CISSM News

NOTE: CISSM published a related study in collaboration with the University of Tehran in September 2014: "Iranian Attitudes on Nuclear Negotiations." CISSM and the Program for Public Consultation also published studies on American attitudes toward the nuclear negotitaions: "Negotiations with Iran: Views from a Red State, a Blue State and a Swing State" (2015),...

Robert Orr, the dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, announced today that he was appointing Nancy Gallagher, who has been the associate director of research at CISSM since 2001, to be CISSM's interim director. Orr had the following to say about his appointment in an announcement to the school's faculty, staff, and students:

Dear Colleagues,

CISSM graduate assistant Zafar Imran was selected from among 4,000 graduate students to receive an All-S.T.A.R. fellowship awarded by the University of Maryland's Graduate School. The fellowship comes with a $10,000 award to be used in support of Imran's doctoral studies.

Ian Andrews, a second-year masters of public policy student specializing in international security and economic policy, has been selected as a 2015 fellow for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)’s competitive Graduate Fellowship Program. Andrews was one of two Maryland School of Public Policy finalists for this year’s fellowship and he is the second School of Public Policy student to receive an NNSA fellowship in the past two years.

Negotiations over a proposed deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program are coming to a head while a March 2015 study finds a clear majority of Americans – 61 percent – support an agreement that would limit Iran’s enrichment capacity and impose additional intrusive inspections in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. This included 61 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents.

As part of an effort to make CISSM research and the work of its faculty and associates more widely accessible, CISSM redesigned and relaunched its website this month.

Two University of Maryland School of Public Policy students, from two different backgrounds, came together to write an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, "Opportunity in a Shared Enemy," advocating for collaboration between Russia and the United States to stop ISIS. One student, Ekaterina Kudrina, is from Russia and is an ISKRAN postgraduate student visiting SPP for the semester.

A new survey of the Iranian public,"Iranian Attitudes on Nuclear Negotiations," finds that the majority of Iranians would support their government making a deal on Iran’s nuclear program that includes some key steps sought by P5+1 countries. Large majorities, however, deem some possible demands, such as dismantling half of Iran’s centrifuges, to be unacceptable.

More than 60 percent of Americans favor making a deal with Iran that would limit Iran’s enrichment capacity and impose additional intrusive inspections in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. This includes 62 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents. This was the key finding of a new public opinion study released by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) at an event on Tuesday, July 15.

CISSM Director John Steinbruner and Graduate Fellow Ebrahim Mohseni participated in a March 2014 dialogue with Iranian religious leaders in Tehran.

The Deep Cuts Commission, which includes CISSM Senior Fellows Steve Fetter and Catherine Kelleher, released its inaugural report, "Preparing for Deep Cuts: Options for Enhancing Euro-Atlantic and International Security."

Last week, CISSM hosted Russian students from the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies (ISKRAN) as part of its Collaborative Education and Cooperative Security Project. Read the complete trip report.