of April 2, a historic primary agreement over Iran’s nuclear program, known as the framework for the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action(JCPOA), was announced by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the French, British and German foreign ministers as well as representatives from China and Russia, in front of hundreds of news-thirsty journalists in the conference room of the Rolex Learning Center at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. Iran and the group of five permanent members of the UN Security Council...

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Economic Development is Crucial for Kosovo: Samuel Zbogar

Economic Development is Crucial for Kosovo: Samuel Zbogar

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence. The International Court of Justice subsequently stated that the declaration did not violate international law. Since then, the newborn nation, yearning for a prosperous economy and constructive international ties, has undergone ups and downs and received diplomatic recognition from 110 countries. Eight nations, including the United States, Britain and France, recognized Kosovo one day after its declaration of independence. However, aside from the question of recognition, Kosovo faces other issues as well. It wants to join the European Union (EU), forge stronger ties with NATO, improve its economic indicators, make progress on its human rights...

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It’s not that all Iranians chant “Death to America”

It’s not that all Iranians chant “Death to America”

Kourosh Ziabari - Your Middle East: Anti-American sentiments have been a pivotal part of the ideology that gave rise to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, toppled the U.S.-allied monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and introduced the world’s first Islamic Republic. Of course at that time, there was some good reason for feeling unhappy about the role the United States had played in Iran’s political developments; a role which the former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw once famously said had a “malign” influence over the country. In 1953, in what came to be known as the Operation Ajax, the Central Intelligence Agency and the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 staged a coup d’état against Iran’s nationalist, democratically...

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Iran and Turkey Will Find Ways to Manage Their Differences Peacefully

Iran and Turkey Will Find Ways to Manage Their Differences Peacefully

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: On the sunny spring afternoon of Monday, April 13, I got to the Istanbul Bilgi University’s central campus with a tram which took me from the Aksaray neighborhood in the Fatih District to the Kabatas quarter where the shuttles for the Santral Campus, available every 30 minutes, would pick up the students and drop them at the entry gate of the university. Istanbul Bilgi University, founded in 1996, is ranked among the top 10 institutions of higher education in Turkey. Although I arrived at my appointment with some 45-minutes delay, Prof. Ilter Turan, one of Turkey’s leading political scientists and the former rector of the Istanbul Bilgi University, received me warmly, and after a few minutes of...

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Understanding Islam: Interview with Prof. Caner K. Dagli

Understanding Islam: Interview with Prof. Caner K. Dagli

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: The debate on “Islamic fundamentalism” has turned immensely heated and intense in the West, especially as the terrorist group ISIS continues its relentless campaign of mass killing and executing non-Muslims and threatens to take the fight to the European capitals. ISIS has played a central role in creating skepticism towards Islam in the West that the religion preaches violence. It was about 4 months ago that a deadly shooting spree at the headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris claimed 12 lives, saddened millions of French people over the dramatic loss and also incited a new wave of Islamophobic attacks across Europe. Several mosques were set on fire...

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