less clearch we'll get into all of this with robin wright, a scholar at the woodrow wilson international center for scholars and bob behr, a former officer in the middle east. he writes a column for "time." thanks for joining us. first of all do, we know who those people, are robin, who grabbed the british embassy today in tehran? >> i don't think anybody knows for sure, but british certainly suspect this was part of the revolutionary guard, paramilitary thugs, a kind of militia that works for the government because there's no way this could have happened without government approval or sanction. >> by the way, how many students on campus are sitting around thinking about economic sanctions? usually that's the sort of thing that the government ministries are focused on, right? >> oh, absolutely. >> do you have any other views on this, the same whether -- we had to put up with the word students for years there. i always wondered what that meant, does it mean grad students hanging around berkeley or what? are these guys students or thugs? >> they are hired by the government. they were sent by the government. c

. >> and philosophical society, the woodrow wilson international center for scholars, and the charles warren center at harvard university. is as his have been published in both scholarly and popular press as "the new republic," "the new york times," and journal of american history, among others. his current research scores the impact of organizations on politics government and private-sector labor relations. this is the interest led him to write the book easy to speak about this evening, "collision course: ronald regan, the air traffic controllers, and the strike that changed america." please help me welcome doctor joseph mccartin. [applause] >> thank you very much, tracy. appreciate that introduction. and thank you for your excellent work, preserving the history of workers and the labor movement in the southern labor archives at georgia state university. without that repository i couldn't have written this book, and we would know much less than i think were the most important events in recent labor history. thanks to my hosts here at the carter center, especially tony clark and direc

of grants and fellowships from the national endowment for the humanities, the woodrow wilson international center for scholars and the charles bourne center at harvard united states. his essays have been published in such publications as the new republic, "the new york times" and journal of american history, among others. his current research explores the impact of public sector labor organizations on politics, government and private sector labor relations. this is the interests that led him to write the book he is here to speak about this evening, "collision course: ronald reagan, the air traffic controllers and the strike that changed america." please help me welcome dr. joseph a. mccartin. [applause] >> thank you very much, traci. appreciate that introduction, and thank you very much for your work, preserving the labor movement in the southern labor archives at georgia state university. um, without that repository, i couldn't have written this book, and we would know much less, i think, about one of the most important events in recent american labor history. thanks, too, to my hosts here at the carter cent

for more on the growing pressure against the assad regime, i spoke with a former adviser of the u.s. state department who is currently a scholar at the woodrow wilson international center. thank you for joining us. strong words today on the heels of the jordanian king calling for assad to quit. he is clearly running out of friends, is he running out of time? >> when and under what circumstances is anyone's guess. syria is the black box of the mediterranean and i suspect that even the most perceptive analysis in european capitals and the middle east are having a hard time reading this. this is very hard under these circumstances, particularly with this regime which was actually quite opaque in terms of security and intelligence services, to know exactly where the fissures and the cracks are. i point to three variables. one is the opposition. can it endure? can it take the struggle with the assistance of friendly european countries? the regime itself, how much pressure is it under? could you end up with cracks in the intelligence community? finally, the west. to what degree is it capable short of military intervention before increasing pressure? >> the obama administrati

. ♪ [music] ♪ [music] >> john milewski: welcome to the woodrow wilson international center for scholarswashington, d.c. i'm john milewski. each week dialogue explores the world of ideas and issues in international affairs, history and culture. now let's meet our guests. lieutenant general mark hertling is commanding general of us army europe. he assumed that post in march of 2011. robert litwak is vice president for programs at the wilson center where he also serves as director national security studies. gentlemen, welcome to dialogue. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, john. >> thank you. >> john milewski: i want to begin with a little scene setting. let's not assume that the history is widely known. as i was preparing for the discussion, one thing i realized is that troops in europe are not the way americans think of troops in other places. we accept troops in europe as part of the [inaudible], part of the national security picture. we don't talk about whether or not they should be there or how long they've been there. it's something that we almost accept, but there is a history to it.