Stories written by Barbara Slavin
Barbara Slavin is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and Washington correspondent for Al-Monitor.com, a new website devoted to news from and about the Middle East. The author of a 2007 book, Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation, she is a regular commentator on U.S. foreign policy and Iran on NPR, PBS and C-SPAN. A career journalist, Slavin previously served as assistant managing editor for world and national security of The Washington Times, senior diplomatic reporter for USA TODAY, Cairo correspondent for The Economist and as an editor at The New York Times Week in Review. She has covered such key foreign policy issues as the US-led war on terrorism and in Iraq, policy toward "rogue" states, the Iran-Iraq war, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. She has traveled to Iran eight times and was the first US newspaper reporter to interview Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Slavin also served as a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she wrote Bitter Friends, and as a senior fellow at the US Institute of Peace, where she researched and wrote the report Mullahs, Money and Militias: How Iran Exerts Its Influence in the Middle East. | Web

MIDEAST: U.S. “Democracy” Advisors Suddenly in Demand

For years, U.S. officials and nongovernmental organisations devoted to democracy promotion toiled in the Middle East with little expectation of success.

MIDEAST: Turkey Relishes Role as Mr. Fixit

In the course of 24 hours earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met a top envoy from Libya, dispatched a senior Turkish official to Tripoli and traveled to Bahrain and Syria, all struggling to survive the pro- democracy Arab spring.

New Bid to Break Afghanistan Stalemate

As the Barack Obama administration seeks to limit its involvement in a third Muslim conflict in Libya, efforts are intensifying to help it find a political solution to the longest U.S. war – in Afghanistan.

BAHRAIN: Saudi Intervention Likely to Bring Regional Blowback

Saudi Arabia's incursion into neighbouring Bahrain is a risky move that could further inflame domestic unrest in both countries and give a propaganda boost to Tehran's campaign to cultivate the Arab street.

US: Iranian “Terrorist” Group Courts Friends in High Places

For years now, supporters of the Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) have lobbied in vain to have the organisation taken off the U.S. State Department's terrorism list.

As Talks Stall with Iran, U.S. Steps Up Propaganda War

Egypt's revolution appears to have stiffened the spine of the Barack Obama administration when it comes to Iran.

Behind the Spin, Egypt Gives Tehran Political Heartburn

Judging from official propaganda in both Iran and much of the Arab world, the uprisings that toppled Tunisia's dictatorship and threaten Egypt's authoritarian regime are the direct descendent of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

IRAN: Istanbul Talks Prove to Be a Non-Starter

Prospects for a negotiated solution of the world's nuclear quarrel with Iran are cloudier in the aftermath of talks in Istanbul that ended without even an agreement to meet again.

Sanctions Forced Iran to Slash Bloated Energy Subsidies

Touring Iran's Arab rivals this week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded almost triumphant as she asserted that economic sanctions have helped slow Tehran's nuclear progress.

U.S. Readies New Sanctions on Iran Ahead of Talks

The Barack Obama administration is preparing a new batch of sanctions against Iran to be announced next week in advance of nuclear talks in Turkey.

Time Runs Short for Progress on Iran Nuke Talks

The first meeting between Iran and the world's major powers in more than a year ended Tuesday with little to show apart from a vague promise to meet again next month in Turkey.

U.S.: START Supporters Play Iran Card in Lame-Duck Congress

Of all the arguments the Barack Obama administration is marshalling in support of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, the one that may have the greatest resonance with Republicans is over Iran.

MIDEAST: Syria in the Catbird Seat

As the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama struggles to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Syria is well positioned to benefit no matter the outcome.

IRAN: Unrest Grows over Economic Woes

Last year's Iranian political demonstrations have given way to economic protests that could prove more worrisome for the Tehran government.

Iranian Diaspora Struggles to Find Unified Voice

Iranians should be forgiven for not coming out en masse to demonstrate on the anniversary of their disputed presidential elections.

Gaza Aid Attack Complicates New Sanctions on Iran

Israel's lethal confrontation with pro-Palestinian activists in the Mediterranean is complicating U.S. strategy toward Iran and undermining the likelihood of a solid sanctions victory at the United Nations.

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