Interviews

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: As the Iranian people brace for the next round of economic sanctions by the United States to be introduced in early November, debate about the unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the landmark July 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers continues in the international media. These days, a great deal of the mainstream media coverage of the Middle East goes to Iran and every new development pertaining to Iran is somehow linked by experts and pundits to the U.S. sanctions and the departure of the United States from the nuclear deal, be it the imminent suspension of British Airways and Air France flights to Tehran or the introduction of an assistance package by the European...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: The world is facing an unprecedented refugee crisis. About 68.5 million people worldwide have been forced from their homes including nearly 25.4 million refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18. Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Somalia are the major source countries of refugees and figures by the World Economic Forum show that 84% of refugees live in the developing countries. Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran and Uganda are the world’s top refugee-hosting countries and Germany is the only European country which is on the list of the top 10 host nations. A lot has been said about the wars and conflicts that produce the refugees, the ability of the international community to deal...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was one of his most controversial foreign policy decisions. As one of his campaign promises it was not unexpected, but the unilateral decertification of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has multiplied the workload of international diplomats who are working hard to salvage the accord. President Trump’s decision may originate from his hostility toward Barack Obama and his achievements, as well as Trump’s apocalyptic views toward Iran and the Muslim world. Whatever the reason, a robust international agreement has been dismantled by the US government and the long-term outcomes will be disappointing. Peter Kuznick, professor of...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Iran and the US have been at odds since the 1979 revolution. They have had no diplomatic relations since April 7, 1980. One event that marked the revolution was the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students attacked the compound and took 99 people hostage, including 66 Americans. The episode came to be known as the Iran hostage crisis and lasted 444 days. As tensions soared between the two governments, US President Jimmy Carter said he would “not yield to blackmail” and resorted to different options to rescue the hostages. Although diplomacy failed to solve the crisis in a timely fashion, the victims were released in 1981 as Ronald Reagan was being...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: A noted British university professor says Islamophobia is a serious issue on university campuses in the UK "partly due to the ways in which government policy has placed a duty on universities to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism." Peter Hopkins, Professor of Social Geography and University Dean of Social Justice at Newcastle University says Islamophobia should be condemned and eradicated from the British society even while racist incidents against the Muslims continue to take place and are condoned frequently. Prof. Hopkins who studies racism, Islamophobia and Muslim identities tells the Organisation for Defending Victims of Violence that less time should be spent on determining the terminology...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: Many journalists, academicians and foreign policy experts raised concerns about Donald Trump’s lack of political and foreign policy experience during the presidential campaign. Were their concerns justified? Perry Cammack (@perrycammack), a fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says President Trump has “a singular genius for self-promotion” and his approach to foreign policy represents his approach to “Manhattan real estate or reality television.” The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, popularly known as the Iran deal, is a multilateral accord between Iran and the European Union represented by France, Germany and the United...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: Charles Dickens, the Victorian British author is remembered even today for his novels and novellas like Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield. I had the opportunity to interview Lucinda Hawksley, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dicken. She is a distinguished member of Charles Dickens’s family and one of his few living descendants. She is an art historian, public speaker and broadcaster specializing in literature, art, history and social history from the 19th and early 20th centuries. As a volunteer speaker of the Whales & Dolphins Conservation Society, Lucinda Hawksley has travelled across the world and appeared...

Kourosh Ziabari - Centre for Journalism: Republic of Macedonia is a country in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. A multiethnic society, four official languages are spoken in Macedonia: Albanian, Turkish, Romani and Serbian. Macedonia has an open and market-based economy and is a member of the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The name of the country, however, has been a source of controversy between Macedonia and its southern neighbor Greece for quite a while. The Greeks are opposed to the use of the name of "Republic of Macedonia" by the country and international organisations, as it implies sovereignty over the...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: On May 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington will de-certify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, popularly known as the Iran deal. The withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and President Trump’s promise to impose harsh sanctions on Iran has further complicated Iran-U.S. relations, resulted in more stress on Iran’s economy and as a result, caused public discontent in Iran with the government of President Hassan Rouhani who had promised improvements in the economy and a resolution to the nuclear dispute. Retired Lt. General Arlen D. Jameson, the former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command, says the decision by President Trump to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: The humanitarian catastrophe in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has been described as the world’s most urgent refugee crisis. The roots of the ethnic conflict can be traced back to British colonial policy in what was then Burma, but it was the decision to strip the Muslim Rohingya minority of citizenship rights on the basis of their religion that laid the foundation for most recent abuses. While 135 national ethnic groups were recognized and granted certain rights, the Rohingya were effectively rendered stateless under the 1982 Citizenship Act, creating the world’s largest stateless minority. Decades of privation and humiliating restrictions culminated in violent clashes between the Arakan Rohingya...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Islamophobia has long been one of the major plagues of the Western societies. The rise of far-right in Europe, the exacerbation of global refugee crisis with the wars and conflicts that are breaking out across the Middle East and the surge of racial intolerance in the United States with the coming to power of Donald Trump make Islamophobia a concern that needs to be seriously addressed. Academics and researchers are the best people who can respond to unsettling questions about Islamophobia adequately. Farid Hafez is a distinguished Austrian political scientist and university lecturer. He is a senior fellow at the Bridge Initiative hosted by the Georgetown University and a lecturer and researcher at the...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Islamophobia is a huge source of concern in the 21st century, featuring itself in forms like anti-Muslim hate speech, intolerance in neighbourhoods, socioeconomic inequalities and policies dictated by governments, which are not conducive to public good. A distinguished American academician says as long as some version of the "war on terror" project lingers, Islamophobia continues to be a prominent problem. Todd Green, an Associate Professor of Religion at Luther College and a recognised expert on Islamophobia says some world leaders have done a good job in vocally condemning anti-Muslim discrimination, even though their record in standing by the Muslims and minorities has been mixed. Prof Green, however,...