The Foreign Service Journal, December 2007

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 7 Investment in Iran: Diplomatic Leverage? The latest unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran, announced Oct. 25 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paul- son at a joint press conference at the State Department, are, in Rice’s words, part of a “comprehensive policy to confront the threatening behavior of the Iranians.” Washing- ton remains open, she added, to a diplomatic solution. The harshest American action against Iran since the 1979 siezure of Embassy Tehran, the sanctions are designed to isolate the Revolutionary Guard, a large and critical part of Iran’s military establishment, and anyone who does business with it. The guards have grown to play a dominant role in the country’s econo- my, most recently in the oil and gas industry. What the sanctions will accomplish remains to be seen. At hearings convened by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia on Oct. 23, the problems the policy faces were discussed — including the fact that its success rests on persuading others to join the boycott ( http://for eignaffairs.house.gov /testimony.as p?pg=2 ). The opposition of Russia and China, hesitation of Europe and paralysis of the U.N. Security Council are additional obstacles. “This is a frustrating and uncertain policy course: but it is far better than the alternatives of acquiescence or war,” concludes Philip H. Gordon of the Brookings Institution in his de- tailed testimony ( www.brookings. edu/testimony/2007/1023iran.aspx ). To get an idea of just what the sanctions involve, readers can consult Global Investment In Iran: Inter- active , a Web tool developed at the American Enterprise Institute to assess foreign investment in Iran ( www.aei.org/IranInteractive ). For additional background on the policy, see the Council on Foreign Relations ( www.cfr.org/publicati on/12742/century_foundation.ht ml ). —Susan Brady Maitra, Senior Editor Going Native: Retiring Abroad More than 160 million U.S. citi- zens are expected to retire over the next 30 years, and exotic cultures, climates and locations offer enticing prospects for them. So does the often-lower cost of living, which allows retirees to maximize nest eggs by easing the burden of soaring U.S. health care, housing and energy costs. Moving abroad can also make early retirement a viable choice. Many Foreign Service retirees, already familiar with living abroad, find the idea of settling abroad particularly appealing. The State Department estimates that 6.6 million American citizens (excluding the military) live abroad. But it is difficult to determine how many of them are retirees because neither the Census Bureau nor the State Department keeps track of that. The Social Security Administration reports that in 2005, about 442,000 individuals received Social Security payments while abroad. It doesn’t, however, count those who may live abroad but collect their benefits at U.S. addresses. There can, of course, be chal- lenges. Retirees may find themselves at the mercy of local exchange rates: if the dollar dives, so does their spending power. Health care can also be a challenge. Retirees on Medicare have to travel back to the States to have their treatment covered, though overseas health insurance is available. In Mexico, for example, private insur- ance offers several options designed especially for expatriates, but the quality of care varies, with better equipment and specialists more readily available in the larger cities. Overseas retirement may also benefit local economic development. As Walter Russell Mead argues, senior citizens retiring south of the border may “help our Latin American neighbors make the transition to First World prosperity much more rapidly C YBERNOTES W e got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the know- ledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. — Pres. George W. Bush, at his Oct. 17 press conference, http://www.whitehouse.gov/ news/releases/2007/10/ 20071017.html