A World Without Ahmadinejad?

In 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprised most political analysts when he won the Iranian presidential race. Running on a populist platform, he vowed to combat poverty and corruption, to tackle unemployment and promised a fair redistribution of oil revenues."Ahmadinejad and his aides have pledged to deliver and improve the quality of life of the millions who voted them to office. With oil revenue at its highest in almost three decades … the nation hopes the economy will turn around without delay," wrote the Iran Daily in the aftermath of the election. But so far, Ahmadinejad has spent most of his time in office delivering inflammatory speeches about the United States and Israel. Even his voters and political allies have come to understand that his rhetoric has badly hurt Iran's national interests. Read full story