tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post8436291596805570993..comments2024-01-16T08:40:53.682+00:00Comments on <a href="http://www.openeurope.org.uk">Open Europe</a>: Is the EU making war in Iran more likely?OEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556463374230498875noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-84139941390454352682008-04-10T20:47:00.000+01:002008-04-10T20:47:00.000+01:00The German Ability for Solving the Iran Crisis wit...The German Ability for Solving the Iran Crisis with the EU<BR/><BR/>First off, let me set a record straight on this: I am by no means a professional writer or political analyst. I am a college student in New Hampshire in the US, asked to write up a blog entry correspondent to a paper I wrote. As I was reading through many of the blog entries here, I noticed more and more that Germany was a big trade partner with Iran, and I had not really realized that. The thesis of my paper (however ignorant it may come across as, being an American observing and studying European politics closely for the first time in a serious manner) was that Germany was a model nation in the EU for integration and political and cultural progress. Germany’s progress after the fall of the Berlin wall seemed to stand out to me and their technologically savvy people seemed to fit the bill, so to speak, as a model of political congruency. So please, when you’re reading this, however critical you may be of this blog entry, please remember I am rather foreign to European politics outside of what I have learned in reading the news and classroom situations, and I have also never been to Europe at all. That being said, here is what I have to say.<BR/><BR/>The crisis in Iran, in my eyes, seems like only a quasi-crisis. Obviously, an Iran with nuclear capabilities can be an apparently dangerous situation, especially when there are people (such as the author of this blog http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-eu-making-war-in-iran-more-likely.html) who have the notion that Iran has plans of international scale violence and world domination plans. I have a few gripes with this, personally.<BR/><BR/>First off, I think that if there are any nations in the world that have just about as little political transparency as possible, Iran might fit into a list of the top ten nations on that list. It is vital to remember that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is as far away from being president in Iran save having that title. Sure, he has some political power, but remember that his views do not line up completely with what Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s do. His goals upon becoming president were about mobilizing the economy in order to make Iran a strong nation once again. Yet, with Khamenei over his head, it seems that perhaps Ahmadinejad has become the political puppet for Khamenei. Ahmadinejad is said to be ultra-conservative, but I still do not see how that lines up with his promises to Iran during his campaign process. Personally, I feel that Ahmadinejad is a hot head trying to rile the world in order to bring Iran to the forefront of the news headlines, and to try and come up with some notion of national pride. This of course is unfortunate as the population in Iran is at about 50% under 25 years of age. Any sort of goals for progress through means of aggression simply are not going to do well for Iran in the long run for the generation of young people.<BR/><BR/>It is obvious Germany is under pressure from the West. This pressure comes from Sarkozy in France, and undoubtedly the US.<BR/><BR/>The third set of sanctions on Iran might not be exactly what the West hopes it will turn out for. I think it is inevitable that Iran is going to develop a nuclear program. The most that we can hope for right now is that we can try and get more transparency in the program and try and shift it to the public sector more than all the secretive work it is being conducted under. The US simply cannot hope that a sanction is going to stop a nation like Iran, who has plenty of reasons to distrust the US in the first place, from doing something that they deem necessary. What we do know is that Iran is in a very volatile spot in the world, and with Israel right next door, with seemingly no reluctance to have to use force to put an end to Iran’s nuclear aspirations. The UN Security Council is a little blind to believe that the sanctions are truly going to work, especially when there is little pressure from China or Russia to halt the program.<BR/><BR/>After reading the opinions of many, especially in this BBC open comment forum (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4404&edition=2&ttl=20080403180416), their ‘Have Your Say’ section, I think it is more than about time the UN and the West rethinks their policies on Israel in general. Germany obviously has closer ties to Iran with their trade relations, which can put them at an upper hand in talks with Ahmadinejad and other important figureheads. Of course, this would have to mean that Germany would have to shape up its policy a bit.<BR/><BR/>The adoption of Western doctrines, such as sanctions, clearly is not going to halt Iran’s nuclear program. At best, the West and the EU can hope for a slowed process of Iran’s uranium enrichment programs. However, if the UN can successfully try and work out issues concerning Israel and Middle-Eastern relations, it can bring more transparency to the program.<BR/><BR/>Relations with Israel and Iran are likely a long shot, but it would be a start. With Iran allegedly reprocessing plutonium (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6966071.stm), it is absolutely crucial that the world work together in trying to bring about light of the situation for the safety of the West, the EU, the Allied forces in Iraq, and Israel as well. Germany has had a past of working towards unification of its own divided people. With so much business happening between Germany and Iran, it makes sense that two important business partners can try and work out this situation together.<BR/><BR/>If the West is to keep up with their idea that sanctions are going to work out in the long run, I think it will only inevitably spark more abhorrence for the West from Iran. Sanctions on an already economically crippled nation will do nothing to show Iranians that we do offer them the ability to be a successful nation. If the EU, especially Germany if it can bring about new policy strategies, and the West all work together to show Iran that we support the nation, but not its nuclear program, progress may be possible for the nation as well as peaceful relations.zbooherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11278737892436604821noreply@blogger.com