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Tag Archives: iran
Believing Our Own BS
In business, a company gets into trouble when it starts believing its own BS. The same is true for a nation, except there “bankruptcy” can mean war, possibly nuclear. To prevent needless wars and ultimately to save the planet, we … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hellman, iran, korea, north korea, nuclear war, nuclear weapons, stanford, war and peace
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Solving “a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma”
UPDATE MAY 2017: FOR MORE, SURPRISING INFORMATION LIKE THIS, DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF OF MY NEW BOOK AND SEE THE SECTION ON RUSSIA. Most people have heard Winston Churchill’s description of Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged churchill, critical thinking, enigma, iran, martin hellman, mystery, north korea, nuclear risk, riddle, russia, stanford, war and peace
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Pentagon Wrongly Accuses Iran?
Today’s New York Times has an article which reinforces Iran’s image as a “rogue nation.” The article describes its seizure of a cargo ship, how “Iranian forces fired shots across the ship’s bow,” and ends with a former State Department official calling Iran’s actions “surprisingly incendiary.” However, KGS NightWatch, a highly respected private intelligence newsletter, has a very different take: Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged critical thinking, iran, martin hellman, nuclear risk, stanford, war and peace
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US Hawks Unwittingly Aid Iranian Hardliners
While it is the opposite of their intent, hawks in the US who suggest attacking Iran provide ammunition to Iran’s hardliners, including those who want to develop nuclear weapons. The most recent example to come to my attention is a radio interview in which Senator Tom Cotton argued that “if military action were required … it would [not involve boots on the ground, only] several days of air and naval bombing.” Continue reading
Rouhani Cabinet Has More US PhD’s Than Obama’s!
Yesterday’s post, Empowering the Moderates in Iran, attracted a comment from SocialInform, which mentioned another blog’s post, Iran’s president has more cabinet members with Ph.D. degrees from U.S. universities than Barack Obama does. Be sure to check out the picture, showing who they are and where they studied. The post mentioned a December 2013 article in The Atlantic which gave more details and is summarized below my signature line. Continue reading
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Tagged critical thinking, iran, martin hellman, needless wars, nuclear risk, Rouhani, stanford, war and peace
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Empowering the Moderates in Iran
Today’s New York Times had a long OpEd by David Brooks that argued it is naive to negotiate with Iran. Brooks warns that, “It could be that Iranian leaders are as apocalyptically motivated, paranoid and dogmatically anti-American as their pronouncements suggest they are.” There certainly are “apocalyptically motivated, paranoid and dogmatically anti-American” individuals within the Iranian power structure. But no nation is a monolith, and Iran is no exception. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ali Yunesi, critical thinking, David Brooks, human rights, iran, martin hellman, Pearl Harbor, Rouhani, stanford, war and peace, Yamamoto
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Foreign Policy Lessons Applied to Iran
Harvard Professor of International Relations Stephen M. Walt has an excellent article at Foreign Policy, entitled “The Top 5 Foreign Policy Lessons of the Past 20 Years.” I’ve included some short excerpts after my signature line, and encourage you to read … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged critical thinking, iran, martin hellman, nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons, Stephen Walt, war and peace
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Significant Progress on Reducing Iran’s Uranium Stockpile
With all the bad news coming out of the Ukraine, it’s nice to report significant progress on rolling back Iran’s nuclear program. For the first time in a year, that nation’s stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has shrunk to the point that it can no longer be further enriched to make a weapon. While cautious optimism is in order, that is really good news. Here are some key excerpts from a February 26 article covering this development (emphasis added): Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged enrichment, iaea, iran, martin hellman, nuclear risk, nuclear weapons, progress, stanford, uranium
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Avoiding Needless Wars, Part 10: Iran
The interim agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear program has been praised by some as a diplomatic breakthrough and condemned by others as a prelude to nuclear disaster. A full appraisal must wait until we see what the follow-on agreements, if any, look like. In the meantime, here’s my take: Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged critical thinking, iran, martin hellman, nuclear agreement, nuclear risk, nuclear weapons, Rouhani, stanford, war and peace
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French Arms Sales and Iran
Dr. Yousaf Butt has an extremely insightful post on Reuters, which points out that “France’s torpedoing of the agreement [to relax sanctions in return for concessions by Iran] appears less related to genuine nuclear proliferation concerns than with trying to curry favor with anti-Iranian countries — like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – who commission and buy expensive French military, satellite and nuclear hardware.” The post goes on to note: Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged arms sales, france, iran, martin hellman, nuclear weapons, stanford, Yousaf Butt
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Defusing the Nuclear Threat 