...dentifies the inescapable politicization of historical memory; senior clerics, Mousavi, and grassroots demonstrators, all contend to redefine, rewrite, and reclaim the meaning of Iranian history as their own. Always, the year 1979 is imprinted indelibly within the political imaginations of those involved in today’s events. In 1979, left-wing student and working-class organizations spearheaded the mass opposition to the horrifying oppressions of t...
...o took away the honor of “Best Picture.” The film, adapted from a book written by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio, recounts the high-stakes mission conducted by CIA and Canadian officials to rescue six Americans from Tehran in 1979. These American embassy workers had previously escaped from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran after Iranians stormed the compound, overtook it, and held its inhabitants hostage for the next 444 days. This episode has since bec...
...ment in London – lacked direct control over their vote and the discourse that surrounded it. Lasting from the introduction of devolution legislation in 1976 aimed at creating a Scottish parliament with limited power until the 1979 vote, the fight became a shady one as ruthless factionalism took hold. In a move that perhaps epitomizes the injustice of the process, George Cunningham, a Labour MP from Scotland strongly opposed to devolution, pushed...
...ir agendas included financial assistance for Egypt, the rise of political Islam, and the United States’ stance on Egypt’s transition. But at the core of talks remained one concern that has governed the region for decades: the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The treaty has done wonders for the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia by isolating Iran in the region. As long as this treaty is upheld, any leadership change in Egypt is irr...
...be Prime Minister.” Sadat turned to Mubarak and surprisingly (but providentially) responded, “No, Hosni, good news. We can do business with him.” With recent and serious lawlessness in the Sinai making daily headlines and the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty meaning less and less to the peoples of both countries, Netanyahu can and should begin to do business with Egypt’s newly elected president, Mohamed Morsi. There is a unique opportunity toda...
...nds its nuclear program for energy or for weapons, Ahmadinejad has utilized international debate to silence domestic opposition, promoting nationalistic pride to rally Iranians behind the government. Almost 30 years after the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran has failed to deliver the promise of a free, liberal society. Democratic ideals of freedom and self-governance have remained elusive for those who joined the revolution to end th...
From Wikimedia Commons “We are a group of Iranian mothers, representing different ethnicities and religions. We are mothers who have spent our youth fighting the dictatorship of the Shah and imperialism. We are mothers who joined the [1979] revolution in the hopes of achieving a free and prosperous Iran and…ensuring justice.” They are the Mothers for Peace, a group of Iranian women with the aim of preventing violence in the country and pr...
from Wikimedia Commons The 2011 nuclear power plant disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan was the most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The large release of radioactive material created a regional public health concern, and fear about the safety of nuclear power has lead Japan to plan to permanently shut down all of its nuclear plants by 2040. This shift bears resemblance to the effect of the 1979 Three Mile Island accid...
...rican or Israeli strike on Tehran, and a message for those today who see history as static and the future as fixed. The MEK was founded in 1963 in opposition to the Western-backed Shah, and supported the Islamist overthrow in 1979 (a widely supported and somewhat reasonable endeavor at the time). Things started to turn ugly very quickly, and the MEK soon after found itself supporting the takeover of the U.S. embassy. But after this, illustrating...
...rcent to 32 percent in the 1980s and 36 percent in the 1990s indicates, more of the poor are simply remaining poor. Furthermore, while the real household income of the lowest fifth of American earners grew by 6.4 percent from 1979 to 2000, the top-fifth’s household income saw a 70 percent increase and the top 1 percent enjoyed a 184 percent increase in household income over this 21 year period. With an ever-growing chasm between rich and poor Ame...
Follow us at
Like us on
Recent Comments