Starr Forum on U.S.-Iran Relations
May 5, 2009

Should the U.S. build better relations with Iran? Can we live with a nuclear Iran? Do the Iranian presidential elections provide new opportunities for dialogue? These questions and more are addressed by Jim Walsh and Suzanne DiMaggio. Stephen Heintz serves as the discussant and Barry Posen chairs. Jim Walsh is an expert in international security and a research associate at the Center's Security Studies Program at MIT. He has testified before the United States Senate on the issue of Iran's nuclear program and nuclear terrorism. He is co-author of two recent publications in the New York Review of Books on how to deal with Iran. Suzanne DiMaggio is director of policy studies at the Asia Society. She focuses on U.S. policy with Iran and multiple other countries. She has directed dialogues with partners in the Middle East and Asia on regional security, nuclear nonproliferation, multilateral peace operations, and global environmental governance. Stephen Heintz is president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Heintz has held top positions in both the nonprofit and public sectors and has worked on issues of economic reform, civil society development, and international security. He has been involved in a six year effort of "track two" dialogue between Iranians and Americans. Barry Posen is Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the Center's Security Studies Program at MIT. He is widely published and expert on issues including the Iraq War, a nuclear Iran, and international security. Recently, he testified before Congress on a new grand strategy for the Obama administration.