The United States and Iran Under the Trump Administration

After several months of considerable uncertainty over the future of the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Trump Administration has tasked Congress to approve new laws within a few months that will revise the terms under which the U.S. will stay with the agreement and has also called on European allies to fix or amend the agreement. Many see the Iran nuclear deal as a multilateral negotiated agreement that cannot be renegotiated or revised by one nation unilaterally and that provides long-term assurances that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. Others consider that the nuclear deal is deeply flawed and that the constraints on Iran in the agreement will run out after less than a decade which will then make it possible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon quickly.

To address these complexities, experts Suzanne DiMaggio, Director and Fellow at New America and Dr. Gary Sick, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute will provide in-depth analysis and insight on what this agreement means to international diplomacy and global stability, and the consequences if the U.S. pulls out of the deal.

Our panelists are visiting in partnership with The Iran Project, an independent project which “seeks to support a balanced, objective, and bipartisan approach to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon – one that enhances U.S. national security and that of our friends and allies in the region.”

 

 

 

Date: Thursday, March 8th
Location: 
Charlotte City Club
121 W. Trade Street
Charlotte, NC 28202 –Directions
Time:
VIP & General Reception, Networking, and Check-In: 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Lunch & Presentation: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Cost:
$45 WACC Member Rate
$65 Non-Member Rate
$35 Student/Educator/TMS Member Rate**
**You must be an individual WACC educator, student, or TMS member to qualify for this rate

 

 

 

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World Affairs Council of Charlotte
UNC Charlotte – CHHS 227
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223

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Biography

Suzanne DiMaggio is a Director and Senior Fellow at New America, where she focuses on U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East and Asia. She has been leading Track 1.5 and Track 2 diplomatic initiatives on regional security, terrorism, nonproliferation, and governance for nearly 20 years. She has a special interest in the role of policy dialogue with countries that the United States has limited or no official relations, especially Iran and North Korea.

Based at New America NYC, she directs the U.S.-Iran Initiative, which is carried out through a combination of policy dialogue, research, and a series of public events and private roundtables, with the aim of generating analyses and recommendations in support of improving relations between the two countries. The project’s centerpiece is a long-running dialogue that she established in 2002, which brings together influential and knowledgeable Americans and Iranians to explore possible grounds for constructive engagement and develop mutually acceptable strategies for addressing a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, regional security, and U.S.-Iran relations.

Suzanne also directs a U.S.-DPRK dialogue that has included several visits to North Korea. As part of that process, she facilitated the first official discussions between the Trump administration and North Korean government representatives in Oslo in May 2017.

In 2009, she launched and directed a Task Force and an accompanying U.S.-Myanmar dialogue aimed at generating policy options to advance the normalization of bilateral relations. In 2016, she initiated a U.S.-China dialogue focused on great power interests in Myanmar and Southeast Asia more broadly. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Advisory Committee for Securing a Peaceful Transition in Myanmar.

Before joining New America, Suzanne was the Vice President of Global Policy Programs at the Asia Society (2007-2014), the Vice President of Policy Programs at the United Nations Association of the USA (1998-2007), and a Program Officer at the United Nations University (1993-1998). She holds a B.A. from New York University and an M.A. from The City College of New York (CUNY). She is a frequent commentator in the news media and her op-eds have appeared in national and international press outlets.

Gary Sick is a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and an adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs.

Sick served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan. He was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Sick is a captain (ret.) in the U.S. Navy, with service in the Persian Gulf, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.

From 1982 to 1987, Sick served as deputy director for international affairs at the Ford Foundation, where he was responsible for programs relating to U.S. foreign policy. He is a member (emeritus) of the board of Human Rights Watch in New York and founding chair of its advisory committee on the Middle East and North Africa. He is the executive director of Gulf/2000, an international online research project on political, economic and security developments in the Persian Gulf, being conducted at Columbia University since 1993 with support from a number of major foundations.

Sick was voted one of the top five teachers in 2009 at the School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of All Fall Down: America’s Tragic Encounter With Iran (Random House 1985) and October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan (Random House 1991). Gary Sick received his BA from the University of Kansas in 1957; a Master of Science from George Washington University in 1970; and a PhD from Columbia University in 1973.

https://sipa.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/gary-sick