CFR’s Interactive Crisis Guide Surveys Iran’s Regime and Nuclear Program

At a time of upheaval in the Middle East, Iran’s ambitions as a regional power and its ongoing nuclear program constitute major challenges to its neighbors and the global community. "Crisis Guide: Iran," the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) latest multimedia feature in its Emmy award-winning series, uses interactive timelines, bubble maps, graphs, and images to trace Iran’s history, examine its oil-driven economy, and survey its nuclear program.

Its seven chapters include video interviews with more than twenty-five leading analysts, journalists, and Iranians such as Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. In its concluding chapter, top experts offer policy choices for managing the risks posed by the Iranian regime:

–   Journalist Robin Wright, and scholar Reza Aslan, on the future of the U.S.- Iran diplomatic relationship;

–  CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Meghan L. O’Sullivan and Iranian-American scholar and former senior State Department official Vali Nasr on the effectiveness of economic sanctions;

– Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg and former U.S. intelligence analyst Reuel Marc Gerecht on the use of covert action to deter Iran’s nuclear program;

–  CFR senior fellow for Middle East studies Ray Takeyh and former U.S. arms control official Mark Fitzpatrick on the potential outcomes of a preventive military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities;

–  Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution and Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council on ways international actors can support domestic opposition to the regime;

–  Former U.S. diplomat James Dobbins and Hadi Ghaemi of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on public diplomacy’s role in encouraging Iranian citizens to promote change from within.

"Conveying the full scale of the crisis around Iran is complicated and with this guide we are providing a range of interactive tools to give audiences clear reference points," says CFR.org Editor Robert McMahon. "The expert videos provide the crucial narrative."

Co-produced with MediaStorm, previous features include: "Crisis Guide: Pakistan," "Crisis Guide: The Global Economy," "Crisis Guide: Climate Change," "Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," "Crisis Guide: The Korean Peninsula,”" and "Crisis Guide: Darfur."

"Crisis Guide: Iran" is available at: www.cfr.org/iranguide

This publication was made possible by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

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