Better Ways to Deal with Iran
Belligerence between countries where there was once warmth squanders the achievements of past heroes and needlessly inflames the entire Middle East and beyond.
Given dangerous developments in the Middle East, I decided to recirculate a piece I published last year in the newsletter of a think tank called the Baskerville Institute (in which I have no official or proprietary role). I highlight significant points in the history and political culture of Iranian-American relations that show why the current animosity is abnormal and why cordial diplomatic relations are in the interest of not only both countries but the stability of the entire Middle East region.
If the United States becomes further embroiled in this war — among other consequences — it could well destroy the presidency of Donald Trump and all that he and the MAGA movement have tried to achieve, including its domestic reforms (much as the Vietnam War did to another presidency that had prioritized its domestic agenda, that of Lyndon Johnson).
I plan to update this piece in coming days and write more on what the United States in particular can do to help re-establish regional and global stability.
Avoiding War with Iran — and an American Hero in Persia
February 6, 2024
With the looming possibility of war between Iran and the United States, the Baskerville Institute in Salt Lake City asked me for an article that might help diffuse tensions and remind us of the warm history between the two peoples. I have no formal affiliation with the Baskerville Institute (“dedicated to promoting…the bond of friendship between the people of Iran and the people of the United States”), but it is named for my great uncle, who loved Persia, promoted American religious and political values there, and gave his life for its freedom in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11. The full article is published in the current issue of their newsletter.
Hostility Between Iran and America Is Not the Norm
– and Is Not Inevitable
Understanding the rich – and mostly amicable – history of Iranian-American relations may diffuse tensions and promote peace in the Middle East.
Stephen Baskerville
Most Americans do not realize the tragedy that is represented by the current estrangement between Iran and the United States. Past generations of Iranians and Americans held a special place in one another’s hearts. Persia (as it was called) was known to American churchgoers and school children as a biblical empire and the best administered imperial system prior to Rome. It won the admiration of Persia’s Greek enemies like the historian Herodotus. When Russian and British imperialists carved up Persia into spheres of influence in the nineteenth century, Americans remained aloof and retained the favor of Persian liberals during the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-09. An American, Morgan Shuster, served in the Constitutional government, and his book, The Strangling of Persia, excoriated the cynical power politics of Britain and Russia. Like the British, the Americans eventually disappointed Persia’s freedom fighters by refusing to support the liberal Revolution. Yet one exception stands out: my great uncle Howard Baskerville. (…)
You can read the rest at the Baskerville Institute.
If you want to read more analysis that will push you to think “outside the box,” you can find it in my recent book, Who Lost America? Why the United States Went "Communist” — and What to Do about It — available from Amazon.
Now available: Ask this book a question using ChatGPT.
Stephen Baskerville is Professor of Politics at the Collegium Intermarium in Warsaw. His books and recent articles are available at www.StephenBaskerville.com.
“If the United States becomes further embroiled in this war — among other consequences — it could well destroy the presidency of Donald Trump and all that he and the MAGA movement have tried to achieve, including its domestic reforms (much as the Vietnam War did to another presidency that had prioritized its domestic agenda, that of Lyndon Johnson).”
Poor Die-hard MAGAs! Desperate to continue their merry times by just fixing existential problems just by a brief jaunt to the polling station. Absolutely anything to NOT roll up their own sleeves to and do the heavy moral lifting called for.
Hey, anybody have Die-hard MAGAs turn the now trending going belligerent on you when you bring this up? Share below in replies.
My comeback, try it: I paste on the biggest smile and fist bump them these onery belligerents simply stating lovingly, “my dear Die-hard MAGA “! ;-) :-)
It's funny how two people can look at the same situation and see it very differently. I'm no historian or political analyst, but I remember Persian tourist-promotional videos of the late 'sixties and early 'seventies. Iran was depicted as a very modern nation - and becoming more so all the time. Men walking the streets in normal attire, yutes dancing in clubs, women on the beach in bikinis. Commerce everywhere.
Then came the Islamic Revolution. Now morality police roam the streets, beating random women with complete impunity. Women walking about - but not without a male escort - attired, as Nigel Farage would say, looking like letterboxes. Oppression on an industrial scale the norm.
And that's just the local problem. In the last 45 years Iran has spent its time threatening the whole region - and soon, if they get The Bomb, the whole world. Promoting the Islamic Cult Of Death: death to Israel, death to the Great Satan, worshipping death to its own "martyrs."
No, this is an historic moment - led by a historic prime minister and historic president. Nobody is more averse to conflict than I, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime to rid the world of an evil like no other. Let us just hope when it's done - and I believe it will be - that the fine, normal Iranian people are able to drag that nation from the '600s back into the present.