fermenting counter-revolution in Iran: brooking institute
The nature of the regime is at the core of the challenge it poses, but the starting point of a counter-strategy is containment: that is, George Kennan’s classic vision of bringing countervailing pressures to bear against a revolutionary power’s external expansion until the structural contradictions within the system begin to weaken it internally.
Iran is not mainly an American problem; it is a challenge in the first instance to our allies and friends in the Middle East. Thus, the first stage in a counter-strategy is to bolster Arab allies and friends as counter-weights to Iranian power. While military cooperation with some Gulf Arabs, especially Saudi Arabia, is controversial at home, tightening American links with these allies is logically the core of such a strategy.
A wider strategic consensus may be emerging that would join the United States, key Arab states, and Israel against the Iranian threat. This should be nurtured. Arab countries have other options, including their own nuclear development, or appeasement of Iran. Far preferable is that they retain confidence in us as a reliable friend and protector.
Restoring this balance needs to include:
some success in stabilizing Iraq
broader use of economic pressures (as opposed to the narrowly targeted sanctions resorted to thus far)
stepping up support of civil society in Iran, including improving the quality of U.S. official broadcasting into Iran
more on the Brooking Institute
vineyardsaker said,
June 1, 2007 at 4:18 am
take a look at this very interesting article: http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/news/rumor-of-the-century/
I reposted it full-length on my blog as I think that this is truly important.
kind regards,
VS
psyop said,
June 1, 2007 at 9:14 am
Yes, that is a very important article – I read it earlier, and linked it in one of the items I posted earlier. There have been other articles exposing the mistranslation, but this one really does a good job of contextualizing the comments.