Home › Ploughshares Blog

Ploughshares Blog: Diplomacy

New Talks with Iran
The United States, along with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany (P5+1), are set to resume negotiations with Iran regarding its nuclear program on February 26 in Kazakhstan. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Rebecca Remy on February 7, 2013
Diplomacy, Arms Control Association, Daryl Kimball, Grantee, Greg Thielmann, Kelsey Davenport, Military Option, Nuclear Weapons, Partners, Tom Collina, Iran
Attack on Pakistani Air Base Sparks Nuclear Concerns
On the radar: 2-hour firefight at base storing nukes; Understanding Iran NIEs; Consensus on diplomacy; Rothkopf says Israeli not bluffing; Uncertainty in Iran strike outcomes; Japan missile defense upgrade; Discrepancy in IAEA Iran report; and Richie Enrichment’s World of Adventure!!!   Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted on August 16, 2012
Misplaced Priorities: $31 Billion Per Year on Strategic Nuclear Forces
  On the radar: Misplaced priorities; What nuclear weapons cost; Thinking through the military option; No Parchin agreement; Mousavian Memoir; The nuclear weapons lobby; CMRR’s uncertain fate; Nuclear security in Jordan; and UFO or ICBM?   Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted on June 11, 2012
Continuing the Diplomatic Process: An Interview with Reza Marashi
To give us a better handle on the current situation with Iran, we spoke with Reza Marashi, Research Director for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). Reza served in the U.S. Department of State for four years in the Office of Iranian Affairs, and his articles have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and The National Interest. He is a contributor to CNN, NPR, and the BBC, among others. Here, he gives us his take on the latest developments in Iran and what they might mean for national security. Read more »
1 Comment
Posted on June 8, 2012
Diplomacy, Diplomacy with Iran, Iran Negotiations, Iran Nuclear Program, Iran sanctions, Iran Talks, Moscow, national security, negotiations, Nuclear program of Iran, Nuclear Weapons
Slavin and Albright Talk Baghdad
Though the Baghdad talks have been criticized in the press for failing to achieve a breakthrough, a discussion hosted this week by the Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force suggested that there is hope in the fact that “these were the first substantive discussions between Iran and the international community on the issue of the nuclear program in more than two years.” Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Nora Wilkinson on May 30, 2012
Diplomacy, atlantic council, Baghdad, Barbara Slavin, David Albright, Institute for Science and International Security, Iran Task Force, national security, Nuclear Weapons, P5+1, Iran
Pyongyang, we have a problem…
Critics of a recent deal between North Korea and the United States had barely caught their breath before an announcement today by Pyongyang that North Korea plans to launch a satellite atop a long-range rocket in mid-April. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t a setback. But it’s also premature to write the whole thing off. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Paul Carroll on March 16, 2012
Diplomacy, North Korea, International security, Leap Day Agreement, Missile Testing, Nuclear proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Pyongyang
US v Iran: Whose Team Would You Join?
Over the past week, there's been a lot of speculation over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Latin America. To help get some perspective on the debate, we asked international security expert and MIT professor Dr. Jim Walsh three questions on just what Iran might be up to. His answer? Not much.  Read more »
1 Comment
Posted by admin on January 10, 2012
Diplomacy, Brazil, Hugo Chavez, Jim Walsh, Latin America, Venezuela, Iran, Terrorism
A Small, but Essential Victory
A few weeks ago, Paul Carroll wrote an op-ed in The Hill, urging approval of the pending appointment of Sung Kim as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.  Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Margaret Swink on October 18, 2011
Diplomacy, North Korea, Paul Carroll, South Korea
A Window of Opportunity with Iran
In a sea of skepticism over U.S. policy on Iran, new developments are signaling progress toward a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by Megan Murphy on October 7, 2011
Diplomacy, Center for American Progress, diplomatic solution, Federation of American Scientists, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, peaceful solution, Soviet Union, Iran
Putin’s Return to the Russian Presidency and U.S.-Russian Arms Control
The following is a guest post by Steven Pifer.  In a speech to the United Russia party on Saturday, President Dmitri Medvedev announced his intention to step aside so that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin can return to the presidency next spring. The Russians still have an election to hold in March, but one can predict the outcome with assurance. While his ratings have declined since his first two terms as president, Putin remains the most popular politician in Russia. The state’s bureaucratic and financial resources will mobilize to support his candidacy, and no serious opposition candidate has emerged. Read more »
Add New Comment
Posted by admin on September 29, 2011
arms control, Diplomacy, Brookings, Elections, Medvedyev, Putin, Russia, Steve Pifer, United States