Iran-e Jadid
The north-south channel
April 8, 2004
iranian.com
I wish to inform the fellow Iranians that I have
decided to run in the next Presidential elections in Iran as an
independent candidate.
As a political scientist with a life-time commitment to Iran" national
interests, I believe that my decision is timely and in tune with
the needs of our generation. This is, in fact, the third time that
I am participating in the presidential elections. In the last two
elections, I made a rather
feeble entry through the newspapers and the internet, and plan
to campaign more energetically this time, mainly in order to spread
an important message about change in Iran that, if implemented,
will undoubtedly transform the physical, social and political
face of Iran.
That message is a simple yet profound idea, that is, the creation
of a water channel between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
This idea has been floating around for several decades and at the
moment has been all but forgotten, as our politicians and leaders
and social commentators appear to be somewhat unanimous on viewing
this idea as an unworkable fantasy that should be ignored or for
years to come be placed on the shelf in the light of more pressing
issues of survival and "tangible" economic development.
Yet, after spending a considerable time in studying this issue
and its numerous dimensions and implications and pros and cons,
I have concluded that the time to give this idea serious attention
and priority has come, for the sake of Iran in the new century,
and that I must utilize the opportunity of the upcoming elections
in order to raise consciousness about this idea and, hopefully,
convince the government leaders to devote the necessary resources
for a serious and scientific "feasibility" study.
Our proud history is, in fact, the primary motive force behind
my decision. It is a history that constantly reminds us of the
power of will and imagination, of leaders overcoming the odds,
of our people standing up to tall challenges and with patience,
resilience, and creativity meeting those challenges.
I consider myself a member of the revolutionary generation, that
for the past couple of decades has sought to chart the path to
a new Iran, Iran-e Jadid, unshackled from the heavy tonnage
of past traditions that keep the country stationary. The new Iran
is a process-in-making that requires long-term solutions to fundamental
historical and social and political obstacles to progress and change.
Throughout the centuries, quite a number of historians and observers
of this semi-arid ancient land have connected the physiological
feature of Iran, above all its aridity and vast deserts, to the
so-called Oriental despotism, the lack of democracy. I am not a
geographical determinist and always avoid reducing complex social
phenomena to any one variable. This does not mean, however, that
we cannot or should not give priority to one set of variables such
as the climate, relative lack of rain fall, and social lack of
integration due to the large areas we call deserts.
But, can we make the deserts disappear, at least a good chunk
of them? Is it possible to create lakes out of the deserts and
transform
the physical and natural attributes of the country?
When I was first exposed to this question more than a decade
ago, my initial reaction was entirely negative and, yet, the more
I
have probed the answers to these questions, the more optimistic
I have become that may be there is a way out of this natural limitation.
I confess that I have been impressed by a number of examples, above
all the construction super projects such as China's dam projects.
A glance at those projects and it is immediately clear that what
China is hoping to accomplish is nothing short of a new China.
A new Iran based on a new water way connecting the Caspian to
the Persian Gulf, with new lakes, dams, bridges, and urban enclaves
and towns and villages, that is my dream, which I like to share
with my fellow Iranians, a dream which has been hatched by others,
which counts as its pioneers men such as Hooman Farzad, who has
been rightly called the father of Iran's water projects.
Having had the honor and pleasure of learning from Ostad Farzad,
I am convinced that the torch must now be alighted at the presidential
playing field, in order to bring back to national attention the
idea that has more than once been discredited before ever getting
the chance of a full debate.
I am not deluding myself into thinking that I have a realistic
chance of winning the elections or even getting past the candidate
selection process and the thick filtering system. Still, the reason
I am not deterred by the near certain exclusion is that my professional
training and years of experience as a political scientist has convinced
me of the importance of the space for deliberation and national
dialogue afforded by the elections and, as I said, the equal importance
of no longer turning a blind eye to an idea that can quite realistically
become the foundation for a whole new Iran, Iran-e Jadid.
So, if you ask me who is an Iran-e Jadidi, my answer
is this: it is someone who is a firm believer in the need to alter
the natural
characteristic of Iran, as more important than changing the political
system or the laws of the country, who knows that what this generation
and the generations to come need is not the recycling of average
or mediocre ideas or plans, but a grand new plan, too grand for
the imagination of those who are perpetual nay sayers, who always
underestimate our nation's ability to cause major and drastic
changes, who prefer to downgrade our creative abilities to destroying
things rather than setting up and creating new things.
