Suzanne Maloney, Saban Center for Middle East Policy

Senior Fellow Suzanne Maloney discusses how one “big bet” — bridling Iran’s nuclear ambitions — will be a defining factor in the Obama administration’s second term.

Suzanne, a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on energy, economic reform and U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

She studies Iran, the political economy of the Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled private companies on Middle East issues. Maloney recently published a book titled;  Iran’s Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World. (October 2008, U.S. Institute of Peace Press).

Most recently, she was a member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, covering Iran, Iraq, the Gulf States and broader Middle East issues. Prior to joining the government, she was the Middle East Advisor at ExxonMobil Corporation, where she worked on regional business development, political risk analysis, and corporate outreach and communications.

Dr. Maloney directed the 2004 Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on US Policy toward Iran, chaired by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert Gates.

She was the recipient of an International Affairs Fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations and has previously served at Brookings as an Olin Fellow and a Brookings Research Fellow.

She holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Here in Washington, the dust has settled from last week’s Inauguration festivities, and President Obama and his team are back at work on the world’s most pressing issues.

While there are countless items on the president’s foreign policy agenda, none are more crucial than Iran. As the president embarks on his second term, the persistent and intractable challenge of Iran presents both an epic threat and a historic opportunity.

As part of Brookings’s Big Bets and Black Swans project – a collection of 20 foreign policy memos to the president – I’ve put together my set of recommendations to the president on how to turn Tehran away from the brink.

Watch me talk about Turning Tehran in this video now:
 

 
Despite the significant achievements of U.S. policy toward Tehran in the past four years, Iran’s revolutionary regime remains the world’s most dangerous state. Iran continues its efforts to extend its negative influence by inflaming sectarian tensions, and enabling Bashar al-Assad to brutailize his own people in Syria. Its growing nuclear program is a threat not only to the region but to the entire planet.

Here are a few recommendations that the president and his team can act on now:

• Quickly pursue a stop-and-swap deal to end Iran’s 20 percent enrichment;
• With support from U.S. allies, develop a comprehensive proposal of sequenced Iranian nuclear concessions and sanctions reform;
• Press for an intensified schedule of negotiations with Iran, comprised of an interlinked process of multilateral and bilateral dialogues.

When it comes to Iran, there’s no time to waste. The president must act now, and I hope that you find this memo as helpful and informative as he does.

Brookings Foreign Policy experts have come together to create a series of policy memos addressing the “big bets” — opportunities to strengthen President Obama’s second term—and “black swans,” the low probability, high-impact events that could derail the administration’s priorities. These were released at a public event on Thursday, January 17.

 
Sincerely,

Suzanne Maloney
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy
The Saban Center