TM Lutas’s thoughtful post is worth reading, as is this post by Thomas Barnett, to which Lutas links. I don’t agree with Barnett’s conclusion but he makes his version of the “soft kill” case well.
UPDATE: Barnett comments on Lutas’s post.
2 thoughts on ““Hard Kill v Soft Kill in Iran””
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I admire Barnetts work. But there is something missing in his idea of connectivity. It only works in a market economy. When a government becomes independent of the taxes of it’s citizens, by relying on the natural ressources (like oil), this government is not interested in opening up the country – and it doesn’t need to do it.
This is the case with Iran. There is no chance to co-opt and integrate the country into the core, as long as the regime is in a position to corrupt the countries elites by spreading oil wealth.