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SPRING PEACE FORUM w/ DR. David Commins Sunday, April 13, 2008
Dr. David Commins, Professor of History at Dickinson College, is a highly-published and highly-regarded expert on Islam. Commins earned his B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD from the University of Michigan. He has received Fulbright grants to fund Arabic study at Damascus University (1981-1982), to research Islamic modernism in Ottoman Syria (1982-1983), and to study Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia (2001-2002). A specialist in modern Islamic thought, Commins' publications include Islamic Reform: Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria (Oxford, 1990) and Historical Dictionary of Syria (Scarecrow, 1996, 2004). His latest book is The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia (Tauris, 2006). He is the author of more than forty articles and reviews. He regularly offers courses on Islamic Civilization, modern Middle East history, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Islam, India, and Historical Method. His full curriculum vitae can be found at http://users.dickinson.edu/~commins/cv.htm. Lancaster Intelligencer Journal Summary Peace Forum: U.S., Iran Need To Talk Published: April 14, 2008 LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Tensions in the Middle East, especially between the U.S. and Iran, aren't based on religious or social differences, but on national interests and maintaining a balance of power. And only through open and honest communication can those tensions be addressed, Dickinson College history professor David Commins said Sunday. I'm not a diplomat. I'm a historian. And I don't see too many cases in history of these differences being resolved without communication, Commins told about 75 people at a Spring Peace Forum at James Street Mennonite Church. Prior to World War II, Commins said, U.S. and Iranian relations were good. However, in the early 1950s the popular Iranian leader, Mohammed Mossadegh, nationalized Iran's oil reserves. In response, Britain embargoed Iranian oil and asked President Eisenhower to help depose Mossadegh. Eisenhower agreed, and in 1953 the Central Intelligence Agency spearheaded a plan that ousted Mossadegh and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known as the Shah. Pahlavi modernized Iran, but at the same time crushed all forms of political opposition. Many Iranians never forgave the U.S. for its meddling, Commins said, and by the 1960s the American reputation was tarnished. In 1978, the Iranian Revolution, led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, overthrew the Shah, and Khomeini became supreme leader of the nation. In 1979, President Carter was villainized in Iran when he allowed the deposed Shah to come to America. The Shah had cancer, but the move was seen as a U.S. attempt to launch a counter-revolution. And that November, students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, calling it a den of spies and holding 52 hostages for 444 days. An agreement was reached on the release of the hostages, but Khomeini, who despised Carter, was not going to set the prisoners free until after Carter left office. Commins said Carter was on the phone until the morning of Ronald Reagan's swearing in, hoping to get word that the hostages had been freed. Khomeini just wanted to deny him that, Commins said. It was like a public poke in the eye. At the time of the embassy seizure, the U.S. froze Iranian assets in this country. They remain frozen to this day despite Iranian attempts to free them up. This is an issue that needs to be resolved before there is a warming of bilateral relations, Commins said. Commins blames both countries for the poisonous atmosphere that now exists. Iran's current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he said, is a hard-liner who sees the U.S. as an evil influence. Meanwhile, the Bush administration sees Iran as an adversary on everything from oil to nuclear proliferation, and neither shows signs of any willingness to talk. Commins does not rule out an attack on Iran by the United States before President Bush leaves office in January. The signals are that since (former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld) left the Pentagon, a more pragmatic group is dominating the discussions, Commins said. But that's no guarantee there won't be an attack on Iran by the Bush Administration. The best hope for a thaw in U.S.-Iranian international relations would come with a change in the leadership of both nations, Commins said. Both Bush and Ahmadinejad see their relationship as one of complication and threat. The Bush Administration tries to deal from a position of power, he said: All they understand is telling countries, You do this and you do that.' Commins said he also hopes to see a more moderate Iranian leader take over when Ahmadinejad's term expires in 2009. All we can do in the meantime is hold on tight, Commins said. The spring peace forum was sponsored by the Lancaster Interchurch Peace Witness. The group will hold a Fall Peace Forum at Franklin & Marshall College on Oct. 26.E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com To order a reprint of this document go to lancasteronline.com/reprint
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Due to Dr. Charles Kimball's unexpected illness, Dr. David Commins (who was originally scheduled as Respondent) spoke on the topic MUTUAL BEWILDERMENT: U.S. - IRANIAN RELATIONS.