Bina, Cyrus

University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM): Digital Well

Bull in the China ShopIran Deal: the Tip of America’s DescentCopyright © 2019 Cyrus BinaCyrus BinaUniversity of Minnesota (Morris Campus)Invited by University Program of Studies on Asia and Africa, National Autonomous University of Mexico (Monday, September 30, 2019: 1:00 PM)Lecture II Outline	A synopsis on the American-Iranian relations and the historic betrayal of democracy led by the 1953 CIA coup d'état in Iran is a good starting point for focusing the cause of Iranian revolution in the late 1970s. The Specter of the International Petroleum Cartel (1928 - 1972) and the two pairs of bloody hands of two brothers – namely, John Foster and Allen Dulles - in the Eisenhower administration made all the difference in a history that after all these years in the best of times - not unlike the ghost of Hamlet’s Father - is still wreaking havoc with Iranian psyche. This injury was so deep that could not be alleviated by the reform programs aimed at both taming and bolstering the Shah by the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s. In the late 1960s and especially early 1970s, Nixon Doctrine in the Persian Gulf, on the one hand, and decartelization of oil, leading to massive oil revenues, on the other, polarized the Iranian masses and generously subsidized the US foreign policy in Persian Gulf.  The consequence was a popular revolution (1977-79) which in due time was crushed the supporters of Ruhollah Khomeini, cleric that had given a green light through a sequence events and actions, including taking sides (opting for  Brzezinski’s thesis, extending the green belt of Islam beneath the USSR) United States (and its allies) at the Guadalupe summit (January 4-7, 1979). The US honeymoon with Khomeini was soon over with takeover of US Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and the consequence was the imposition of heavy sanctions ten days later on Iran. Parallel with these mutual hostilities, as was demonstrated in our Lecture I, issues surrounding the question of Iran’s nuclear activity, even matters related to nuclear technology for civil and medical purposes were treated with aggressive stance. The Joint Comprehensive Olan of Action (JCPOA) is the only multilateral agreement that surely and squarely deals with a range of important issues not only relevant to Iran and the United States but also guarantees an equally agreed-upon relations with all interested parties throughout the world via the United Nations. Thus, Donald Trump’s unilateral abrogation of the JCPOA and insisting on a “better deal” is not only reckless but also of grave consequence for the status of the United States in the international community.  This assessment turns even more distressing when the shrunken US status will be taken into consideration as to the lack of global hegemony in the absence of the now defunct postwar Pax Americana (1945 – 1979). “Bull in the China Shop,” therefore, might be a fitting phrase for Donald Trump’s impulsive “Much Ado about Nothing.” (See the accompanied power-point presentation: “Bull in the China Shop” – Lecture II.) 		  2

Lecture II: Bull in the China Shop--Iran Deal: the Tip of America\u27s Descent

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University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM): Digital Well