(Christian Science Monitor) Chuck Freilich - Iran has all the same elements that have brought about the uprisings in the Arab world - even more so. Iran's burgeoning young population is as large as anywhere in the region and actually far more educated and involved in worldwide social and political trends. As with the young populations of other parts of the region, Iran's youth suffer from the same dire unemployment, lack of opportunity, and suffocating oppression. Regime change in Iran should be the No. 1 priority in the Middle East today and is an issue on which virtually all U.S. allies, in the region and beyond, can agree. Instead of continuing to harbor futile hopes of engagement with Tehran, which the Obama administration itself acknowledges will probably not work, what is needed is a U.S.-led effort, both public and behind the scenes, to make the regime crack. The writer is an International Security Program senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
2011-04-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive