A non-violent tool for countering the Iranian threat
April 30, 2007
By Christopher Holton
The successful divestment campaign against South Africa in the 1980s demonstrated that economic pressure can have a great impact on a country’s policies. The South African apartheid regime finally abandoned its racist policies when it was boycotted financially. Prior to that time, diplomatic pressure had proved wholly inadequate to the task. Before foreign companies were compelled to pull out of South Africa, the government ignored international condemnations and resolutions, just as Iran does today.
The Danger Posed by Iran
The case against Iran is considerably stronger than that against South Africa. Iran’s clerical rulers not only oppress their own people as South Africa did, but they also sponsor international terror groups and have threatened to wipe another country off the map and to bring about a “world without America” while building atomic materials.
