	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COUNTRY WIKI \| COMMENT \| FORUM \| DOWNLOADS \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Nov-2011
30-Nov-11 World View -- Iran relives its glorious past as students storm Tehran's British embassy

Web Log - November, 2011

30-Nov-11 World View -- Iran relives its glorious past as students storm Tehran's British embassy

European finance ministers fail again to solve euro crisis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

* Iranian students voice outrage over Britain’s 'hostile' policies
* Iran's Revolutionary Guard behind the British Embassy attack
* Pakistan announces boycott of international Afghanistan conference
* European finance ministers fail again to solve euro crisis
* Eurozone and IMF leaders approve bailout payment to Greece
* Israel approves 119 new settler homes in Shilo in West Bank

Iranian students voice outrage over Britain’s 'hostile' policies

Iranian students at the British embassy on Tuesday (Time)

Iranian students at the British embassy on Tuesday (Time)

More than 20 Iranian students staged a large rally outside the British Embassy compound in Tehran on Tuesday, chanting “Death to Britain” and “Death to the United States.” The students entered the compound, shattered windows threw documents out the windows, and pulled down the embassy’s British flag and burned it. The police then stepped in, dispersed the protesters, and arrested a number of them. The students made the move in response to London’s imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program last week. Tehran Times

Iran's Revolutionary Guard behind the British Embassy attack

There was little attempt to hide the fact that this was an official Iranian protest. This was not a spontaneous student protest, such as the ones that Iran saw in 2009. These students included members of the paramilitary basij brigades and carried banners naming Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, which runs the overseas operations of the Revolutionary Guard. It was clear that the most hardline institutions of Iran's government -- the parliament, the judiciary and the supreme leader -- were behind the attack. The attack may well be part of the huge generational power struggle going on in Tehran, as the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was clearly not involved in the attack. Guardian

I've been covering Iran for years, and it continues to be the most fascinating country from the point of view of generational theory. Tuesday's attack on the British Embassy was an almost comical attempt to replay the student attack on the American Embassy in Tehran. That attack led to the Iranian hostage crisis that turned out to be "magic" for the Iran's Great Islamic Revolution, since it unified the entire country behind the man who led the overthrow of the Shah, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (See, for example, "China 'betrays' Iran, as internal problems in both countries mount" from 2008.)

The new supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would like to recapture the eroticism of his youth by replaying such events. What he doesn't understand is that something like that works only in an generational crisis era, which is where Iran was in 1979. Today, one generation past the Revolution and the Iran/Iraq war, Iran is in a generational awakening era, and the students are not going to unify behind the hardline leaders. Just like the students in America's last awakening era in the 1960s-70s rebelled against their parents, the survivors of WW II, today's students in Iran are rebelling against their own parents, the survivors of the Great Revolution. Tuesday's protest was a farce, and it proves the validity of the old saying, "There's no fool like an old fool."

Pakistan announces boycott of international Afghanistan conference

Supporters of a Pakistani religious party rally and condemn Nato, in Lahore on Tuesday (AP)

Supporters of a Pakistani religious party rally and condemn Nato, in Lahore on Tuesday (AP)

At a meeting in Lahore on Tuesday, Pakistan's cabinet decided to boycott a key international conference on the Afghanistan war, to be held in Germany next month. Pakistan's boycott will make the international meeting almost pointless. Pakistan is ramping up its protest over the recent Nato air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistani fury against Nato and the West has been growing steadily every since the May 2 military action that killed Osama bin Laden in a suburb of Islamabad. Popular Anti-American protests have been growing steadily, demanding that all ties with the Americans be cut, even if it means losing American aid. AFP

European finance ministers fail again to solve euro crisis

With the eurozone collapsing all around them, finance ministers of the 17 eurozone countries met in Brussels on Tuesday but failed again to agree to terms of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the "Big Bazooka" bailout fund that they're fantasizing will save the euro. Things have gotten so bad that regional banks are now afraid to deposit money with the European Central Bank (ECB), for fear that there will be delays in getting it back when they need it. Telegraph

Eurozone and IMF leaders approve bailout payment to Greece

As expected, the next €8 billion bailout payment to Greece has been approved by the eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund, despite the fact that Greece has not met the conditions that have been set for receiving the payment. However, not providing the bailout money would have caused Greece to go bankrupt by mid-December, triggering a nation banking collapse that would spread to a banking collapse throughout the eurozone, and so the finance officials had to provide the bailout payment whether Greece has complied or not. However, bickering between ministers in the new interim government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is increasing again, creating doubts that the austerity measures that have already been committed will be implemented. Kathimerini (Athens)

Israel approves 119 new settler homes in Shilo in West Bank

Israel has approved construction of 119 additional settler homes in the West Bank settlement of Shilo, a move that is likely to draw widespread condemnation. An additional 50 units that had begun construction illegally, without the necessary government permits, were approved retroactively. The Palestinian Authority condemned the construction of new homes, saying that such moves kill what remains of the "peace process," as if any "peace process" still exists at all. AFP and Gulf News

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 30-Nov-11 World View -- Iran relives its glorious past as students storm Tehran's British embassy thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (30-Nov-2011) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

Web Log Pages

Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Nov-2011 30-Nov-11 World View -- Iran relives its glorious past as students storm Tehran's British embassy

Iranian students voice outrage over Britain’s 'hostile' policies

Iran's Revolutionary Guard behind the British Embassy attack

Pakistan announces boycott of international Afghanistan conference

European finance ministers fail again to solve euro crisis

Eurozone and IMF leaders approve bailout payment to Greece

Israel approves 119 new settler homes in Shilo in West Bank

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 30-Nov-2011
30-Nov-11 World View -- Iran relives its glorious past as students storm Tehran's British embassy