TEHRAN/DAMASCUS/NEW YORK -- In the past three weeks I have had the slightly hectic but immense pleasure of visiting Tehran, Damascus and New York -- from the Axis of Evil to the Great Satan, as they sometimes refer to each other. From speaking to politically plugged-in people and ordinary citizens in these three wonderful cities, I can confidently announce that we are all in much greater trouble than appears to be the case on the surface.
A catastrophe awaits us all, if immoderation prevails in these three lands, where American, Arab and Iranian politicians seem to be driven by a potentially devastating combination of righteousness, resentment, resistance and revenge. The political certitude, national self-confidence, and self-proclaimed moral rectitude evident in the United States, Iran and Syria alike are stunning. The increasingly wasteful confrontation they provoke could result in immeasurably destructive and probably futile warfare, waged either by the principals themselves or their proxies and strategic allies, such as Hizbullah, Hamas and Israel.
Iran and Syria are important players in the Middle East because they anchor that large and powerful array of forces known to its adherents as the “resistance front.” They see themselves as repelling the military occupation, cultural penetration and predatory political domination of the United States and Israel, primarily.
The people, governments, and organizations in this grouping probably enjoy the support of around half the 500 million or so people who make up the Arab-Iranian-Turkish Middle East. The “resistance front” is to be taken seriously because it represents a combination of phenomena that has never converged before in the Middle East: political and military forces that transcend the Arab-Iranian divide, unite Arab nationalists with secular Baathists and organized Islamists, join sovereign governments with grassroots organizations, and enjoy technical military attack and resistance capabilities that continue to develop. They feel increasingly vindicated by the events of the past decade, are prepared to stand their ground, and feel able -- indeed, sometimes even seem eager -- to withstand the threats, sanctions and attacks that they have either already experienced, or anticipate in the near future.
The United States, for its part, sees Iran, Syria and their allies as hopeless extremists and ideological miscreants who support terrorists, mistreat their own citizens, and abuse or threaten their neighbors (e.g., Lebanon and Iraq, among others). The United States sees its battle against Iran and Syria as aiming to promote democracy and human rights, protect righteous and victimized Israel, defeat tyranny, and whittle down the havens and helpers of terror. The rule of law, American politicians believe, is the core of their mission that also reflects the future of human civilization, while Iran, Syria and friends represent lawlessness and darkness from the past. There is little desire in the American ruling political elite to see beyond the surface evils that are virtually the only things that appear to Americans, who connect so seldom, and superficially, with Syrians or Iranians, let alone the men and women of Hizbullah and Hamas.
The passions that drive both sides in this confrontational dynamic are impressive, if wastefully so. I consider myself a friend and admirer of the cultures and values that define the people of the United States, Iran and Syria, and am always thrilled to visit these countries and interact with their people. They are also today strikingly similar places -- full of warm and friendly people, deeply polarized internally, fractious politically, defiant and daring internationally, heavily militarized, brazenly confident, bubbling in their vibrant culture and pervasive humanity, and dangerously oblivious to the destruction they are likely to cause, and suffer -- if they persist in their current attitudes and policies. They are like large ships sailing near each other in a very dense fog -- desperately in need of a light house to send them warning signals of the devastation ahead, and to help them change course to avoid the imminent collision.
I am a hopeless lover of cities, and have recently enjoyed the immeasurable pleasures of walking through Tehran, Isfahan, Damascus, and New York -- profound and powerful cities where wonderful people go about their daily lives with a deep humanity and sense of urbanity. The parks and public spaces of Tehran, Damascus and New York are places of immense and ordinary joys. Families stroll there and eat ice cream, grateful for their blessings, working to improve their lives and to enhance their countries, anticipating another, even better, day to come. They do not think about how they will die in the conflagration that is sure to come, if they continue to embrace the fog.
If you love cities as I do, and appreciate the cultural bounty of Syria, Iran and the United States, as I do, then I suggest you go visit these wonderful places soon, before they subject themselves and each other to inhuman cruelties and destruction.
And take along a fog horn.