Even before Niccolo Machiavelli, most nations were already Machiavellian. Machiavelli was simply sharing tactics, since he assumed there was already unanimity of motives. But history is a weird and winding road: As it turns out, not all nations were Machiavellian. Some refused to act in their own self-interest, brokering burdensome treaties, loans, and military obligations with their allies. Their motives ranged from the petty hubris of tyrants to the sincere moral convictions of benevolent states, and the graveyards of both World Wars are replete with examples.
Historically, the countries that don’t act in their own self-interest aren’t around anymore.
Iran is a new country, but a very ancient culture. Undoubtedly, its current Islamic identity has left an indelible imprint on its ethos, but its Persian heritage — one of the world’s most distinct cultures — has not been forgotten.
It’s one of the many reasons why Shia Iran is so different from the Sunni Arabs of the Middle East.
German philosopher Georg Wihelm Friedrich Hegel believed Persians were the “first historical people.” Archeologists have identified multiple settlements that date back at least 10,000 years. But these settlements certainly weren’t the first: Iran stood at the crossroads of human migration in the era that preceded generational memory. In fact, this land preceded Adam himself: There’s evidence it was originally populated by Neanderthals. Bistiun Cave, Kobeh, Kunji, Tamtama, Warwasi, and Yafteh Cave have all been identified as distinct Neanderthal settlements. We can only speculate on all the other Iranian cities and regions where the Neanderthals once roamed and ruled — their homes and holy temples blazed, razed, and destroyed countless times.
It creates an unusual backdrop.
Persia/Iran has fought in over FORTY major wars! And if you think that’s a big number, sit down: They had already fought in over forty major wars… by the time B.C. turned into A.D. Since then, they had another ONE HUNDRED wars… just up until the year 1200! From 1200 through 2024, add another ONE HUNDRED wars to the table. (How to differentiate a war from a battle — or something else — is up to you; Wikipedia has a comprehensive List of Wars Involving Iran you can consult.)
However you look at it, that’s an awful lot of wars.
Iranians aren’t going to look at the world the way Americans do. How both nations navigate history’s tides is dramatically different. American history is essentially English history, up until the New World settlements. So it goes from the story of England’s global ascension to the United States’ birth and global ascension. In an American’s mind, history is a tale of triumph.
To an Iranian, you win some, you lose some. History isn’t about ascension, but a long, eternal struggle that’s as timeless as the stars. Civilizations come and go; leaders rise and fall; Iran always lives to fight another day. Cyrus, Alexander, Babylon, Rome, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Mongols, the Ottomans, so on and so forth: They all came, they all bled, they all (eventually) left.
We’re in the waning days of a rudderless, brainless Biden administration, and the potential for bilateral miscalculations is enormous. Misjudging how an adversary will behave is the root cause of countless wars. The single most common mistake in geopolitics is misperceiving another nation’s motives — often by projecting your fears and values upon someone else.
Right now, Iran is attempting to influence the 2024 election by hurting Republicans. It’s a provocative escalation with an unpredictable outcome. Certainly, a nation like Iran has already considered the potential for blowback: When you meddle in the internal affairs of a larger, more powerful country, you better make damn sure you win — because if you don’t, you might get sacked.
That’s one of the lessons of Iranian history.
On Saturday, August 10, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “…Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincide with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee. This comes after recent reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump around the same time as the Butler, PA [assassination attempt] tragedy. The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House.”
Politico is the news organization that received the hacked information, which was a research dossier on J.D. Vance — including a section labeled “POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES” — along with the dossier on another VP candidate, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
The hackers also claimed that they were in possession of Trump’s legal and court documents.
While the extent of their breach is unclear, their motives seem transparent: They were imploring Politico to publish the information, even going as far as to coach the journalists on which questions they should ask, responding to an inquiry: “I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got [these documents] from. Any answer to this question, will compromise me and also legally restricts you from publishing them.”
So far, Politico hasn’t published the contents. It was the right decision, of course: Enabling an American adversary to illegally interfere in a presidential election is a slippery slope that just might leave you sloped off the roof. But they had to have been deeply tempted. After all, this was the stuff of liberal fever dreams: the Trump team’s private, confidential assessment of every conceivable weak spot J.D. Vance has! I’m sure it’s newsworthy. I’m sure there’s lots of stuff they’ll call “weird.”
And I’m also sure, if the Iranians' goal is to get this information out, Politico won’t be the last outlet they contact. Iran still has the data. They still have Trump’s emails and legal papers. If Politico won’t play ball, they’ll find someone who will.
Eventually.
It might take a short while. But with the proliferation of Mom & Pop media outlets, there are just too many options. Blasting Vance could make someone a hero to the liberal community. Nearly 30 years ago, Matt Drudge scooped the journalism world by breaking news of a certain intern in Bill Clinton’s White House. The Drudge Report became pretty big (and pretty profitable). There are liberal sites with similar dreams.
And even if the Iranians can’t find any American takers, they can always publish it on their own. Or post it on social media. The Internet is big. It’s just too easy for a wink-nod dissemination to take place.
So, eventually it’ll get posted somewhere. And then one “legitimate” media outlet will report on it, perhaps internationally, and this will green-light all the other outlets to join in (and/or shield themselves by reporting on the actions of another’s reporting, which is cowardly, but well within the media industry norms).
This approach lets them have their cake and eat it, too — and have all the fun of blindsiding the GOP without the unpleasant blowback.
Iran is a new country with a very old culture, and its memory goes back thousands of years. In 2018, Trump withdrew from Obama-Biden’s Iranian nuclear bribe, and in 2020 the Trump administration assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Iran might not look at the world the way America does, but after 10,000 years of wars and conflicts, they’ve learned how to be pragmatic.
And how to pick their moments.
Iran is scared of Trump. So they needed an ally — someone who was just as scared as they are.
Naturally, they turned to the media.
There’s an ancient Persian proverb: “Use your enemy’s hand to catch a snake.”
Gotta admit, it’s catchy. (The Persians have awesome proverbs.) And it summarizes this new, emerging Iranian-Media alliance perfectly.
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