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How Obama Can Reverse Iran's Dangerous Course

(Washington Post) Robert Kagan - President Obama has a once-in-a-generation opportunity over the next few months to help make the world a dramatically safer place by helping the Iranian people achieve a new form of government. Given the role that the Islamic theocracy in Tehran has played in leading and sponsoring anti-democratic, anti-liberal and anti-Western fanaticism for the past three decades, the toppling or even substantial reform of that regime would be second only to the collapse of the Soviet Union in its ideological and geopolitical ramifications. Those who have long advocated a "grand bargain" were right to talk about the immense global benefits if Iran could be integrated into the international order. Their big mistake was thinking such a bargain could be had with virulently anti-Western leaders. Regime change is more important than any deal the Obama administration might strike with Iran's present government on its nuclear program. Regime change in Tehran is the best nonproliferation policy. With tougher sanctions, public support from Obama and other Western leaders, and programs to provide information and better communications to reformers, the possibility for change in Iran may never be better. The writer is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
2010-01-27 08:34:12
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