Sure non-violent resistance can work in Iran

Problem is, there is no telling when.

The question “Can Non-Violent Resistance Work in Iran?” was posed Friday by Karim Sadjadpour to a panel at the Carnegie Endowment featuring former Italian ambassador in Tehran Roberto Toscano and Iranian political philosopher (and former political prisoner) Ramin Jahanbegloo.

No surprise the panel thought non-violent resistance might work and is not naive. Jahanbegloo emphasized that it is a strategic (not a moral) imperative, in particular if civil society is to win the day. Regime oppression of the Green Movement is a sign that it is a real threat.

Toscano agreed, saying that violence and politics are alternatives. Violence may achieve quick results, but at the cost of longer-term problems, because it undermines the legitimacy of the revolutionary movement. Violence divides people, and the resulting revolution has to defend itself from those who did not support it. Nonviolence enhances legitimacy by widening support. Iran, Toscano underlined, is autocratic, not totalitarian, rather like Italian Fascism.

Jahanbegloo thinks the Green Movement still has a good deal of capability, as it is a civic movement with real, indigenous, grass roots support. It needs to focus on undermining media and military support for the regime. Because of its dispersed leadership, the Movement is hard to decapitate. Women have been particularly important among the Greens, and more of them are in prison than men.

Agreeing that the lack of a clearly defined leadership structure strengthens the movement, Toscano noted that the regime also lacks a single target–it is an oligarchy that relies increasingly on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its recycled alumni, and far less than in the past on the clerical establishment, who are not united in supporting the theocracy. The Greens need to build a more democratic political culture–to some degree they already have–by emphasizing human rights.

Jahanbegloo noted that the Greens have lost the enormous mass support that they had in the past. They need to rebuild, maintaining nonviolent discipline and establishing a better rapport with the security forces. They are also lacking support from “the bazaar,” business interests. But they are correct to define themselves as a broad civic movement and need to learn from their failures, as the Czechs did.

What can outsiders do to help the Greens? They need to maintain a consistent, principled approach and target human rights violators. At the same time, they have to realize that on the nuclear issue and on Iran’s regional role as a great power, the Greens do not disagree fundamentally with the regime.

Daniel Serwer

Share
Published by
Daniel Serwer
Tags: Iran

Recent Posts

Nuclear Iran – facts, goals and opportunity 

President Trump’s decision to kill the Iran nuclear deal was an obvious failure. Lack of…

2 days ago

Winning the war with equanimity

As I prepare to leave Kyiv Wednesday, here are notes on issues not covered in…

1 week ago

Ukraine’s opportunities and threats

Western appeasement would be a serious mistake. Ending Putin's threat to Ukraine will prevent war…

1 week ago

Ukraine’s strengths and weaknesses

Whatever the strengths and weaknesses on the Ukrainian side, Moscow will not implement whatever it…

1 week ago

Culture, religion, and education in Ukraine

We shouldn't expect world class museums, performances, and universities. When we find them, they merit…

1 week ago

Rebuilding Ukraine: Hopes and Challenges

I'll be speaking at the Kyiv School of Economics Monday, also via Zoom. Please join:…

2 weeks ago