WASHINGTON — You might have missed it, but a new era has dawned
in U.S. policy toward Iran. On February 15, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on the Bush administration’s foreign affairs budget for
the coming year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice articulated
what amounts to a sea-change in America’s approach to Iran. In her
remarks, Rice revealed that the Bush administration is asking
Congress for $75 million in supplemental funds for Iran-related
programming. The objective? “To support the aspirations of the
Iranian people for freedom in their own country.”
For dedicated Iran watchers, Rice’s declaration was a
long-overdue sign of seriousness. For years, the White House has
supported Iranian democracy in word, but not in deed. Despite
regular pronouncements from administration officials — and
repeated references in the State of the Union — the Bush
administration has done little that is tangible to showcase its
commitment to the cause of freedom in Iran. Instead, time and
again, government officials have gravitated toward some sort of
accommodation with Tehran on such issues as Iraq and even the
Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. Concurrently, U.S. government
broadcasting toward Iran has languished at minimal levels. (Last
year, the combined budget for Voice of America Persian language
programming and Radio Farda was $16.4 million — less than 22 cents
per Iranian a year, and less than a third of what was spent per
capita on broadcasting toward the USSR in 1983!) By far the biggest
problem, however, has been the lack of a coherent message about
American priorities vis-a-vis Iran, coupled with a palpable
unwillingness to resolutely confront the Islamic Republic.
All that appears to be changing. In its new request for
democracy assistance funding toward Iran, the White House stakes
out a number of concrete goals:
— To increase U.S. government broadcasting into Iran through
the establishment of a new 24/7 Farsi-language channel into Iran,
as well as upgrades to radio transmission capabilities and
investments in satellite broadcasting technology for existing radio
and television programming.
— To promote democratic processes within Iran, specifically, to
“foster participation in the political process and support efforts
to expand internet access as a tool for civic organization,” with
the help of groups like the National Endowment for Democracy, the
National Democratic Institute and the International Republican
Institute.
— To provide educational opportunities to young Iranians
through scholarships and international visitors programs.
— And to bolster Internet outreach to Iran, as well as provide
support to independent Farsi-language television and radio
outlets.
The resulting message is crystal clear: while it may still shy
away from saying so publicly, Washington has now committed itself
to a change of regime in Tehran.
DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS SHOULD NOT rest on their laurels just yet,
however. As it stands, the bulk of the administration’s new money
(some $50 million) is earmarked for official media outreach to
Iran. But government broadcast outlets such as Voice of America and
Radio Farda suffer from serious systemic dysfunctions, among them
widespread staffing problems, sub-optimal programming, a lack of
defined goals and no metrics by which to measure success. Failing
to address these deficiencies will virtually ensure that U.S.
broadcasting remains far short of adequate, no matter how much
money is spent.
But the administration’s plan also contains two key initiatives.
The first is the idea of educational exchanges and cultural
contacts, a practice that during the Cold War helped nurture a
cadre of pro-American foreign activists, including Helmut Kohl and
Vaclav Havel. Over the past decade-and-a-half, such initiatives
have all but fallen by the wayside; between 1991 and 2001, the
number of academic and cultural exchanges between the United States
and foreign nations dropped by nearly 40 percent, according to a
2003 study by the Heritage Foundation. Reconstituting
and reinforcing such contacts is particularly important when it
comes to Iran, given its overwhelmingly young population (some 50
million people under the age of 30) and their obvious discontent
with the ruling regime.
Second, it recognizes that in the battle for Iranian hearts and
minds, the United States has an indispensable ally: the
Iranian-American community. Today, no fewer than 21 separate
expatriate radio and television channels broadcast into Iran from
the West Coast of the United States. Moreover, these broadcasts
command far greater legitimacy and attention among the Iranian
population than anything official Washington can bring to bear. Yet
for years, they have scraped by on shoestring budgets and without
official endorsement. The Bush administration’s allocation of $5
million for these channels is an important starting point for
ensuring that their moderate, pro-American message is heard loud
and clear inside the Islamic Republic.
Much more undoubtedly needs to be done. But the White House
should be applauded for taking the vital first step toward a goal
that is shared by both the United States and the people of Iran —
the transition to a peaceful, pluralistic government in Tehran.
