2011 Joint Area Centers Symposium
Session 4: Iran, Central Asia, and Europe

"From Friend to Foe? EU - Iran relations 1992-2011"
Bernd Kaussler (James Madison University)

Chair: Richard Tempest (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

The paper surveys EU-Iran relations from 1992 until 2011, analyzing both European Union statecraft towards Iran and the geo-strategic and economic determinants informing EU diplomacy. Since 1992, the EU’s relations with Iran has been based on the framework of “constructive engagement” in order to address areas of mutual concern. The “Critical Dialogue” (1992-2000) and the “Comprehensive Dialogue” (2000-2003) were part of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy at aimed at swaying Tehran. European governments were convinced that the only way to approach Iran about their demands and to make it observe international norms was through direct contact and dialogue. The paper argues that during this period, economic interdependence largely dictated EU policy, with Tehran using these vulnerabilities to its advantage. With the EU’s abandonment of the “Comprehensive Dialogue”, European government have been largely aligned with U.S. policy and shifted focus to Iran’s alleged nuclear weaponization and supported Washington’s strategy of deterrence and containment. It is argued that this shift in EU strategy has resulted Iran in moving closer to Turkey as a new third party mediator and strategic ally and has so far prevented an EU-brokered initiative to break the stalemate.