Journal of International Studies

At the conclusion of intense two-day negotiation in Geneva, Iran and the "5 +1" powers (the UN Security Council's Permanent Five plus Germany), issued a joint statement that described the talks as positive and substantive and announced follow-up talks that would be preceded by the meeting of experts from both sides.  Thanks to Iran's initiative of a new package of proposals, which was praised by the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as uniquely detailed and comprehensive, the latest round of nuclear negotiations successfully moved the process forward and triggered high hope that the long-standing stalemate may be on the verge of getting resolved.  The Iranian package, dubbed by the media as "Zarif's package," named after Iran's skillful Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, has not been disclosed publicly, but based on reports from Geneva it has offered a phased approach focusing on an "end-game" ...

WASHINGTON - As hopeful, albeit vague, statements about talks in Geneva between Iran and the great powers continued to issue from the Swiss city, foes of detente between Washington and Tehran maintained their own high tempo of work. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its supporters in the powerful Israel lobby, which exerts its greatest influence through the United States Congress, appear to be working overtime to persuade the administration of President Barack Obama not to ease economic sanctions on Iran until their maximalist demands are met.  On the eve of the two-day talks between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 (United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany), a bipartisan group of ten key US senators published a letter they sent to President Barack Obama urging Washington's delegation to stake out positions in Geneva - specifically, that Iran end all uranium enrichment on its own soil - which most Iran specialists belie...

BEIJING - A document recently circulating on the Chinese Internet [1] argues that there are eight areas that urgently need to be reformed. It is a lengthy and detailed account, but in a nutshell it announces that at the Party Plenum that will convene next month, the leadership intends to curb the power and access to financing for the once almighty and still inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and to create a better market and financial environment for the efficient yet still timid private enterprises. The latter, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, have for decades driven Chinese development.  This is certainly fully in line with the reforms approved in the past, in theory it is continuity. A decade ago the party changed the constitution, giving private enterprises the same status as SOEs. De facto this is the beginning of a total revolution that will check the influence of SOEs, which were an integral part of the economy and power structure of the ...