Parallel Politics

Bearing in mind the biases of its author, this Juan Cole essay is nevertheless interesting in its analysis of populist politics. The point is that there are substantial similarities between the political tactics, strategy, appeal, and goals of Sarah Palin on the one hand, and Mahmood Ahmadinejad on the other. Cole leaves out, or at least significantly understated, the extent to which both politicians under his microscope rely on voters whose world views are colored by fundamentalist religion.

To be sure, Cole could only take the comparison so far. But I'm surprised at how far he took it.