WBEZ | Iran

On Presidents' Day, comparing national holidays around the world

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:28:00 -0600

In the United States, we have 10 public holidays, including today, Presidents’ Day.

That’s about an average number if you consider the world over. But, for wealthier, industrialized countries, it’s actually slightly below average.

But it is hard to make much of a judgment on a country based on how many holidays it has.

Based on a 2011 study done of 62 major industrialized countries, the country with the most public holidays is Colombia, with 18. Colombia has a reputation for being a pretty conservative country. But according to ABC News, in the last year or two, Colombia has been passed by its fellow South American country, Argentina, which is developing a markedly left-wing reputation. Under Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the country now has 19 public holidays.

But even some countries known as being left wing have fewer holidays than the U.S. For instance, Communist Cuba has only 9, along with more leftist or liberal countries like Ecuador, Denmark, Switzerland, and Canada. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom both have only 8.

Yet, some of the world’s most repressive countries actually have more public holidays than we do. Most of them weren’t covered by that 2011 study, but I did a little checking myself.

A lot of countries have holidays that are confined to specific regions, ethnic groups, or religions. Sometimes, there will be government holidays not always acknowledged by the private sector. Nevertheless, the results are still surprising.

Iran, a Shi’ite Islam religious theocracy, has as many as 18 public holidays. And the country with the most holidays I found anywhere in the world was Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Sunni nemesis, with as many as 22 government holidays every year in some regions.

A lot of these days come from two Muslim holidays that take multiple days, and are observed throughout the Middle East. (Which is why Lebanon rates so high in the 2011 study, with 16 public holidays).

But it’s not just in the Middle East. In Asia, one country with a surprisingly strong showing is none other than international pariah North Korea, arguably the most repressive government anywhere in the world right now, with no fewer than 20 public holidays every year, according to one source.

Even Belarus narrowly beats the United States, with 11 public holidays to our 10.

So, the level of freedom, liberalism, conservatism, or economic prosperity has, in the end, very little to do with how many days a year people get to take a break. So, when you’re annoyed to find your bank closed today, just think: in some countries, where the quality of life is far worse than here, it happens even more often.

America's Misguided Policy Concerning Iran

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:30:00 -0600

John Mearsheimer is the E. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor and co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He has written extensively about security issues and international politics, including the books Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, and The Isreal Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (with Stephen M. Walt). He has written numerous articles for academic journals and op-ed pieces for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times dealing with topics like Bosnia, nuclear proliferation, American policy toward India, the failure of Arab-Israeli peace efforts, and the folly of invading Iraq.

Recorded live Sunday, January 27, 2013 at the Stevenson Historic Home.

Five countries that will be mentioned during tonight’s debate

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 10:43:00 -0500

1. Libya

Duh. Mitt Romney’s had two chances to go at President Barack Obama on this issue, where there’s enough haze for him to make some hay, but has blown both. Which means that if there’s one issue, one question, that the Romney debate prep team has been hammering, it’s this one. I know everybody was blown away by Obama’s answer last time, but he missed an opportunity to poke back at Republicans, and particularly at Romney’s VP choice Paul Ryan, all of whom voted against more funding for embassy security, not just in Libya, but all over the world. C’mon.

2. Iran

Iran suddenly says it’s willing to talk, but is just waiting for the elections to know who the chat will be with. Obama says nothing’s new on our end and, of course, we talk. Romney says Obama’s weak, weak, weak, but can’t seem to say what he’d do different. If Obama doesn’t turn this around and make it seem like Romney wants to bomb Tehran tomorrow, it’ll be another missed opportunity -- especially to bring back women voters, who are particularly anti-war.

3. Israel

The men don’t differ much on actual Israel policy, except for the fact that Romney has pretty much said he’ll back Israel on a unilateral strike against Iran if Israel feels threatened. This one isn’t actually a Middle East concern -- this is all about Florida, where Romney looks poised to win, leading in most polls. He’s hoping seniors in Florida forget his Medicare policies and vote ethno-religiously.

4. Cuba

The biggest strawman in American politics, Cuba was mentioned a handful of times at the GOP convention and will come back for two reasons: one, rumors were hot all last week that Fidel Castro was on ice and, two, Florida. Never mind that the pendulum is swinging away from hard right politics in the Cuban-American community as those who were born and/or raised in the U.S. come of age. And never mind that the Latino group that has the power to swing the state is now the Puerto Ricans in Orange and Osceola counties. Never mind, too, that most Puerto Ricans don’t give a twit about a Cuba and that the only real question is whether they’re going to show up at the polls -- in Florida, Puerto Ricans have numbers, even on registration, but blow it on attendance -- but nobody can keep themselves, it seems, from playing the useless Cuba card.

5. China

Romney will continue to accuse the Chinese of being currency manipulators (they are) but offer no plan. And Obama, with an opportunity here to make Romney squirm about the Chinese factory with virtual slave women workers that Bain may or may not have bought while Romney was at the helm, will probably not mention it. But he should.

