[San Francisco Chronicle] Matthew B. Stannard - Divestment as a means of pressuring foreign governments has become increasingly popular, with proponents pointing to the example of South Africa, said David Cortright, president of the Fourth Freedom Forum in Goshen, Ind., which focuses on using economic power to resolve international conflicts. "The beginning of the end for the apartheid regime came around '86 and '87 when the big banks in New York rolled over South Africa's debt short term," he said. Soon after, some in government began to encourage negotiations with imprisoned anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. But Iran is not South Africa, said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Like UN sanctions, divestment may impact the average Iranian, he said, but may not affect the ruling elite's positions.
2007-06-07 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive