The Iranian people--unlike the oppressive, intolerant regime that ostensibly represents their interests--seek freedom, freedom to forge their own political, social, and national path. To that end, Iranians do not seek a Western-style democracy, or a Middle Eastern democracy, but an Iranian democracy that speaks candidly as a true national representative of the Iranian people.
The psychological effect that the widespread protest in Iran will have on America's national and political consciousness could be monumental, for these events occurring across the globe could be marking the death knell of the conservative understanding that the Iranian population espouses a virulent "Death to America" ideology. The Iranians are responding to President Obama's call for improved American-Iranian relations. President Obama is showing that his administration seeks to be engaged with the world in a way that his Republican predecessor, President George W. Bush, was not. And the world appears to be responding to such engagement positively.
President Obama, for all of his faults (of which he has many), is not a man whose actions are mirror images of the arrogant military power he can be said to represent. To the contrary, President Obama has often approached his role as leader of the free world with unparalleled levels of humility.
Amazingly, national political processes can be quite effective in changing how the international community views a government and its people. This is as true of Iran as it is of America. Prior to November 2008, Americans vicariously projected a certain air of arrogance to the world through their Republican president. With the election of President Obama, Americans and their government do not look so haughtily self-assured; instead, we look confident but humble and we appear to possess enough courage to be able to fess up to the mistakes of the past. Likewise, prior to Iran's national election, the people of Iran were (unfairly) perceived as a threat to America's security because of the aggressive, dangerous actions of their government. Post-election, the Iranian Government is as dangerous as ever, but Iranians will, I believe, be viewed quite differently.
It is the perception of change that catapulted President Obama to this nation's highest office. Often governmental and individual actions are driven by perception. Thus, the Iranian people are largely responding to the perception that America is more empathetic than in years past (even though such a perception may not be reflecting reality). Nonetheless, perceptions only carry individuals so far. The world responds to President Obama differently than it did President Bush because this president is largely seen as fundamentally "different" from the previous one. All of this is to say, simply, that in international relations, as in Hollywood, image matters.
The Iranian protests do not signal impending regime change, that's for sure, but they probably do denote a reaction to American policies that serves to change tightly-held perceptions of the Iranian people. Through protest, Iran's people shows that they as a people do not resent America's freedoms, but instead seek to emulate them in their own unique way.
Whereas the outcry over the unfairness of the Iranian national election will almost certainly not lead to any real changes in Iranian-American relations, they do demonstrate a desire for change and a change in perception. Changes in perception are often attended by changes in reality.
Admittedly, Iranian democracy is still, seemingly, a pipe dream. Of the two extremes that could arise out of this protest: democratic reform on the one hand and Tiananmen Square-like government slaughter on the other, the latter seems more likely. But this movement gives the impression of a somewhat refreshing spontaneity. If one expects these protests to act as a catalyzing force for change in U.S. relations with the current Iranian government, then the protests do not matter because that won't happen; Iran's government views the West with hostility today and will surely maintain that hostile viewpoint for the conceivable future. Still, as long as this protest continues, potential for democratic reform in Iran exists. And that is not just change that Iranians and Americans can believe in, but it is change that the entire world can and should endorse.
The protests are proving that the young people of Iran are, by and large, not accurately represented by their government. Currently, no figure in international politics is more capable of influencing the future of this planet through the power of his rhetoric than Barack Obama. The Middle East's response to his Cairo speech is evidence of that. However, these protests in Iran say more about Iran's government and its people than it ever will say about the power of the bully pulpit (which may be this nation's highest office's strongest selling point). These protests are of symbolic importance to Americans; to those Iranians who risk their lives to engage in them, the protests are far more than symbolic gestures. They speak to life itself. It is for that reason that I hope that they not only continue, but gain in strength. So whereas the Ayatollah Khamenei hypocritically calls for calm and patience, and peace and tranquility, even as his Revolutionary Guard kills their own, boisterous Iranians are proclaiming: "GO TO HELL DICTATOR." Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, describes the events unfolding in Iran as making him "green with envy." He relates:
The scenes from Iran prove that some nations are trying to take their fate into their own hands. Some nations are not floating on the surface in sickly indifference, some are not looking around in endless complacence. And some are not following their leaders with the blindness of a herd. There are moments in the histories of certain nations when the people say enough. No more.
The Iranians may have reached their breaking point. At this time America does not have to espouse the view that Iran's Government is corrupt and dangerous. Millions of Iranians are aware of that fact themselves and they finally are saying, just as Americans did on November 4, "ENOUGH!!"
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