{"id":279,"date":"2009-03-23T12:55:39","date_gmt":"2009-03-23T12:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2009\/03\/smart-power-obamas-video-to-ir.html"},"modified":"2009-03-23T12:55:39","modified_gmt":"2009-03-23T12:55:39","slug":"smart-power-obamas-video-to-ir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/03\/smart-power-obamas-video-to-ir.html","title":{"rendered":"smart power: Obama’s video to Iran provokes fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke extensively of “smart power”<\/a> in her description of how America’s foreign policy would seek to engage the world. Obama’s video message to Iran<\/a>, on the occassion of Nowruz, is destined to become a case study for “smart power”, given that it probably did more to influence the upcoming Iranian elections in our favor and towards the path to reform than any sanctions or “axis of evil” rhetoric ever could have. As reported by the Associated Press, Obama’s video sparked a negative reaction from Tehran<\/a>, precisely because they recognize it’s threat:<\/p>\n

\n

Obama’s overture comes ahead of national elections in June.
\nAhmadinejad faces a tough campaign against reformists, who favor better
\nties with the West and the United States.<\/p>\n

The reformists, led by former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi,
\nmay try to use promises to thaw the nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze to
\ngain votes. In contrast, conservatives may get caught between
\nmaintaining their tough position or offering some opening for dialogue
\nwith Washington.<\/p>\n

At the least, Obama’s overtures put pressure on hard-liners to
\njustify their anti-American stance to Iranians, said Karim Sadjadpour,
\nan Iran expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for
\nInternational Peace.<\/p>\n

Previously, the hard-liners have been able to blame the impasse on Bush, who was widely unpopular in Iran.<\/p>\n

“Rather than tip the scales in favor of (hard-line) radicals, as the
\nBush administration did, I think Obama’s efforts at diplomacy will
\nundermine them and puncture their narrative of a hostile U.S.
\ngovernment bent on oppressing Iran,” Sadjadpour said.<\/p>\n

Obama’s acknowledgment of Iran’s rich history and culture will
\nundoubtedly resonate well here and could encourage calls for leaders to
\nbegin deeper contacts.<\/p>\n

But all depends on Khamenei, who holds the last word on any major
\npolicy decisions. Without backing from the ruling clerics, no
\ndiplomatic initiatives toward Washington are possible and could work in
\nAhmadinejad’s favor in the campaign.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The point of Obama’s message was not to influence policy, however. It was simply to generate goodwill at teh grassroots level among the Iranian population, which in turn will generate upwards pressure which will benefit candidates for reform. We aren’t going to see a change in Iran’s atitude overnight, but rather as part of a long-term process of engagement with the people who really matter – the Iranians themselves. No wonder the mullahs are scared.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke extensively of “smart power” in her description of how America’s foreign policy would seek to engage the world. Obama’s video message to Iran, on the occassion of Nowruz, is destined to become a case study for “smart power”, given that it probably did more to influence the upcoming Iranian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[121,57,43,124,26],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nation-building","tag-foreign-policy","tag-iran","tag-obama-administration","tag-pli","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nsmart power: Obama's video to Iran provokes fear - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"smart power: Obama's video to Iran provokes fear - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke extensively of “smart power” in her description of how America’s foreign policy would seek to engage the world. 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City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}