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| Iran |
| An Alternative View of Iran’s Pending Revolution |
| 2003-07-07 |
| Pejman Yousefzadeh has some far more "neutral" ideas about what is happening in Iran - and is cautionary about expecting a resulting secular / nationalist Iran. There is some excellent history worth reading. As for his conclusion, I hope he's wrong. Judgeth for yourownselves, Rantburgerians... Excerpt: "At the same time, reformists would be well advised to remember the example of the Pahlavi dynasty, and its alienation of the mullahs -- an alienation that brought about its downfall. While some secularization is inevitable in Iran after any demise of the regime, the mullahs will remain a social and political force in Iran for years to come. It will be necessary to ensure that they do not have cause to undermine any future secular government in Iran, and the best way to prevent that is to ensure that such a government is able to form alliances with mullahs sympathetic to the reform movement. But an alliance is not enough -- a new Iranian government will have to propagate a nationalist movement that celebrates both the pre-Islamic Iranian/Persian past, and the positive aspects of Islamic influence on Iran. Elevating one portion of Iranian history over another will only serve to antagonize a segment of Iranian society, and cause further political upheaval." Winning hearts and minds, eh? |
| Posted by:PD |