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Iran v. the Islamic Republic: Fighting Iran’s gender apartheid regime
Woman, life, freedom. Those three words have filled the streets of Iran since the ongoing women-led protests against the regime, the biggest since 2009, began last September.
How did Iranian women get here? How has the theocracy responded so far? And what might come next?
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, a sworn enemy of the Supreme Leader; it's widely believed that Iranian spies have tried to kidnap and assassinate her here in New York.
From Alinejad's perspective, the regime is afraid like never before because the protests have achieved unity among Iranians for the first time. And many even cheered the national soccer team's elimination at the World Cup because some players were seen as puppets of the regime.
Her message to the West: If you want to help, don't go back to the 2015 nuclear deal and let Iranians bring about regime change on their own.
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- Podcast: After Mahsa Amini: Iran’s fight for freedom, with Masih Alinejad ›
Podcast: After Mahsa Amini: Iran’s fight for freedom, with Masih Alinejad
Listen: Iran is being rocked by its most significant protests since the Green Movement of 2009. Since September, hundreds of thousands of young and mostly female demonstrators have filled the streets of nearly every major city from Tehran to Tabriz, many discarding their headscarves at great personal risk to protest draconian societal rules and restrictions. The backlash from security forces has been brutal, though (except in the Kurdish region) the government has yet to send in the Revolutionary Guard.
Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast to discuss. Where will these protests lead, and what are the geopolitical implications for the region, and for the West? Alinejad shares her views on the unprecedented unity among the Iranian protesters, her personal experience being targeted by the Iranian government even after moving to the United States, and why the Iranian men's World Cup team does not deserve sympathy.
US-Iran World Cup sportsmanship amid political tensions
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
How did Iran's attention in the World Cup impact protests at home?
Well, I mean, it certainly didn't slow them down any. When you see the Iranian national team first refusing to sing the national anthem and then singing it as woodenly and non-passionately as humanly possible because they've been threatened, and threatened about their families at home if they aren't singing it, that's a hell of a message to send to the Iranian people. And the fact that this country does not reflect its regime, a team does not reflect its regime, it's just extraordinary. And also, I just have to say that all of the pictures and the videos we've seen of the Iranian team and the American team actually coming together, the Americans consoling the Iranians, who have been under such massive stress and crying, and I mean, you can't even imagine performing at that level on the global stage, given the level of additional political pressure and danger that they're actually under. My heart goes out to those guys, and of course to the Americans for doing such a great job representing our country.
Will protests force Xi Jinping to finally abandon China's zero COVID policy?
No, not at all. First of all, those protests are largely already in the rear-view mirror. I do not expect we will see a reprise of them at that size in the near future. Certainly not with people calling for Xi's removal. Big consequences for that going forward. And I think a lot of people understand that. But this also means big consequences for the Chinese economy. And ultimately, difference in somewhat looser interpretation of implementation is very different from, we're stepping away from zero COVID. They're not ready to do that yet. They won't do it yet. And so Chinese growth is still going to be very slow. China's social anger at these policies is still going to be something difficult they're going to have to deal with.
Why is Mexico and the US fighting over corn?
Well, apparently it's because Lopez Obrador is not willing to allow GMO corn from the United States to come in. Now, half of Mexico's corn apparently comes from the United States, and this would be a really big challenge, both for the relationship as well as for Mexican food demand. The Trump administration tried to push AMLO on it, kind of failed. Biden administration pushing AMLO on it, kind of fails. So as a consequence, it's likely to be going towards USMCA, the Mexico Canada deal, into arbitration. And nobody likes to see that, but that's where we are.
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