Will an Iranian Gorbachev stand up?
To historians of the Soviet Union, the pivotal figure in ending the Cold War was Mikhail Gorbachev. Coming after decades of reactionary, stagnant leadership, Gorbachev’s ability to acknowledge reality was the beginning of the end for Lenin’s cruel experiment.
It is also widely accepted that the Soviet Union ceased to exist because the Soviet Union failed. For decades, the Soviet Union projected an image of military strength, but this belied a decrepit society, where resources were badly misallocated and the standard of living was dire.
Military was heavily funded at the expense of citizens’ basic needs, like food and healthcare. Even the areas that did receive government attention lagged far, far behind their Western counterparts.
As the much-lauded HBO series “Chernobyl” showed, infrastructure for nuclear energy was dangerously overtaxed and a highly bureaucratized power structure protected those at the top while ensuring that mid-level management followed orders and those even lower down were forbidden from expressing dissenting views.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, like the USSR, is rotting from within.
But like the Soviet Union, we treat Iran like it’s a highly developed nation — when it’s not.
Like the Soviet Union, Iran has invested heavily into its military at the expense of its citizenry.
Like the Soviet Union, Iran’s military isn’t quite what it projects. Poor radar systems, failure to clear airspace, mistakenly hitting the wrong targets — the downing of the civilian Ukrainian airliner symbolizes the lie of Iran’s claims of military might.
Like with Chernobyl, Iran is busy with arrests and setting up kangaroo courts to try the “individuals” responsible for the downed airliner, when it is the entire system of governance that is responsible.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is decaying. But until a Gorbachev stands up, life for Iranians will continue to deteriorate.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
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