A Guide to the Crisis That Is Iran

Author: Michael Moran  ·  October 4th, 2011  ·  286http%3A%2F%2Fwww.economonitor.com%2Fmoran%2F2011%2F10%2F04%2Fa-guide-to-the-crisis-that-is-iran%2FA+Guide+to+the+Crisis+That+Is+Iran2011-10-04+14%3A48%3A47Michael+Moranhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.economonitor.com%2Fmoran%2F%3Fp%3D286 › Share This Print

When we imagine the problems that will vex the world in the coming decades, often there is an abstract quality to the exercise. What posture will a Chinese superpower adopt in Asia. Will Russia, post-Putin, take another shot at democratic reforms? Can Germany continue to defy economic gravity? Climate change is the classic in this speculative category, accepted by the vast majority of scientists as a truly serious challenge to humanity yet still susceptible to those who insist science not only show it is happening, but to prove that it isn’t happening for naturally occurring reasons. (Proving a negative, of course, is nearly impossible).

One problem that has a more tangible feel to it is Iran. Iran, even more than Pakistan or Afghanistan or North Korea, is both a nation and a global crisis. It’s mix of dynamism, energy resources, fanatical zeal, democratic aspirations and global ambitions add up to a powder keg. This is the subject of my most recent multimedia work, “Crisis Guide: Iran.”

The Crisis Guides are an ambitious, award-winning series underwritten by the Council on Foreign Relations, where I served as executive editor from 2005 to 2009. I conceived these guides as an opportunity to create something that delves far beyond the headlines and even the typical analysis that appears in weekly and monthly journals. With CFR’s support, I’ve been proud to serve as executive editor (along with my collaborator at MediaStorm.org, Brian Storm), on seven of these guides. Three have been nominated for documentary Emmy awards. Two – one on the global financial crisis, another on Darfur – have won.

Please take some time with this guide. So many questions about Iran have no firm answers – how will it evolve, will the pro-democracy movement be crushed, will Iran proceed with construction of a nuclear weapon, will its efforts draw a military response, and how would such a response be contained? There may be no place in the world where so little certainty is attached to questions of such importance. Set aside a few minutes and soak it in.

MM