The FPA’s Must Reads (July 12-19)

For a New Approach to Iran
By William Luers, Thomas R. Pickering, and Jim Walsh
The New York Review of Books

With Iran’s elections having passed and the continued war in Syria (which could lead to a larger Shia–Sunni conflict in the region), it seems more and more likely that diplomatic progress could be possible. In this article, Luers, Pickering and Walsh outline a “renewed” path for limits on Iran’s nuclear program that they say will be able to keep the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Jahar’s World
By Janet Reitman
Rolling Stone

The Reitman’s piece and the accompanying cover of Rolling Stone have made waves, including, but not limited to, inspiring a frustrated letter from Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston. Through discussions with Dzhokhar (“Jahar”) Tsarnaev’s friends and acquaintances, Reitman pieces together a timeline of the Tsarnaev brothers’ “jihadification” and their struggles, both in the U.S. and overseas, that led them to bomb the 2013 Boston Marathon.

The Mandela Family Feud: What Will It Mean for His Legacy?
By Douglas Foster
The Atlantic

Mandela may have bridged South Africa’s divisions, but his family’s troubled relationship are only make them worse. By illustrating Mandela’s and his family’s relationship with South Africa’s cosmopolitan regions and traditional villages, Foster delves into the identity struggle facing many South Africans.

A New Drone Deal For Pakistan
By Daniel Markey
Foreign Affairs

Nawaz Sharif, the new prime minister of Pakistan, has already put his foot down when it comes to the U.S.’ covert counterterrorism operations in Pakistan. Sharif’s position on drones has now left Washington with only one option: How to get Pakistan to cooperate without diminishing the effectiveness of its drone operations.

Obama’s secret kill list – the disposition matrix
By Ian Cobain
The Guardian

Thanks to a three-piece story on the Obama Administration’s “disposition matrix” — that is, a database designed to go beyond the existing “kill list” — the database has become widely know. How the matrix is used by other countries, however, is not. While the U.S. and the U.K.’s close relationship is far from a secret, Cobain uncovers glimpses as the closeness of the U.S.-U.K. counterterrorism operation.

Blogs:

Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Stogie by Tom Squitieri
Libya and the Sahel: Has a Dictator’s Demise Doomed the Region? by Zach Scott
Courting Controversy: Clashes Compound Between Britain and Human Rights Bench by Sara Chupein-Soroka
Quebec Oil-Train Accident Assures Building of XL Pipeline by Jeff Myhre
The shadows of the informal economy by Cate Mackenzie