Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

1 day ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

1 day ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

1 day ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

2 days ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

2 days ago
Zakaria: Regime Change Drives Trump on Iran
Randy-Reed-Image
By Randy Reed, Operations Manager
Published 7 years ago on
May 14, 2018

Share

President Trump’s withdrawal from the six-nation Iran nuclear agreement last week left many in the international community, including close U.S. allies, scratching their heads.
“It’s hard to understand the rationale behind Trump’s decision,” says Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria in his May 10 commentary. “If there is a strategy behind Trump’s move, it is probably regime change,” he added.

“If there is a strategy behind Trump’s move, it is probably regime change.” — Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria 
Zakaria points to past statements by President Trump’s closest advisors who have taken hard-line stances against Iran. Notable among them is national security advisor John Bolton’s assertion in 2017 that “The declared polity of the United States of American should be the overthrow of the mullahs regime in Tehran.”
But such a course is fraught with risks, Zakaria says. “The lesson of the past two decades in the Middle East is surely that regime change leads to chaos, war refugee flows, sectarian strife and more.”

Capitalism is Better Tool for Regime Change

The better course, he argues, is the use of the essential elements of capitalism and commerce to bring about change. (T)hese acids of modernity have almost always eaten away at the nastiest elements of dictatorships,” he says.
While Ronald Reagan’s campaign against the Soviet Union is viewed by many as an example of the power of maximum pressure to bring down an “evil empire,” Zakaria says another critical element is often overlooked.
“Reagan did pressure the Soviets,” he notes. “But as soon as he found a reformer, in Mikhail Gorbachev, he embraced him, supported him and made concessions to him.”

Trump Shows U.S. Can’t Be Trusted

Zakaria says moderate elements within Iran were looking toward greater integration and normalization with the rest of the world, as a result of the nuclear agreement, to help drive change inside the country.
“But Iran has always had a strong hard-line element that believed that America could never be trusted, that the Saudis were mortal foes, and that self-reliance, autarky and the spread of Shiite ideology was their only strategy for self-preservation,” Zakaria laments. “Trump has just proved them right.”
You can read Zakaria’s full commentary, Trump’s only possible Iran strategy is a fantasy, at The Washington Post.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

DON'T MISS

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

DON'T MISS

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

DON'T MISS

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

DON'T MISS

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

DON'T MISS

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

DON'T MISS

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

UP NEXT

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

UP NEXT

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

UP NEXT

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

UP NEXT

Gaza Running out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children

UP NEXT

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

UP NEXT

US States to Get $608 Million From FEMA to Build Migrant Detention Centers

UP NEXT

Trump: Strong Dollar Sounds Good but ‘You Make a Hell of a Lot More’ With a Weaker One

UP NEXT

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

UP NEXT

Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal With Canada

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

5 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

5 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

5 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

5 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

5 hours ago

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

6 hours ago

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

6 hours ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

21 hours ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

22 hours ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

22 hours ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The entire board of directors overseeing Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools in Sacramento has either resigned or been removed...

2 hours ago

The entire board of Highlands Community Charter in Sacramento stepped down after a state audit found the school improperly received over $180 million and engaged in questionable spending. (Shutter
2 hours ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron visit a ward for Palestinian patients at El Arish Hospital, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, in Arish, Egypt April 8, 2025. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
5 hours ago

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

U.S. President Donald Trump golfs at Trump Turnberry resort in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 26, 2025. (Reuters/Phil Noble)
5 hours ago

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

Noah Robinson, 38, was arrested after allegedly robbing a Visalia Long John Silver’s at knifepoint and attempting to flee through nearby backyards with $110 in stolen cash on Friday, July 25, 2025. (Visalia PD)
5 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

5 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

Craft Brewer Jack McAuliffe With Jim Koch of Samuel Adams
5 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

fresno
5 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend