The Iranian regime understands neither policy nor economics, nor history
Despite the escalation of Iranian attacks on the Gulf region, the countries of the region continue to manage the crisis with a clear mind and precise calculations, not out of weakness, but out of a commitment to safeguarding internal stability, protecting their nations, and ensuring the safety of their peoples. The pressing question now is: Will Iran accept defeat and focus on nation-building, or will it persist in its aggressive policies?
History shows that both Japan and Germany chose internal reconstruction. They transformed their defeat into an opportunity, opting for internal development and innovation rather than revenge, which enabled them to become global economic powers.
After World War II had completely devastated their countries, Japan and Germany chose a completely different path. They did not preoccupy themselves with revenge or military adventurism; instead, they turned their defeat into strong economic progress.
Teaching resources and classrooms
Time and calendars
Religion and beliefs
Iran, on the other hand, is moving in the opposite direction, toward greater isolation and exhaustion, ignoring the greatest lesson in modern history regarding how to convert loss into a profitable opportunity. In the field of self-development, it is said that the best revenge (against your enemy) is to succeed immensely.
When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was exhausted and defeated. Its people suffered from hunger and disease, its cities were in ruins, and its military prestige was shattered. Yet, within a few decades, it transformed from a defeated nation into the world’s third-largest economy. It achieved this by choosing to lay down its arms and invest in building the Japanese citizen, shifting from a state that sought to dominate its neighbors by force to one that surpassed them through quality and technology.
The same applies to Germany. It was divided and devastated, but the German leadership after the war chose to rebuild its relationships with its neighbors based on shared interests. It invested in its infrastructure, in the education of its children, and in an industry reliant on engineering creativity and organizational precision. Germany did not merely rebuild its cities; it rebuilt its image in the world, becoming today the dominant economic power in Europe.
Iran does not appear to be learning from history. We advised it years ago to take heed from the Danish-Swedish example, and we continued to offer advice until recently, but it refuses to listen. Its internal situation has become shattered, and its people are in a state of intense anger. In Kuwait, we say “akalaha al-hin” (it ate its own flesh), an expression used for someone who does not heed advice or learn from experience.
With a resentful heart, Iran has continued to pursue its hostile policy toward the peaceful Gulf states. The UAE authorities dismantled a terrorist network funded by Hezbollah and Iran, and Kuwait announced the dismantling of a similar network. The dismantling of these two networks in the UAE and Kuwait comes at a time when both countries, along with other Gulf Cooperation Council states, are facing a wave of Iranian missile and drone attacks. Furthermore, Iran’s agents are acting on its orders to commit terrorist acts in the Gulf. I do not believe Iran will change its mindset to advance and develop. So we say: “May it remain in this state or even worse.”
