As the future of Pakistan wallows in uncertainty, parallels are being drawn to the 1979 fall of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Once again, a liberal elite rails against a dictator, confident that their country is primed for secular democracy, but ready to embrace a politics of rage in which Islamist extremists thrive.
As the future of both Pakistan and its president, Pervez Musharraf, wallow in uncertainty in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, parallels are being drawn to the 1979 fall of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Once again, a “pro-American” autocrat seems to be rapidly losing his grip on power, with his US ally only half-heartedly standing by him. The liberal elite and intelligentsia rail against the dictator, confident that their country is primed for secular democracy.
The obvious lesson to be drawn from 1979 is that America unwisely rested its entire strategic relationship with Iran on the shoulders of an unpopular dictator. When his regime crumbled, so did America’s ability to realize its interests there.
But the Iranian revolution holds another lesson for Pakistani liberals: obsessed with evicting the Shah, Iran’s intelligentsia was delusional about their own society and their potential to emerge victorious via an abrupt political upheaval. Once the Shah left, the radical minority that was willing to fight and die for its cause devoured the “moderate majority,” establishing Islamist rule in short order.
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Americans have long seen their country as morally exceptional, but their exceptionalism actually comprises three distinct views. Whichever prevails in next year’s presidential election will have significant implications for ongoing conflicts in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
identifies three strands of the concept and their implications for US foreign policy after next year’s election.
With a likely rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election, America and the rest of the world were heading into a perilous period even before the latest conflagration in the Middle East. Turmoil in the region will cloud the broader economic outlook – and could dim Biden’s chances.
worries global economic and political developments will put Donald Trump back in the White House.
Around the world, foreign-policy strategists are grappling with new international dynamics, from the Sino-American rivalry and ongoing hot wars to the broader breakdown in multilateral global governance. However, there is much debate about whether global power and alignments are truly shifting, and in what ways.
consider whether the world will become more multipolar or “non-aligned” in the new year.
As the future of both Pakistan and its president, Pervez Musharraf, wallow in uncertainty in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, parallels are being drawn to the 1979 fall of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Once again, a “pro-American” autocrat seems to be rapidly losing his grip on power, with his US ally only half-heartedly standing by him. The liberal elite and intelligentsia rail against the dictator, confident that their country is primed for secular democracy.
The obvious lesson to be drawn from 1979 is that America unwisely rested its entire strategic relationship with Iran on the shoulders of an unpopular dictator. When his regime crumbled, so did America’s ability to realize its interests there.
But the Iranian revolution holds another lesson for Pakistani liberals: obsessed with evicting the Shah, Iran’s intelligentsia was delusional about their own society and their potential to emerge victorious via an abrupt political upheaval. Once the Shah left, the radical minority that was willing to fight and die for its cause devoured the “moderate majority,” establishing Islamist rule in short order.
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