Conversations with History Blog

Shirin Ebadi and the Struggle for Human Rights in Iran

At the Conversations with History site, a recent interview with Shirin Ebadi has just been posted.  The Nobel Laureate offers a moving account of her courageous life's work in behalf of women's and children's rights.  The transcript and video on demand  of the interview are here http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Ebadi/ebadi-con0.html Here http://www.uctv.tv/cwh/ is information about its national broadcast on the EchostarDish network during the week of July 16th. Her new book, Iran Awakening,  is a compelling, multi layered account that tells the story of her family, her country and the role of law in the conflict between tradition and modernity.  The book vividly chronicles how U.S. intervention in the last fifty years has affected all three dimensions.This is a story not only of the rise of religious fundamentalism in her native land but also a story of the unintended consequences of U.S. intervention in Iranian affairs in the last fifty years--the overthrow of Mossadegh, the support of the Shah, the aid to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War. Through Ebadi's narrative we learn how the United States is both a beacon of hope for the human rights struggle and a superpower whose intervention over the years has had the unintended consequences of setting back these efforts.  Ebadi is an extraordinary human rights lawyer but also an Iranian patriot.  Her book should be read for important insights into the contradictory role the United States plays in that troubled region.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson and the Clash of World Views

The Bush Administration's foreign policy is unraveling, and its primary architect, Vice President Cheney may soon be a defendant in a civil suit brought by former CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson, IV.  In the conflict between two former public servants--Plame and Wilson--and officials of the Bush administration--Cheney, Rove, and Libby-- it is worth recalling that Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in going public on the abuse of intelligence by the Bush administration, represented a different world view of how U.S. foreign policy should be conducted.  The Conversations with History interview with Ambassador Wilson, taped May 27, 2005, explores his career in the foreign service and how that career shaped his perspective on the use of intelligence, multilateral versus unilateral responses to global probems, and the role of secrecy in subverting policy debates.  http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people4/Wilson/wilson-con0.html

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Ian Lustick, Bess M. Heyman Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, has just published a new book Trapped in the War on Terror (University of Pennsylvania Press).  Lustick was a recent guest on Conversations with History. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Lustick/lustick06-con0.html The book is a powerful attack on the logic of U.S. strategy and a compelling account of its consequences for domestic politics. In comparing the War on Terror with the Containment Doctrine of the Cold War, Lustick, drawing on his expertise in Middle East politics. demonstrates that, unlike Kennan's doctrine, Bush's War on Terror lacks a subtle understanding of the nature of our new adversary, the Islamic jihadists. He goes on to explicate how this flawed strategy has corrupted domestic politics.  His insights reminded me of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, "The Emperor Has No Clothes." Read the interview and then go buy the book. 

Action on Global Warming

Two recent interviews help us understand that some governments are serious about addressing the problem of global warming.   Both Sweden and Great Britain are proving to be innovative in this regard.  The first interview is with Sir David King,   Prime Minister Tony Blair's Science Advisor. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/King/king-con0.html  The second interview http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Liljelund/liljelund-con0.html is with Lars-Erik Liljelund,  Director of Sweden's Environmental Protection Agency. Both interviews provide fascinating accounts of the meshing of science and politics to create a public consensus on moving forward while experimenting with medium term national policies.