By Bilal Y. Saab – There is a consensus among American analysts and several current and former officials in the Obama administration including Dennis Ross that Tehran concedes only when it is under pressure. This makes sense and it applies not just to Iran but to any country, corporation, or societal actor that is in the midst of negotiations. You can say that these are the ABCs of negotiations. If you find yourself at risk of significants costs, you concede, it’s that simple. Or is it? ...
By Chen Kane – The Finnish Undersecretary of State Ambassador Jaakko Laajava, also the current Facilitator of the 2012 Middle East Conference, presented his interim report on May 8, 2012 to the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom). It was Laajava’s first official statement since he was nominated to convene the 2012 Middle East Conference. It should come as no surprise to those who heard him last month, and followed his extensive visits to the region, that he is struggling to...
The 2012 conference on a WMD-free Middle East
By Chen Kane – The 2010 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference adopted a consensus document with a call to convene a conference in 2012 on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. The conference will take place n Finland and the facilitator for convening the conference is the Finnish Undersecretary of State Jaakko Laajava. He has been very busy traveling across the region consulting with all governments about the conference agenda, desired outcome, timing, and...
Beirut hosts Middle East arms conference
By Bilal Y. Saab – According to the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star, U.N. representatives urged Middle East states to hash out their differences to control international weapons trade, as a closed-door seminar with countries across the region kicked off in Beirut this week. Everything was off the record in the meeting so we don’t know much about what happened or what was discussed. The Iranians and Syrians, in true ACRS non-participation style (ok, fine, Iran was not...
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Bruce came back to CSTPV's 20t
Bruce came back to CSTPV's 20t
Thanks for publishing in detai
The 'deal' also leaves Israel
I think that Geneva Talks pose