I'm not sure what purpose this article is supposed to serve, besides maybe "look at how my incisive internationalist views are being stymied by anti-terror legislation." As as an example of pseudo-sophisticated foreign policy expertise, though, it's nonetheless pretty elegant (on a Foreign Policy blog? I know, right?)

The template for liberal political argument: "[this thing that's happening right now] justifies [my pet policy]." That's how we get "an economic crash means we have to enact universal health care" after years of "a robust economy will allow us to enact universal health care." It's also how we get "an Ahmadinejad win justifies engagement" after a decade of "Iranian moderation justifies engagement." And it's how we get this treat:

Imagine if [Twitter] were like MSN Messenger: to be able to use it, you needed to download a file and install it on your computer. Well, if the comparison of Twitter with MSN Messenger is adequate, it means that the former would not be available to Iranians today! Just to remind you, MSN Messenger could not find a way around the tough licensing restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on software exports to the embargoed countries (of which Iran, is of course one). The end result is that MSN is no longer legally available for downloads in Iran...

Now, I am very curious about the rules that govern the export of various Twitter apps like Twirl or TweetDeck (which, basically, ARE desktop version of Twitter) to Iran. More specifically, wouldn't they fall under the same rules as MSN Messenger? It was never really clear to me whether those rules had anything to do with "strong encryption" - an excuse that has often been cited by Web hosting companies to avoid doing work with citizens of these embargoed countries - but let's not get into such arcane legal matters for now...

The U.S. is pushing on with its silly policies that have, alas, outlived their usefulness a decade ago... Otherwise, all these calls on Twitter to postpone maintenance are simply aimed at generating additional publicity without forcing American diplomats to do any real work. So, let me really challenge the State Department folks reading this blog: why not use this crisis to finally put an end to restrictions on the export of tools that are widely used all over the world without causing any threat to national security?

Just to make sure you're following along: Twitter is not restricted in the same way that MSN Messenger is, but if it was that would really suck so we should lift the restrictions on software like MSN Messenger that has advanced encryption. Which would be beside the point anyway, since the reason that Twitter is so useful is that it's a mass broadcast tool. It allows internal coordination between protesters - "Basiji are inside dorm 31, make a run for it!" - and outside publication of news. And the Twitter DM's double an instant messengers anyway. But wouldn't it be cool if none of that was true?

I'm not even necessarily against this particular policy recommendation. I can't imagine that our encryption restrictions are doing much to keep encryption away from the IRG. Maybe they're doing more harm than good.

It's the style of argument. It's how an ethos of expertise is developed using irrelevant factoids, channeled by Third Culture think tanks and MSM outlets, and then used to insulate counterproductive policies. Above and beyond being obnoxious and inane, it's undermining public discourse and ruining American foreign policy.

If you really want to help the Iranian protesters, check out Boing Boing's post on setting up proxies. Iran can block any individual news site or social networking site, but they can't block hundreds of millions of individual computers.

References:
* Foreign Policy Leftists: On Second Thought, The Iranian Election Was Totally Irrelevant [MR]
* State Department talks to Twitter but it should REALLY be talking to US Treasury [Morozov / net.effect]
* Liberal Foreign Policy Experts: This Ahmadinejad Reelection Was Just So Unpredictable! [MR]
* Lazyweb: turn the new version of Opera into an unstoppable grid of proxies for Iranians [Boing Boing]

Previously:
* State Department Sophistication Very Close To Triggering All-Out African War
* Diplomatic Sophistication Heartbreak: Tension Between Iranian Political Factions A Little Exaggerated
* Smug Liberal Sophistication Undisturbed By Decades Of Disastrously Wrong Domestic And International Predictions