Iran Archives - Extemp Central

By Omar Qureshi

The Middle East has long been an area of major misunderstanding for the west. Whether it is the volatile nature of popular will in Iran or the legacy politics in Syria there doesn’t seem to be a clear, general regional trend. The challenge of this understanding has led to many different foreign policy approaches towards the region as a whole. Regardless of whether it has been Clinton’s “aesthetic peace policy” or the much more expansive “Bush Doctrine” of preemptive war, these policies are specifically developed for the Middle East. Moreover, these policies have embraced the 1975 idea of Pax Syriana. This term literally means “Syrian peace,” but international relations theorists have taken it to mean the attempted reshaping of the Middle East to the desires of major actors. Clinton wanted peace- or at least the appearance of peace and George W. Bush wants to develop strategic alliances backed by hard power- a move that has substantially disenfranchised the Middle East on the whole. The preeminent actors in the Middle East today are Syria and Iran.

Topic Brief: Iranian Nuclear Controversy

By geniao44446

On May 27, 2008

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

Overview

Since the dropping of two nuclear weapons on Japan, and the subsequent Soviet push to develop nuclear weapon, the countries who have nuclear capabilities has been one of the foremost concerns of the international community. So when Iran started enriching uranium, the international community got a little bit worried. When Iran refused to cooperate with the IAEA – they got a little bit angry. However, three UN sanctions later, little has changed with the IAEA condemning the lack of Iranian cooperation on March 27^th of this year. Since a country (Iran) that has promised to destroy another that already has nuclear weapons (Israel) may or may not be developing nuclear weapon is kind of a big deal. Oh, and because confirmation of such a nuclear program could justify Israeli/US attacks on Iran, let’s take a look at what is going on and what that means for the world.

Topic Brief: Iran

By Logan Scisco

On January 1, 2008

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

By Michael Garson

Many countries covered in extemporaneous speaking are decidedly one-dimensional. Either the economics, politics, or foreign policy of a country stands out as a defining trait. Iran is unique in that it has multiple areas of analysis. Round topics from Middle East to International Economics to U.S. Foreign Policy all are likely to include questions on Iran. As one of the most important countries in a troubled region of the world, Iran certainly merits deeper analysis.

Tag: Iran

Topic Brief: Syria and Iran as Agents of Change in the Middle East

Topic Brief: Iranian Nuclear Controversy

Topic Brief: Iran