See the Debate Online!

The Journal of International Affairs &
The Columbia University Middle East Institute
present

A Nuclear Iran: Promoting Stability or Courting Disaster?

A Live Debate Between Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz; Moderated by Richard Betts.


Thursday, February 8th, 2006
6:30 PM - 8 PM

Kellogg Conference Center - 15th Floor
School of International and Public Affairs
Columbia University
420 West 118th Street
 

In 1995, Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz published their seminal work, “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate.” They staked out opposite ends of the theoretical spectrum with Waltz arguing that “more [nuclear armed states] could be better” and Sagan responding that “more will be worse.” On February 8th, 2007 at SIPA, they will update their famed debate in the context of Iran. Will a nuclear-armed Iran be a source of stability in the world, or will it bring the Middle East to the brink of disaster? Sagan and Waltz will debate this question along with questions on the appropriate U.S. foreign policy in the Gulf, the efficacy of sanctions in restraining Iranian nuclear ambitions, the likely response of Iran’s neighbors and many others.

Scott Sagan is co-director of StanfordUniversity’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and served as a special assistant to the director of the organization of the Joint Chief of Staff in the Pentagon. Kenneth Waltz is one of the pillars of American political science and co-founder of the structural realism theory of international relations. He is a Senior Research Scholar at ColumbiaUniversity and a Ford professor emeritus at UC Berkeley. Richard Betts is the director of Columbia’s Satlzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and has served on the both the National Security Council and the National Commission on Terrorism.

Seating will be awarded on a first come-first served basis. To ensure seating, please arrive by 6:15 pm.

 
For More Information,

Please Contact jia@columbia.edu; 212-854-4775