When Joshua Muravchik’s latest book on the Middle East and the people who may lead it into an era of freedom and liberty first got published four weeks ago, he couldn’t have foreseen its relevance just a month later. This week, I have begun reading The Next Founders: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East carefully and with renewed interest. Muravchik profiles seven brave pioneers of liberal democracy currently working and risking their lives to free an entire region from oppression and tyranny.
Of particular interest this week is Mohsen Sazegara, one of the people who worked for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and installed the theocratic government of Iran. Sazegara has had an interesting journey from Islamist revolutionary to a pioneer of liberal democracy. He’s certainly not alone, as this week’s events have shown, but Sazegara’s life makes for great background on the evolution of Iran and the oppression of the Guardian Council and Ali Khamenei.
Be sure to read this. Muravchik’s excellent profiles will bring hope that one of the most troubled regions in the world can emerge into the 21st century in an explosion of liberty rather than a nuclear firestorm.
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