Back in 1992, Congress enacted the Iraq-Iran Non-Proliferation Act—the first in a long parade of Congressional acts and Presidential executive orders designed to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Reinforced by extensive cooperation from US allies, the most recent measure, the Threat Reduction Act of August 2012, has imposed crippling sanctions on Iran’s banking system and oil [...]

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Sanctions are a complex technology with correspondingly complex macro- and microeconomic as well as political effects. Iran is currently facing quite draconian oil-related sanctions, most notably the  EU decision in January 2012, to wind down purchases of Iranian crude oil by July 1, 2012. But the country has also been hit by a wave of [...]

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Washington and Brussels are trying to curb Iranian oil revenue in a bid to convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. But it appears financial sanctions imposed by the West are having a more immediate impact on what Iran buys from abroad rather than what it sells. Reports this week suggest Iranian companies are [...]

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Everyone wants Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program, but few urge a military strike. Financial sanctions, including several directed at leading Iranian banks, have been applied and tightened over the years by the United States Treasury, working with European and other allies. Now the Senate has unanimously approved a bill calling on the President [...]

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While the world’s attention is focused on the European financial crisis, a storm is brewing in the Mediterranean that could cause havoc in the region and have wider international consequences. At its center are conflicting claims between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots over a potentially large natural gas discovery off the island’s southern coast. [...]

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The promising Arab Spring has left North Africa in limbo. Now the task is to build a new political and economic system that is sustainable. President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East on May 19 outlines most of the right economic features. When communism ended two decades ago, the Soviet Union fared much more [...]

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The uprising that led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak has created considerable uncertainty over the future of economic policies and reforms in Egypt. Will the political transition lead to a reform-minded government or a populist one that will try to undo the recent economic reforms undertaken by the Mubarak regime? There are certainly [...]

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Protests in the Middle East continue to rage even in Egypt and Tunisia, where the ruling regimes have been toppled. Throughout the region, activists and opposition leaders are demanding an overhaul of political systems. Though generalizations are difficult, it is clear that—whether the unrest is in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Oman, or elsewhere—the [...]

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Compared to other regions of the world, the Middle East was once unique in its combination of authoritarianism and stultifying stability. No longer.  Beginning in Tunisia, a wave of political upheaval has rolled across the region, reaching Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and other countries caught between rising expectations and their antediluvian political systems, abetted by pan-Arab [...]

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Revolutions are euphoric events. Politics engage all as never before or after, and few bother to think about such mundane issues as economics, but then economic hazards will arise. Unfortunately, serious macroeconomic destabilization is likely in Egypt. The Egyptian revolution appears to be a middle-class, liberal revolution like the European revolutions of 1848 or the [...]

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