Iran

Featured Publications & Tools

At USIP, Baker Calls for American 'Determination' on Mideast Peace
Though there will be no breakthroughs on Middle East peace over the coming American election year, U.S. leaders will need to summon the “political will and determination” to again take up the vexing quest for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement when political conditions in the region allow, former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, told a conference at USIP on November 2, 2011.
Infighting Marks Lead Up to Iranian Elections
Next year’s parliamentary elections in Iran have intensified infighting among its conservative elites amid moves by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader to tighten control of the political system, a panel of Iran specialists concluded at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on Nov. 18.
The Coming Turkish-Iranian Competition In Iraq
This report reviews the growing competition between Turkey and Iran for influence in Iraq as the U.S. troop withdrawal proceeds. In doing so, it finds an alignment of interests between Baghdad, Ankara, and Washington, D.C., in a strong and stable Iraq fueled by increased hydrocarbon production. Where possible, the United States should therefore encourage Turkish and Iraqi cooperation and economic integration as a key part of its post-2011 strategy for Iraq and the region. This analysis is based on the author’s experiences in Iraq and reviews of Turkish and Iranian press and foreign policy writing.
Engagement, Coercion, and Iran’s Nuclear Challenge
Facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Stimson Center, "Engagement, Coercion, and Iran's Nuclear Challenge" is the culmination of recommendations from a distinguished group of more than 40 scholars and policy analysts, who met regularly over the past year to evaluate how the U.S. should proceed in its strategy with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Latest from USIP on Iran

January 19, 2012 | Publication
The Arab Awakening and its Aftermath: How to Shape the Path Ahead

USIP's Steven Heydemann moderates a discussion about the Arab Awakening with the Institute's Stephen Hadley and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Marwan Muasher.
January 6, 2012 | Publication
Global Change, Peacebuilding and USIP

USIP leaders explain the effect that events around the world and here at home will have on the U.S., and the contributions the Institute can and does make during a time of tremendous challenge – and opportunity.
January 4, 2012 | Publication
Media and Peacebuilding: Trends in 2011 and Looking Ahead to 2012

Sheldon Himelfarb, the director of USIP’s Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding and the Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding, discusses trends of 2011 and looks ahead to what’s in store for the new year regarding conflict and new media technology.
January 3, 2012 | Publication
USIP Prevention Newsletter - January 2012

Read about USIP’s on-the-ground and region-specific work aimed at helping prevent conflict in the Middle East, South and Northeast Asia.

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 by late spring 2012 and USIP will host a series of public events to set out the findings. | Study Group Bios

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
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.