Worldview 7.6.12

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:17:00 -0500

Editor's note: This program was originally broadcast on April 10th, 2012

Saudi Arabia is the sixth-largest consumer of Viagra in the world, and people in Arab countries spend billions annually on sex-enhancing drugs. Worldview talks with Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh, sex therapist and chairperson for the Middle Eastern Sexual Health Committee at the World Association for Sexual Health, about the West's misconceptions of Muslim sexuality. Also, Worldview talks with Amir, author of Zahra’s Paradise. The best-selling graphic novel explores the brutal repression of Iran's post-2009 election protests.

Middle East expert analyzes Obama's moves in Iran

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:16:00 -0500

Next week, representatives from six countries meet with Iranian officials for another round of high stakes negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program. It could be a breakthrough moment, or just a chapeter in the negotiation saga that began IAEA interest a decade ago.

The Obama Administration's strategies have quickly gone from dialog with preconditions to confrontation sanctions. Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian Amreican Council, tracks the decision making of the Obama Administration in his new book, A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama's Diplomacy with Iran.

Parsi will speak at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel at 6:00 p.m. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m.

Worldview 6.12.12

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:21:00 -0500

Tuesday on Worldview:

Middle East expert Trita Parsi talks about his latest book, A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran.

Then, Worldview asks: Are we prejudiced against people with certain accents? Do we draw assumptions or associate images with specific foreign accents? Socio-linguist Janet Sedlar explains some common accent-based prejudices.

Call us if you’ve ever been discriminated against or rewarded because of how you talk. Call 312-923-9239 to share your story.

Milos Stehlik discusses the making of 'This is Not a Film'

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:45:44 -0500

Smuggled out of Iran in a cake for its world premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, This is Not a Film documents Iranian director Jafar Panahi's arrest. The film captures his sly, passive-resistant defiance of the authorities, during which they shackle him with a six-year prison term and a 20-year ban on filmmaking. With the help of documentary filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and his iPhone camera, Panahi converted the long hours of his house arrest into cinema for the mind, plotted out in words and gestures in his living room. Film contributor Milos Stehlik, founder of Facets Multi-Media, discusses the film.

Graphic novel portrays extent of human suffering after Iran's 2009 revolution

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:51:22 -0500

It was remarkable to see Iran’s 2009 green uprising through the eyes of cell phone recordings. While the recordings provided a vivid look at the protests and crackdown, they couldn’t capture the human drama that unfolded in people's lives. Graphic novels, however, are built for that. Zarha’s Paradise is graphic novel that first appeared online. It tells the story of a mother's search for her missing son amidst Iran's gulags. Worldview is joined by Amir, the graphic novel's author.

Israeli President believes social media helps with peace process

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:49:00 -0600

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday visited Facebook's California headquarters, where he blasted the Iranian government and said the social networking site is a way for people to bypass failed efforts of governments to seek peace.

The 88-year-old leader was scheduled to meet with the company's chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, and launch his official personal page on the site aimed at creating a dialogue with Arabs who live in countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

In an interview with Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg streamed live on the company's website, Peres repeatedly praised Facebook as a tool for positive social change by enabling citizens of different countries to connect.

"The matter of peace is no longer the business of governments but the business of people," Peres said. "Today the people are governing the governments. And when they begin to talk to each other, they are surprised: We should be friends."

In response to a question from Sandberg about Iran's nuclear program, Peres said he had nothing against the Iranian people. At the same time, he condemned the Iranian government as a seat of "moral corruption."

"They want to have nuclear weapon. The combination of viciousness and nuclear weapons is a real catastrophe, a real danger," he said.

Iran denies it is seeking a weapon and insists its nuclear program is for energy production and other peaceful purposes.

Peres' comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama this week. The two remain at odds over the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran. Obama called for more time to let diplomacy work, while Netanyahu refused to rule out an attack in the near future.

In Israel, the presidency is an elected office but serves a mostly ceremonial role. The prime minister acts as the country's primary leader. Peres served as prime minister twice, once in the 1980s and once in the 1990s.

Peres' Facebook visit was part of a four-day swing through Silicon Valley to promote Israel's tech industry. Touring the region's marquee tech companies has become a rite of passage for politicians and celebrities passing through Northern California.

His California itinerary includes meetings with leading venture capitalists and Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Obama became the first sitting head of state to visit Facebook's headquarters when he came last year for a town hall meeting and interview led by Zuckerberg.

In September, Sandberg moderated a discussion at Facebook with leading Republicans. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan talked about taxes and jobs and took questions from the audience and online members.

California Gov. Jerry Brown was scheduled to introduce Peres later Tuesday, when he is scheduled to appear before the congregation of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. Anti-war activists have said they will target the appearance to protest Israeli policy toward Palestinians, Iran and other issues.

Iranian elections may spell the end its presidency

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:30:00 -0600

With the bulk of seats decided in Iran’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, it appears the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will have outright control of parliament and the political cover he needs to eliminate the position of President entirely. Khamenei suggested last October that Iran would be better off governed under a parliamentary system that chose the country’s prime minister. But Khamenei is not expected move against the office of president until Mr. Ahmadinejad’s second term expires in June 2013.

Many observers wonder what possible effect the political shift could have on Iran as it grapples with potentially more crippling sanctions or even military action from Israel and the West.

To discuss the ramifications of yesterday’s election results is Ahmed Sadri, professor of Islamic World Studies and Sociology at Lake Forest College.