Afshin Molavi: All Publications, Events and Press

Afshin Molavi in The National | 'The Saudi Arabia That the Middle East Needs is Finally Emerging'

Articles — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:17:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Sadly, the trajectory of Saudi Arabia in the 1980s and the 1990s suggests that Saudi Arabia indeed altered its course to accommodate its most conservative elements. As the leading Saudi experts Afshin Molavi and Jean-Francois Seznec wrote, the terms of the bargain were too favourable to those who opposed genuine modernisation: “While the king and the civil service would still control the hardware – defence, finance, oil, and foreign policy – he essentially handed over the software – the education system and the courts – to conservative forces.”… more

Afshin Molavi in The National | 'Iranians Question Harsh Propaganda'

Communications — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:35:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Besides the obvious propaganda, the local news broadcasts extensive reports from the Palestinian territories and Israel, with exceptionally graphic images from Gaza of mutilated bodies and weeping families after raids by Israel. “Iran spends a lot of money and attention on its propaganda machine,” said Afshin Molavi, a political analyst on Iran at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC. Mr Molavi said the anti-Israeli and anti-US propaganda is actually aimed at winning over the Arab and Muslim world.

“Iran broadcasts news about Arabs, uses Arabic-speaking… more

Afshin Molavi in the Jerusalem Post | 'Dubai Helps Iran Dodge Sanctions'

Communications — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:26:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Afshin Molavi, a fellow at the New American Foundation, refers to Dubai as Iran's "lungs;" without Dubai, Iran cannot breathe. For Dubai, on the other hand, the relationship only boosts its already flourishing economy. LINK

The Star Students of the Islamic Republic

Articles — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:00:00 -0400

In 2003, administrators at Stanford University's Electrical Engineering Department were startled when a group of foreign students aced the notoriously difficult Ph.D. entrance exam, getting some of the highest scores ever. That the whiz kids weren't American wasn't odd; students from Asia and elsewhere excel in U.S. programs. The surprising thing, say Stanford administrators, is that the majority came from one country and one school: Sharif University of Science and Technology in Iran.

Stanford has become a favorite destination of Sharif grads. Bruce A. Wooley, a former chair of the… more

Holding Out For a Hero

Ron Tang — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:56:00 -0400

“Where are you from, my friend?” the merchant in Sharm Al-Sheikh asks me. I have been in enough bazaars in the Middle East to know the routine: I state my nationality (American), he makes a light joke about Rambo or Hollywood (avoiding politics), and then proceeds to hawk his goods to me at triple the going price.

But this time I took a different tack: “Iranian,” I said, citing my other nationality. “Iran?” the merchant responded, somewhat confused and pleasantly surprised.… more

The Persian Pragmatists

Ron Tang — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:05:00 -0400

Iran's recent parliamentary elections, conducted on Friday, stuck closely to a script familiar from the past four years: Conservatives predictably won the majority of seats from a ballot cleansed of reformists by the Guardians Council; turnout in cosmopolitan Tehran was lower than the provinces; and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted the U.S. for interfering in Iran's elections. The election's only clear winner -- as usual, in this script -- is Khamenei, whose virtual veto power over all matters of… more

Afshin Molavi in U.S. News | Global Public Opinion Turns Against the U.S. on Iran's Nuclear Program

Communications — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:40:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Global Public Opinion Turns Against the U.S. on Iran's Nuclear Program (U.S. News & World Report)

. . . Iranian policy figures, adds Afshin Molavi, an analyst with the New America Foundation in Washington, like to play off an expression favored by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She talks of U.S. support for an emerging "new Middle East" that includes political forces moving the region in the direction of moderation, democracy, and opposition to radical movements… more

Jobs, Justice and Democracy

adminn — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:24:00 -0500

"My issue is cooking oil," Dya Alawa, a 37-year-old Turkish woman said on the day of Turkey's historic July election, which saw the Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerge with a resounding victory. "That's why I'm voting AKP," she told the Washington Post. For her, the election was simple: the economy has improved under AKP stewardship since 2002, her husband has less fear of layoffs at his textile factory and she can buy cooking oil at reasonable prices.

Indeed, Alawa is not alone. While… more

Afshin Molavi on CNN's The Situation Room on Ahmadinejad

Communications — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:05:00 -0400

New America in the News:

TODD: So did Ahmadinejad emerge from the U.N. with the upper hand?

AFSHIN MOLAVI, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: It may look like he snubbed his nose at the United Nations and got away with it. But it also just may be a short-term tactical victory, which may not contain the elements for a long-term victory for Iran...

Afshin Molavi is a Fellow with New America. For the complete transcript from "The Situation Room," please visit CNN's website.

The Advocate Quotes Afshin Molavi on the Global Economy

Communications — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:21:00 -0400

New America in the News:

In 1913, a young Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote in a private letter that a war among the major European powers would be so deadly and destructive that it could not be imagined. In 1914, he learned differently.

There are so many historic examples of war being so unlikely, so terrible in its prospect that it just "could not" happen. And yet it did.

