Juan Cole on Iranian Protests and the Reform Movement's Future

Thousands of Iranian protesters marched toward Tehran University today, both to commemorate the 1999 student uprising and to continue their opposition toward the recently stolen presidential election. Once again, the Iranian regime has responded with violence, as Basij militia members dispersed demonstrators with live fire, tear gas, and other brutal measures. It's clear though that Iran's reform movement is still alive and strong, despite the regime's best efforts to thwart protesters and the fact that the US media have largely buried this story beneath coverage of Michael Jackson's death.

Though instantaneous social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter helped spark and coordinate last month's protests, we simply can't expect Iran's reform movement to succeed as quickly. Any success will be slow going, a point Juan Cole emphasized when he discussed the chaos in Iran with The Huffington Post's Nico Pitney yesterday at Brave New Studios. Cole, the author of Engaging the Muslim World, told Pitney that while the Obama administration definitely can't intervene to the point that they enable a reformist victory, they must continue engaging Iranian hardliners if the current regime remains in power.

Respectful, diplomatic engagement, Cole argued, is key to resolving the Iranian nuclear threat, the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the continued US/NATO military presence in Afghanistan, and Iran's relationship with both Hamas and the Hezbollah. Cole, who also believes Iran's election was stolen, sees all of these issues as being intertwined, and he's absolutely right.

It's well worth watching Cole and Pitney (who's been doing a terrific job in his own right covering the Iranian election) discuss the future of the reform movement, the possibility of an emerging power sharing situation within the Iranian government, and how we can keep supporting reformists still voicing their dissent.

(Help spread awareness about the reform movement in Iran by posting this video on Facebook and Twitter: "What's next for the reform movement in the wake of the violent #iranelection? @jricole explains: http://bit.ly/Sg9xh")

Comments

[So A Irani]

Iran’s Revolution 2009 – A motherless child
Having been in breach for almost 30 years, on June 12th 2009 we all heard it’s “first cry” loud and clear. What a complicated birth!
It didn’t take long for him to learn how to
walk , talk, shout, run and how to hide.
How to get wounded and how to stand up again, how to forget the pain and how to continue his path.
how to survive!
What he doesn’t know is, what he is running for.
He is climbing up a mountain with all his power and energy but cannot yet see what lies beyond.
Now this orphan is left alone without knowing what goal he is striving for.
Is there any suitable mother out there for this child? To raise him, to show him what lies beyond?
Do you know any approriate mother?.
There are plenty of so called “mothers” willing to do almost anything to get their hands on him!
Do you trust them?
Our job is to tell him: We are here, don’t be scared, we will stay with you until we find the right mother for you.
We will go through all the hassle with you. We will stand behind you to catch you when you fall.
Until the day comes where we find a true “mother”. The one who has fighted most, the one who was ready to face a close scrutiny. Then you will be in good hands. Our job will be done!

[PeterD58]

Juan Cole describes fascism as a European movement and thus implies that it is exclusive to that region of the world. I guess Sinclair Lewis got it wrong when he wrote "It Can't Happen Here" or a book I have on my shelf entitled "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America", is a misnomer. Fascist characteristics such as political tthuggery to intimidate opponents can be found in a lot places...take Iran as an example. Perhaps, Juan Cole is more comfortable with American Exceptionalism. This doesn't negate the premise there should be dialogue with the rest of the world (I'm Canadian....so you can dialogue with us anytime), but Juan Cole's refrence to fascism was weak.

[RoloTomassi]

Perhaps his reference stems from [as far as I know] Europe being the primary breeding ground for fascism in the 20th century? Europe seems to be the primary area of our world where openly defined fascism was embraced during a period of 20th century political experimentation.

One can, IMO, reasonably argue that the US is adopting key elements of fascism while holding up the pretense of representative democracy; that said, it would be a cold day in he// before any US politician would admit the existence of such elements, even if all were in place and the US met all criteria for identification as a fascist government.

[PeterD58]

Was the Pinochet junta in Chile as fascist regime?

[PeterD58]

Ideologial movements start somewhere. Europe may be the starting point but fascism, which would take a symposium to dissect, can be adopted and adapted anywhere....a militaristic state, a corporate state, a cordinated state (National Socialism)­....etc...­.Fascism may not always be pervasive but it is not exclusive to Europe...

[Khirad]

This was good.