EA correspondent Mr Smith explores the meaning behind yesterday’s protests, and looks ahead to the next wave of demonstrations:
In Iran’s never ending calendar of public events and commemorations, 16 Azar, or National Student’s Day, could hardly have passed without a serious confrontation erupting between the Ahmadinejad regime and the student population of Iran. Protests against Ahmadinejad on 7 December preceded by almost three years the electoral drama of June. In 2006, the president made an ill-fated trip to the Polytechnic, only to be shouted down by students chanting one of the symbolic slogans of today – Marg bar Diktator, or “Death to the Dictator”.
The students were therefore motivated and cohesive in their turn-out yesterday. Brazenly defying the heightened security atmosphere, which led to yet another round of arrests amongst activists in the past few weeks and the presence of heavy-handed security forces over all central Tehran yesterday, tens of thousands of students took control of prestigious campuses such as the Polytechnic, University of Tehran, Sharif and Ahmadinejad’s own alma mater, Science and Technology University. Indeed, their presence was so overwhelming that the security forces tactfully remained on the sidelines, conducting arrests just outside university perimeters and harrassing ordinary people who attempted to join the protestors within campuses. It was therefore a manifestation of the character and resilience of the opposition, which is now capable of organising spontaneous large scale demonstration through the mobilisation of only part of its forces (students in this case), and does not even consult with the leadership nor require them to be on the streets. In this sense, the potential of the Green wave of today is higher than the gigantic crowds that drove the Shah from power at the end of 1978, which crucially relied upon a highly organised and effectively clerical-secular leadership. Read the rest of this entry »
As a little light relief this weekend we’re inaugurating our first ever Enduring America Caption Contest. The rules are simple: leave your caption(s) in the comments and the one we like best will win a fabulous prize our undying admiration.
Thanks to Catherine for suggesting the original image.
UPDATE: due to a great response and in honour of Azar 16 we’re extending the contest through today, before putting it to a vote Tuesday and announcing a winner Wednesday.
Below is Gordon Brown’s speech on foreign policy, delivered at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet. (Transcript via Number10.gov.uk):
My Lord Mayor, my late Lord Mayor, your grace, my Lord Chancellor, your excellencies, my Lords, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Chief Commoner, ladies and gentlemen.
We live in no ordinary times.
A year into dealing with the greatest economic challenge for generations – the first global financial recession.
A few weeks before the most important climate change decisions in human history.
A few months ahead of nuclear negotiations that could for the first time genuinely bind the world to cooperate and not proliferate.
And we meet just as America and NATO are making vital choices about how to continue and win the fight against global terrorism.
These are the four great issues of our time, and what they have in common is that – global in nature – they require global solutions. None can be answered by one country or one continent in isolation.
We’ve had a few queries lately about our choice of site name: some people wonder what we’re doing covering Iran or Afghanistan with a name like “Enduring America”, and a few others think that we’re clearly a CIA-funded front (we’re not). I thought I’d take advantage of a quiet day on EA and write a quick post explaining why we chose the name and what it means to us.
For those who didn’t catch the reference, Enduring America takes its inspiration from Operation Enduring Freedom. We were struck by the ambiguity behind this name, with “Freedom” being both enduring and endured. This double meaning is also present in our feelings towards America and US foreign policy: is it enduring or endured? Or both?
Secondly, and vitally for this blog, is there anywhere in the world where America and its foreign policy has no impact? We think not. While we build from analysis of American politics and foreign policy, it’s clear that we cannot limit ourselves to the borders of the United States.
And finally, on a more practical note, we were constrained by what was already out there. As anyone who’s ever launched a website will know, finding an original site name and domain these days is no mean feat. “Enduring America” fit the bill for this too.
We’ve been running for just over a year now- here’s to Enduring America for many more years to come.
Iran: Analysis of 16 Azar continues. We have two separate reports from EA sources, Josh Shahryar’s review of the day’s protests, and a hat tip to our readers for helping EA find its way into the Wall Street Journal. We also have the latest videos from yesterday’s marches, and have started a new post for those from today. Of course, all the latest news is in today’s liveblog.
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