That is why, in the large sweep of history, people who want to see peace should never underestimate… more

The CEO Sheik

Articles — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:34:00 -0400

He wears a long, flowing thobe and a white headscarf and smells faintly of oud, an ancient Arabian perfume. With his trim beard and loose sandals, he looks much as his ancestors might have nearly two centuries ago when they took over this tiny fishing village on the shores of the Persian Gulf. But Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktum, the ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is a thoroughly modern prince. From his offices… more

Rising Gulf

Articles — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:39:00 -0400

We all know the headlines by now: the Middle East is burning, right? So it seems, as Palestinians and Iraqis wage civil war, Lebanon seethes, Syria and Israel trade barbs and Iran spits defiance. Yet beyond the smoke a very different story is emerging nearby. In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, times have never been better. Business is booming. And political conflict has become a foreign phenomenon, watched on flat-screen TVs in the air-conditioned living rooms of Doha,… more

Economist Quotes Afshin Molavi on Iranian Economy

Communications — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:43:00 -0400

New America in the News:

“I PRAY to God that I will never know about economics,” President Ahmadinejad once said when questioned about apparent contradictions in his economic policy. The Lord appears to have answered his prayer. On his watch, the world oil price has soared from $62 a barrel when he was elected in June 2005 to $72 a barrel in recent weeks. Iran, which has a young, well-educated workforce, along with the world's second-largest reserves of both oil and gas, should be on… more

Afshin Molavi Discusses Dubai on 'Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria'

Communications — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:00:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Fareed Zakaria: Welcome to Foreign Exchange; I’m Fareed Zakaria...The rise of capitalism in the Arab world; believe it or not that is what we are going to discuss with Afshin Molavi, the Director of the Middle East global initiative of the New America Foundation. Afshin, you’ve been traveling around the Arab world for the last couple of years and do you feel that what you’re witnessing there is something quite different from the past that--that you… more

PBS Wide Angle Interviews Afshin Molavi on Dubai

Communications — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:23:00 -0400

New America in the News:

DALJIT DHALIWAL: Afshin Molavi, welcome to Wide Angle.AFSHIN MOLAVI: Thank you, Daljit. It's a pleasure to be with you.DALJIT DHALIWAL: Have you been to Ras Al Khaimah, the tiny Emirate that we feature in our film? What were you impressions?AFSHIN MOLAVI: Sure. You know, when I was living in Dubai in the late 1990s and throughout my many visits to Dubai since then, Ras Al Khaimah, for many people who live in… more

The Magic Kingdom’s Wild New Ride

Articles — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:57:00 -0400

Last week, a senior official in one of the world’s wealthiest states suggested that one third of all government jobs should go to women.

Switzerland? Denmark? France?

Wrong, the country is Saudi Arabia, and the senior official is Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the crown prince. In a state that has embraced the most misogynous readings of the Koran and a society that remains deeply patriarchal, Prince Sultan’s statement was truly revolutionary.

As Sultan’s older brother, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, visits Spain,… more

Afshin Molavi Interviewed on CNN on Middle East Peace Process

Communications — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:22:00 -0400

New America in the News:

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in the United States right now. He's going to be meeting with President Bush tomorrow. Both the United States and Israel are now lining up behind Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the new emergency government that he has swore in after Hamas took control of Gaza...ROBERTS: So what does this mean for the peace process in the Middle East? What does it mean for war and peace? Does… more

The Iranian Spectacle: An Istanbul Dispatch

Articles — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:04:00 -0400

The Iranian delegation entered the conference with a thud. Parviz Davudi, the first vice-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran -- flanked by several burly, bearded bodyguards and surrounded by a coterie of Iranian diplomats in Nehru collars, camera-wielding journalists from the Islamic Republic's state news media and a few assorted hangers-on -- plowed through the ornate Ciragan Palace Hotel lobby in Istanbul, brusquely pushing past the assembled political, business and media elite who gathered for the November 2006… more

Afshin Molavi on Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Iran, Iraq

Communications — Mon, 28 May 2007 09:50:00 -0400

New America in the News:

TONY JONES: The American military has displayed pictures of 42 prisoners it rescued from a desert hide-out in Iraq, believed to be an Al Qaeda base. Some of the prisoners have reported they'd been kidnapped and held at the camp for up to four months. Tom Iggulden reports.TOM IGGULDEN: This modest hide-out held 42 prisoners until American troops raided it today, after a tip-off from locals...TOM IGGULDEN: Further south, in Baghdad, there was more violence in… more

Washington Post Quotes Afshin Molavi on Haleh Esfandiari Detainment

Communications — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:29:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Fanny Esfandiari, a 93-year-old great-grandmother with heart disease and bad eyesight, made a desperate trip to Iran's notorious Evin Prison earlier this month."I have to find my daughter," she told relatives reluctant to drive her. None thought it would be productive -- or worth the risks. A nephew finally agreed. He stayed in the car as Esfandiari slowly shuffled on her cane up to the hulking white stone compound in Tehran where Iran's kings and theocrats have incarcerated… more