Today, the last in our mini-series (!) on building hope in totalitarian states. Actually, according to this eminently readable and thought-provoking article by Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, Iran is less totalitarian than those in the West might think, with a range of powers vested in different institutions - many of which do not always (or even often) see eye-to-eye with hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Iran has been 'shunned' by the US of late and the words 'military action' have even been whispered. Most agree that is not on the agenda. But alternatives are needed, and fast, to safeguard global and regional security. Zakaria argues that, rather than backing Iran into a corner where building up its nuclear capability is the obvious response, the US and Europe should work hard to develop ties with Iran, making use of the full range of institutional viewpoints that currently exist there. The New York Philharmonic might yet play Tehran...
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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Fareed Zakaria occasionally writes for the Guardian. His pieces come from a different perspective and are a well-informed alternative to the dominant neocon world-view.
Recent nuclear inspections suggest this axis of evil may not be absolutely and irrevocably set on nuclear weapons and so Zakaria's advice to President Bush is timely. Make clear to Iran:
"We want to have relations with [you], do business with you, visit your country and have Iranians visit us. We want Iran to join the World Trade Organization and other such bodies. We want you to be a respected nation. But this cannot happen if you do not verifiably end your pursuit of nuclear weaponry and support for terrorism. We are ready to put all this on the table."
It would not be appropriate, at this precise moment, for President Bush to go on to confess that, of course, he recognises the irony of the US insisting on non-proliferation while bristling with nuclear weapons themselves. But he may, in the fullness of time, get around to it. Perhaps after dessert.
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