An Iran-e
Jadidi is someone who knows that the problems of our generation,
such as unemployment and development and wealth distribution,
cannot be met without taking on bold new ideas, so bold that
at first
thought seem impossible and unrealistic, but only at first thought,
for it is the challenge and duty of an Iran-e Jadidi to
think beyond the ordinary, to grasp the scope and extent of our
needs and necessities,
and to formulate solutions that transcend this generation and,
instead, lay the foundation for the welfare and well-being the
future generations.
So it happens that our generation in my humble opinion has been
readying itself for a major new challenge, one that will be
probably shared between two generations, and will have significant
implication
on every facet of life in Iran for the foreseeable future.
What would Egypt be without the Suez Channel, or Panama without
the Panama Channel? The answer is certainly something different.
And so will be the Iran of the future with a water channel
spanning hundreds of kilometers, connecting numerous parts
of Iran together
and, simultaneously, providing a new outlet for the land
locked neighbors of ours in Central Asia.
How long will it take to build such a channel, the estimated
cost, and so on, as of this moment no one can answer any
of these questions
with any degree of certainty.
In my conversations with the
experts, including some individuals who have worked for
the Planning Organization
both now and in the past, I have received vastly different
estimates. Thus, while some people estimate that this will
cost around fifty
billion dollars others put the figure much higher, and,
on the other hand, while some make the educated guess that it
will take
ten to twelve years to build, there are others, such as
Mr. Farzad, who estimate that it will be no less than twenty
year.
A twenty year project costing billions upon billions of
dollars? I have been on a number of Iranian television
programs recently
and more than once laughed at by people who think that
this is pure hallucination. An Iran-e Jadidi,
however, has the job cut out for him or her, that is,
must weather
the storm of
negativity
and brace himself or herself to be ridiculed and dismissed
out of hand. A new Iran cannot be built on sand castles
or, for that
matter, on the ruinous old ideas that lack the will to
action. It requires steal faith in the mission.
I am not interested in any objective other than pushing
forward this new mission, nor am I going to be distracted
by whatever
criticism that, perhaps, I think one dimensionally
and that it takes a lot
more issues to be a presidential candidate. Those who
think this are simply ignorant of the depth and scope
of the
new Iran I
am advocating through the water way. And neither am
I a political novice to be oblivious to the potential charges
that my candidacy
will one way or another serve certain vested interests
in Iran, particularly those who are against regime
change and
want to
see
incremental change.
Again, I have absolutely no fear
of
such points of views, for I am convinced of the importance
of
undertaking massive
new projects that would create on-going employment,
that would potentially invite foreign capital, that would
introduce serious
socio-economic development for our Iran. Sure there
can be a whole spectrum of development projects at any given
time
calling
for
the allocation of precious resources. But let the Iran-e
Jadidis
make the argument: there is nothing more significant,
more pressing, more meaningful, (geo) economically
and otherwise,
than erecting
a water channel between our bodies of water South
and North, which is bound to entail a powerful
political and technocratic
alliance
as its precondition.
The coalition of the converts
to this noble yet forgotten idea must be prepared
to
fight
many
a political and budgetary battles, to convince
an entire army
of skeptics,
including
those from the ranks of political geographers
and morphologists and geologists and economists and
planners, who question
the wisdom of this idea. It will not be easy
and the final result
of the debate
will be far from certain. It is, in other words,
quite possible that just like in the past, when
the skeptics
managed to
nip in the bud this idea whenever it showed itself,
its fire will
be put
out before it ignites a wholesale attention in
the public realm. The number one challenge of Iran-e Jadidis
is to make sure that this does not happen, that
their commitment to this
magnificent idea will remain solid, like a strong
willow tree with firm roots
much as its leaves and branches may shiver in
a storm.
Who has the courage, the will and determination
to join me in this mission, this crusade to
help our
generation and
the generations
to come? Who among you will heed the call that
is not born by any
individual badge, that is not associated with
any leader, that is not a tissue of a political ego,
that is not
a figment of
a stale imagination? Who among you is an Iran-e Jadidi? Author
Kaveh Afrasiabi has a Ph.D. in political science. He has
authored a number of books, fiction and non-fiction, and numerous
articles -- including the Harvard Theological Review, Middle
East Journal, UN Chronicle, and The New York Times. He
is the author of: After
Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press,
1994).
.................... Spam?! Khalaas!
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