Regardless, Japan does not cover the Iranian election much. Japan, although troubled, seems to be less troubled by the American financial crises than other developed nations, and thus with ample capital, has their oil futures secured. And in a pinch, there is always the option to beg Russia.

From my point of view, especially in light of the crapstorm that was the 2000 US presidential election, it is best for America, with Obama as its current face, to weather the storm. If Obama stays on course with his ambitions to offer diplomacy “regardless of who is elected” it will show impartiality, respect for sovereignty, and reassert that the protests and public movements that the Iranian election spawned were homegrown, and not a product of American intervention.

Iran is changing. The Middle East is changing. The world is changing. America is currently embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perpetual conflict rages in Palestine and Israel. Turkey is still seeking admittance to the EU. And although some would argue that these are centuries old conflicts, the most recent sparks were flared between the 1950s-1970s. Within a generation we could see a secular government, with an Islamic culture, prospering in the newly admitted EU state of Turkey. This would show acknowledgement of the West for the attention seeking Middle East. In accordance with a fully sovereign, Arab-democratic Iraq, these two nations would give example to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, for how secular government, Islam, and tribal/cultural/sectarian differences, rules, and governance can function together for the nation-state.

This is a very hot area. I don’t expect anything immediately practical to come out of the “fraudulent” Iranian elections. But like most things, it is the unforseen, indirect consequences that will make the biggest impacts, and for these I am most hopeful.

Iranian students were constantly circumnavigating their government blocks on social networking sites like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and others. 1/6 of the world will soon be of Muslim faith. The rate of change in, and the amount of eyes watching and reading about the Middle East (and Korea) in the years to come will be unfathomable.

Since I borrowed the picture from the WP’s BP page, I wanted to use the same caption and wording they did, which was reformist. I’ve now specified where the photo came from to hopefully clear up any confusion, but thanks for making your own clarification statement.

Thanks for visiting, and please keep up the great work you do.

By the way, one thing I avoided doing in my post is calling Mousavi the “reformist candidate.” Certainly the media are describing him that way, but I haven’t seen much evidence that he represents a strong departure from the politics of Ahmadinejad.