Iranian Revolution 2022
The Iranian Revolution of 2022 is an independent podcast series at Politics365.com aimed at connecting, uniting and empowering the many voices of the Iranian people, activists, academics, think tanks & political leaders in the hopes of shaping a constructive conversation on the future of Iran. No one is in charge here and no one person can be the voice of the Iranian people, this struggle or what the future should look like. However, in an effort to guide a civil discourse amongst ourselves maybe we can agree on a few basic guiding principles:
First, we all want the Iranian people to have the right to free speech, self determination & representative government,
Second, we all want to unite the many voices of the Iranian community, respect opposing points of view and come together to help the Iranian people in a meaningful way,
Third, we all want the Regime to immediately cease its human rights abuses and be held accountable to its people,
Fourth, we all want the US & foreign governments, media & (tech) companies to support this struggle in any way that promotes Iranian self determination (not intervention), and
Fifth, we all (hopefully) want to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power to a representative (secular) government in 2023. We can have an entirely different conversation as to what form of new government the Iranian people will choose.
Will you join us by recommending a voice you’d like to hear more from, volunteer with our social media team or provide feedback on how we can do better? Drop us a line today.
If you concur with these guiding principles (especially respecting opposing points of view), then you know we can’t get there alone, angry and not united. Can you imagine a free Iran in 2023? We can. Help us shepherd a constructive and civil discourse on this podcast series (or on your preferred platform) so we can better understand the issues that matter, get organized for success and help the Iranian people with this inevitable transition in 2023. Time is short, there are a great many unknowns and we have a lot of work to do, together.
And if we get this podcast series right, we want to partner with independent institutions, think tanks and universities to organize a series of town halls to empower your voices to drive the positive changes we all want to see.
In this podcast series, we want to dig into the following difficult questions (as a start):
1. The role, background & contributions of our activist/policy/leader/media guests and what they are doing to support our guiding principles.
2. Looking at the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq, OPEC, etc), how do you see recent events in Iran fitting into US foreign policy?
3. As an Iranian expatriate (or engaged party), what’s your gut reaction to recent events; frustrated, angry, cautiously optimistic, disconnected or committed till the end? How do you view all the many voices participating in external protests? Have you noticed the cancel-culture trend?
4. What does success look like at the end of these protests-revolutionary events? What do you think are the list of demands of the Iranian people? Regime change? No Hijab law? A new constitution? Do you think what the expatriate community is demanding and what the Iranian people are capable of achieving, can or should be reconciled within the current momentum of these protests-revolution (2023)?
5. If Regime change is on the horizon, what would an off-ramp look like for the elite: escape Iran, resign, exile or prosecution? What about the millions of bureaucrats that may have to stay behind? The armed forces? Is there a list of elites that should be prosecuted or immediately resign/escape, regardless?
6. What can the US government reasonably do with so many distractions in Ukraine, midterm elections, Jan 6 committee, inflation, recession, etc? Will more sanctions help? What type of funding or legislation can have an impact? Will working with the UN or other international agencies? Iran’s membership in the UN Human Rights Committee?
7. What about sanctions & the Iran Deal? Is the Iran Deal dead? Are sanctions here to stay? Will they change the Regime’s behavior or hurt ordinary Iranians?
8. What do you think US-Iran relations will evolve to in 2023 under Biden or the next president? Will it be a campaign issue?
9. How can Iranian expatriates help?Tech companies?
10. Finally, what does a post-Regime Iran look like? Will remnants of the Regime be allowed to run for office? Will secularism become the law of the land? Any revenge or legal prosecutions? How far away are free & fair elections?
Latest guests on the Politics365.com special podcast series on the Iranian Revolution of 2022:
Alidad Mafnesam, President, West Asia Council
Barbara Slavin, Director, Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council
Marjan Keypour Greenblatt, Founder/Director, Alliance for Rights of All Minorities
Kian Meshkat, Sanctions Attorney, Of Counsel, Ferrari & Associates
No one has all the answers but together, we want to work with you, citizen journalists/activists, think thanks, policy leaders, universities and decision makers on what the future of Iran can be. We are always looking for more luminaries, influencers & change agents to engage in media, politics, business & more. Who do you want to hear from?