A Lesson on Iran: Why Understanding Matters More than Power

This is a very timely episode with Paul Barker, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran for five years and understands and appreciates this ancient culture. It's fascinating that his best student there in the days of the Shah became one of the revolutionaries who overthrew the shah and wound up being a captor of a former Peace Corps Volunteer in the 444 days following the taking of hostages in 1979 . Paul Barker emphasizes the importance of understanding the people and culture of the countries targeted by military powers and laments the fact that those negotiating for a peace pact before the war on Iran were in the real estate business and couldn’t even understand what the Iranians were offering. It’s clear from this podcast that overthrowing the democratically elected leader of a country to put in someone who will do the bidding of our country is more likely to foment a revolution than to lead to long-lasting peace.