The rise of the Green Movement following the fraudulent June 12 presidential election, and all that has transpired since, has demonstrated clearly to the Iranian people that the foundational elements of the Islamic Revolution -- the system of velayat-i-faqih (rule of the jurisprudent) and its main implementer, the Supreme Leader -- have lost their residual power to persuade. The barrier of
fear, the only tool left to the regime, has also been shattered, with its formidable security apparatus increasingly unable to arrest and torture a sufficient number of people to stem the tide of dissent. In this article, J. Scott Carpenter discusses ways in which the Obama administration can use public diplomacy to effect a nuanced, comprehensive offensive that challenges the Khamenei regime on human rights grounds.
J. Scott Carpenter is the Keston Family fellow at The Washington Institute and director of Project Fikra.
