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What Liberals and Conservatives Get Wrong About the Islamic Republic

JL;DR SUMMARY Samuel J. Hyde critiques the Western approach to Iran's Islamic Republic, arguing that both liberals and conservatives fundamentally misunderstand revolutionary movements. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Middle EastIranU.S. Israel RelationsWestern DiplomacyJcpoaHistorical AnalysisIslamic RepublicProxy WarfareRevolutionary MovementsIdeological Networks

Places mentioned

Washington, Washington DC, United States
"By abandoning the incremental strategies that had characterized American policy for years and moving directly against one of the worlds most entrenched revolutionary regimes, Washington and Jerusalem have disrupted the aura of permanence that had come to surround the Islamic Republics rule."
Jerusalem, Israel
"By abandoning the incremental strategies that had characterized American policy for years and moving directly against one of the worlds most entrenched revolutionary regimes, Washington and Jerusalem have disrupted the aura of permanence that had come to surround the Islamic Republics rule."
Iran
"The Islamic Republic was never attempting to normalize itself within the international order; it was attempting to reshape that order."
China
"Maos revolutionaries imagined history beginning anew through permanent struggle."
Cambodia
"The Khmer Rouge, the communist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, carried the idea to its most extreme conclusion, attempting to erase society itself in pursuit of a purified revolutionary world."
Lebanon
"Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, militias across Iraq and Syria each became a component in a widening ideological network."
Gaza, Palestinian Territories
"Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, militias across Iraq and Syria each became a component in a widening ideological network."
Yemen
"Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, militias across Iraq and Syria each became a component in a widening ideological network."
Iraq
"Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, militias across Iraq and Syria each became a component in a widening ideological network."
Syria
"Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, militias across Iraq and Syria each became a component in a widening ideological network."
Russian Federation
"The Bolsheviks did not seek to reform the Russian Empire; they sought to destroy it."
Germany
"A similar dynamic appeared in Germany in 1933."

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Cairo Item ID 77160
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Retrieved 2026-03-08 05:30:54 UTC
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