On June 20, 2009, as she watched demonstrators at an Iranian reformist protest gather on Tehran’s Kargar Avenue, Neda Agha-Soltan, 27, was suddenly shot in the chest and killed, ostensibly by a nearby Basij militiaman. Had this tragic incident taken place just a few years earlier, it might have been lost to history. As it happened, however, two separate amateur videos of Neda’s shooting and subsequent death were quickly posted online, where they spread virally around the Internet. If bearded ayatollahs were the iconic image of Iran’s 1979 revolution, the tragic killing of this young Iranian woman has become the [...]
Get a .pdf version of this report. Since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union, Poland has looked to play an active role in the regional security environment. Two interrelated foreign policy spheres preoccupy Polish policymakers. First is the country’s Atlanticism, incorporating NATO membership and a close relationship with the United States. Second is the country’s European Union membership. Since having successfully acceded to NATO (1999) and the EU (2004), Poland has been expected to take up its share of the security and defense burden. In consideration of its new security responsibilities, the Polish armed forces as well as Polish [...]
Editor’s Note: Click here to read all of the articles that are part of our “Back to the Future” feature. Sign up for a four-month free trialto gain access to other feature articles. The four-month trial offer willend Sept. 30.This free sample article will be available only for a limited time. Tolink to the permanent version of this article, use this URL. Upon taking office in January 2009, in addition to inheriting ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Barack Obama also inherited twin nuclear crises with North Korea and Iran. North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May [...]
