Ground troops would change the calculus

They consider ground invasion consequences; Reza warns of high costs and an Iraq-style quagmire if troops entered Iran.

Play episode from 56:04

chevron_right

Transcript

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

Reza Aslan on why Iran is winning, and why the idea of nationalism may be the next great illusion to fall. | Subscribe to Futurology! https://linkin.bio/futurology/

What does it mean for a nation to fight a war it cannot win? Iranian scholar and author Reza Aslan joins Nathan Gardels to cut through four decades of American self-deception about Iran. In this episode, Aslan argues that the war in Iran has done exactly what decades of intelligence had predicted: silenced dissent, entrenched hardline power, and destroyed the slow-burning possibility of reform taking root in Iran. He makes the case that Iran is not an unhinged theocracy, but a completely rational actor facing a waning global superpower mired in a “cosmic war mentality.

Subscribe to the Berggruen Institute on YouTube to be the first to listen to new Futurology episodes:

https://www.youtube.com/@Berggrueninst

Catch up on the Futurology conversation with full episodes on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyYCSKWs8iYgjg-mhu-EuhTrG0-adrb0c

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/futurology/id1821718921

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/2I38HvHP6KlXrD5ysfygxk?si=XB2qyyGjT2ONMTd5XUKJAg&nd=1&dlsi=ac8cda6751834298

Mentioned in this Episode:

No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam — Reza Aslan (Book, 2005)

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth — Reza Aslan (Book, 2013)

God: A Human History — Reza Aslan (Book, 2017)