Archived Faced with a common foe, Iran and West should consider ending their estrangement (lowyinstitute.org)
submitted ago by AaronSwartzrolling
Posted by: AaronSwartzrolling
Posting time: 5.4 years ago on
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Archived on: 2/12/2017 1:51:00 AM
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Archived Faced with a common foe, Iran and West should consider ending their estrangement (lowyinstitute.org)
submitted ago by AaronSwartzrolling
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[–] AaronSwartzrolling [S] 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
In one Middle Eastern country, the practice of any religion other than Islam is banned, women are not allowed to drive, the screening of films is forbidden, there are no elections and last year 87 people were publicly beheaded.
In the other, religious minorities have seats reserved in parliament, and churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian temples to pray in, there are three female vice-presidents in the government, the country’s film directors have a worldwide reputation and one of its films won an Oscar in 2012, parliamentary and presidential elections take place, and the state does not behead people.
Yet the former country is a close ally of the West while in the past the latter has been labelled part of the “axis of evil” by the US.
The two countries are Saudi Arabia and Iran. And while the comparison above may seem somewhat trite and shallow, skipping over far more than it reveals, it is nonetheless a timely reminder of the way in which values can be subordinated to interests in the world of international relations.
[–] iamrage 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
The reason why the US prefers one over the other is fairly simple. Oppressive regimes are easier to manage (think puppet states) + oil
[–] Twelfth 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Dictators are reliable. You don't have to worry about them changing all the time with those damn elections.