Analogise This!
Those who study history are doomed to recycle it?
Jeremi Suri is a history professor at the University of Wisconsin and author of “Henry Kissinger and the American Century.” He writes on The Huffington Post [doubling up on History News Network] that Nixon’s overture to China offers a model for how the US might cuddle up to Iran.
“Thirty-six years later the historical parallels are striking…Leaders in Washington and Tehran need one another as never before. The time is ripe for the White House to pursue a “China opening” with Iran.”
What a powerful vision! If Bush starts tomorrow and the past is perfectly replicated we can look forward to five more years of the Iraq War, millions of dead, Iran and the US allying to back a Pol Pot-ish regime in the region and Iran invading Iraq! After a while the US and Iran can pair up and fund future Ben Laden’s in whatever approximation of Afghanistan can be ginned up. Who gets to play the Soviet Union?
Further problems might arise if the parties have no interest in a deal, which would seem likely.
