https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/06/19/waiting-for-iran/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usThu, 11 Jun 2026 01:11:48 -0400<![CDATA[Michael Totten describes Iran as a great nation trapped in the straitjacket of tyranny. He quotes Robert Kaplan who says, &#8220;of all the shatter zones in the greater Middle East, the Iranian core is unique: The instability Iran will cause will not come from its implosion, but from a strong, internally coherent Iranian nation that explodes outward from a natural geographic platform to shatter the region around it.” A big part of the problem in predicting the long term outcome of the drama in Iran &#8212; and a major reason why analysts could not anticipate it &#8212; arises from the interplay between a genuinely dynamic society and the political factions within it. This is not just a struggle &#8220;among great men&#8221;, which was probably what the analysts were watching. In this case, it is truer than usual to say that the &#8220;will of the people&#8221; will play a big part in how this ends in Iran.]]>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:33:31 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2009/06/19/waiting-for-iran-n188564