Here are the readings due by next week, so you have some extra time:
Iran is Just the New Israel
Iran's 2009 Presidential Election
Understanding Iran's Protest Movement
Small Changes: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted
Enjoy your Spring Breaks, and dont forget to email in your paper topics: irandecal@gmail.com.
Shahed & Shahrzad
I thought the "Iran is Just the New Israel" article was very thought-provoking. It was nice to read a different perspective on this issue. For example, the video stated that Israel first introduced the idea of building nuclear weapons to Iran during the Shah's era, which I found surprising. Also, Iran's ambassador in the video claimed that they need radioisotopes for "1 million Iranians struggling with cancer," whereas the site was nowhere near a hospital. It can be tiring to hear the same news from the U.S., which is why appreciated this article and how it explored the reasoning the West had for believing that Iran was making nuclear weapons. I feel like Iran will continue to develop nuclear weapons regardless of the international community's input. It is now only a matter of whether or not they would use them if provoked.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why my last comment was deleted... maybe i didn't post it properly.
ReplyDeleteWell, I read Iran's 2009 Presidential Election and, remembering from last week, I am wondering how exactly is Mousavi a reformist? From what I have learned in Fish's PS2 a reformist wants to make Iran more liberated and democratic, but it seems that bad things happened under Mousavi's watch years ago. Then, why would Mousavi be accepted by the reformst as one of them? ----Wenjia Xing
I enjoyed the article about the 2009 election because it explained why the Green Movement was "green" and how it came from Mousavi's presidential campaign.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hedieh that "Iran is just the New Israel" article was thought provoking and new, but it contrasted the interview article. It seemed Robin Wright "tip-toed" around some of the questions
That's really interesting what the writer had to say in "Iran is just the New Israel". The deliberate policy of nuclear ambiguity serves as deterrence. It made me think of some previous articles that said the pressure Iran feels from mainly Israel and the US may in fact have the unintended consequence of Iran accelerating its nuclear development. I just don't know anymore. It seems that Ahmadinejad is sending mixed signals about the whole affair.
ReplyDeleteI was interested by the article on the "Tweeter Revolution." I was shocked to find out that Social Media like Twitter and Facebook did not have a significant influence in revolutions as the Western media tends to ram down our throats. Because of this article and more thought, I have changed my mind regarding the role of social media in revolutions. I think the social media has little impact in revolutions and if anything has a negative impact. I believe the negative impact comes in downplaying the significance of the revolution. Instead of taking real action citizens are content with having their profile pictures changed.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar response. Although I know there are a lot more blocks and censorship in those countries than we imagine,I was under the impression that it still played a significant role in the communication during the revolutions. I remember during the elections, I had subscribed to a twitter stream with periodic updates from people involved inside of Iran. Likewise, when Egypt started protesting, twitter was used to leave voice messages. So I guess, my particular experience involved alot of social media interaction so I have a skewed perspective, as do most westerners, where the only way to know about these things is through that medium.
DeleteAfter reading all of the articles on Iran’s green movement after elections I think it is clear that there is an overwhelming majority of people In Iran who are in fact unhappy with certain aspects of the government. I think the election fraud was a wake-up call for many citizens as they took to the streets in protest. Although there were no obvious changes from these protests I think it altered the mind set of many Iranian people, especially the youth, and planted a seed of distrust and revolution in many of their minds. There is a reason why the reform party is backed up mostly by the youth, they are in touch with what is happening around the world and they realize that their voices have a right to be heard and ultimately that there is a better alternative than their current form of government. I like how in the second article an Iranian citizen was quoted saying that Mousavi was like their Obama.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Iran vs Israel article. It seemed more like a well contained and constructed rant, filled with commonsensical thoughts that if only were had by people of power, the current Iran vs the world situation would be much better. I really enjoyed the part of the article where the writer said that Iran has essentially been put in position where it must prove what It says it doesn't have...in fact, Iran actually is being forced to prove it does not intend to ever build a nuclear bomb, and this needs to be done without using words because Iran had repeatedly stated that its intention is otherwise, while Israel sits with not only nuclear capabilities, but those capabilities have been surpassed by them actually possessing nuclear bomb(s). There obviously seems to be a hidden agenda behind this whole situation, it doesn't seem like the west is at all interested in whether Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb or not but rather its interest is the region.
ReplyDeleteI did not really understand the comparison between Iran and Israel but it was interesting that they both are known for "nuclear ambiguity". I liked this article because they stated that it is not known whether or not Iran is actually making nuclear weapons or not. I feel that a lot of other news sources just point fingers at Iran and make it seem that there definitely are nuclear weapons there, when I do not think there has been sufficient evidence to say that there is or is not.
ReplyDeleteI love learning more about the Green Movement and thought the second article was especially interesting. I thought it was very strange that the government was really trying to suppress the green movement or the pro-Mousavi following. It really upsets me that the victor was determined even before all the votes were counted and the polling stations were even still open. Why does the country even have multiple candidates when they already know who they want as President?
I also thought the usage of social media during the green movement was very crucial.
I liked the interview, because it gave some great insight on the Green Movement Coalition. But I really enjoyed the Twitter article simply because we fall into the trap that believe activism online is true translation of activism. It has let me to a pessimist view on the topic, because social media can only play such a large role until its power is dimished. Revolution will eventually require real actions.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see that the there was no twitter revolution, as I had believed before that twitter did play a crucial role in everything that was going on on the ground in Iran. But to see that twitter was actually more utilized by people of the west...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the Iran is just the New Israel article. People really need to look at the other side of the story here. Everyone is so worried about Iran that they aren't worried at all about Israel and the ATOM BOMB it already has. Actually, in the video in the article said that Israel is currently the ONLY Middle Eastern country with an atom bomb. And they want to go to war with Iran? Not making any sense to me.
ReplyDelete