Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute recently wrote a piece in a German publication arguing that the noninterventionist sentiment of the Trump years was not an arbitration. So Scott brought him on to talk about it. They discuss Parsi’s expectations for the future of Europe’s security structure. They then get into whether or not public opinion has any impact on American foreign policy. Next, they discuss how global perceptions of Biden’s political situation are affecting the Iran deal negotiations. Lastly, they touch on the continuing war in Yemen. Discussed on the show: “The end of...
Results for "trita parsi"
Americans Must Demand ‘Maximum Peace’ With Iran
In Vienna, at the end of November, the indirect talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will resume. Of the original P5+1, five states remain within the nuclear deal: Iran, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Of course, the missing country is the United States. The JCPOA was inked during the Barack Obama administration. It is seen as a bright spot—a true accomplishment—on a foreign affairs record that was otherwise bloody, imperialist, often treasonous, and even genocidal. President Joe Biden and his team truly do have an opportunity to, like...
10/25/21 Trita Parsi on Biden’s Awful Approach to JCPOA Negotiations
Scott interviews Trita Parsi about Biden's bizarre approach to JCPOA negotiations. When Biden came into office, the Iranians wanted to work out some mechanism to limit any future President’s ability to pull out of the JCPOA in a similar fashion to Trump. The U.S. said no, so the Iranians said they would settle for a binding commitment for the rest of Biden's first term, but even that was rejected by the Americans. Parsi explains that stability is necessary for sanctions relief to work. He also says Iran’s status as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is at risk if the U.S. keeps...
8/20/21 Trita Parsi on the True Drivers of Middle East Instability
Scott interviews Trita Parsi about his paper concerning the intervention of Middle East powers over the last decade. Parsi and his coauthor Matthew Petti found that, contrary to the picture often painted of one malign actor driving all the instability, there are really six Middle Eastern countries engaging in a lot of foreign intervention. Iran, which is currently the U.S. foreign policy establishment’s favorite villain, is no more interventionist than the other five. And that most instability in the modern Middle East can be traced back to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Finally,...
5/4/21 Trita Parsi: Why Mohammed bin Salman Suddenly Wants to Talk to Iran
Trita Parsi talks about the possibility of diplomatic talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which he views as a consequence of the Biden administration's somewhat less aggressive stance toward the Middle East. People often allege that American military involvement abroad keeps the world safer; in reality, Parsi explains, it is only when the U.S. pulls back from conflict that countries must resort instead to diplomacy. He hopes Biden will make a commitment to ending some of America's forever wars and, above all, find a solution to the desperate humanitarian crisis in Yemen that America...
4/8/21 Trita Parsi on Biden’s Willingness to Negotiate With Iran
Trita Parsi talks about the state of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. President Trump, of course, made a point of withdrawing from the JCPOA and increasing hostilities with Iran, deliberately parting ways with one of President Obama's signature issues. But the Biden administration, says Parsi, seems serious about reestablishing diplomatic relationships with Iran, especially as they continue to demonstrate advanced nuclear capabilities. Contrary to the common narrative, Parsi explains, it isn't America's cruel and futile sanctions regime that brings the Iranian government to the...
9/11/20 Trita Parsi: What Trump’s Iraq Troop Withdrawal Means for Ending America’s Wars
Trita Parsi discusses President Trump's recent announcement of a troop withdrawal from Iraq. Parsi is hesitant to fully endorse this move, explaining that while troop reductions are obviously good, such individual tactical moves, in order to be truly effective, must be part of a larger strategy of peace. Trump, instead, has repeatedly escalated tensions in other regions, even as he withdraws troops elsewhere, with the result that his foreign policy often results in, at best, a net wash for detente. Discussed on the show: "What Trump’s troop withdrawal from Iraq means for ending America’s...
7/3/20 Trita Parsi on John Bolton’s ‘Israel First’ Foreign Policy
Trita Parsi discusses John Bolton's tenure in the Trump administration, during which time he worked tirelessly to sabotage any form of negotiation between the United States and Iran. Bolton is a fierce advocate for America's alliance with Israel, says Parsi, which often means acting in ways that are actually quite harmful to American interests. Netanyahu, Parsi explains, worries that any peace between the U.S. and Iran would threaten Israel's position as the dominant superpower in the Middle East, and it would no longer be so easy for them to accomplish the things the Netanyahu government...
3/6/20 Trita Parsi on the Quincy Institute’s Debut Conference
Trita Parsi comes back on the show to recap the Quincy Institute's recent conference in Washington D.C., which put pro-restraint and pro-interventionist figures on panels together to debate the merits of America's foreign policy status quo. Some from the antiwar movement have been critical of Parsi's organization for not being radical enough, but Parsi reiterates that an "inside game" is going to look different from an "outside game", and that while the absolutely pure antiwar position is valuable to the movement, it's also important to engage with those on the inside of American...
U.S. Foreign-Policy Perpetual Perfidy
The Washington establishment was aghast in October when Donald Trump appeared to approve a Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The United States was seen as abandoning the Kurds, some of whom had assisted the United States in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups. But the indignation over the latest U.S. policy shift in the Middle East is farcical considering the long record of U.S. double-crosses. Rather than the triumph of American idealism, recent U.S. policy has been perpetual perfidy leavened with frequent doses of idiocy. Almost none of the media coverage of the Turkish...
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