{"id":24247,"date":"2025-06-24T06:28:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T06:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/?p=24247"},"modified":"2025-07-03T07:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T07:41:39","slug":"doug-schoen-trumps-iran-strategy-could-ignite-long-awaited-regime-change-my-serbia-experience-is-a-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/24\/doug-schoen-trumps-iran-strategy-could-ignite-long-awaited-regime-change-my-serbia-experience-is-a-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"DOUG SCHOEN: Trump’s Iran strategy could ignite long-awaited regime change. My Serbia experience is a guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Trump teases regime change in Iran after US strikes<\/a><\/h4>\n

Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has updates on the latest in the Middle East after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites on ‘Special Report.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> extraordinary decision to attack three of the key\/critical Iranian nuclear sites, two questions emerge: First, how will the Iranian populace react to the decision? Second, will this hurt or help the chances for regime change?<\/p>\n

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Of course, we will not get answers to these questions immediately. But I think it\u2019s fair to say that history, in the not-so-distant past, offers an instructive guide to what could well happen.<\/p>\n

While it is challenging at this point to answer these questions with a high degree of certainty, there is one historical analogy which I was deeply involved in that may provide insights.<\/p>\n

TRUMP HINTS AT REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN WHILE DECLARING ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN’ AFTER US STRIKES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

More than 24 years ago, while working in the Bill Clinton administration<\/a>, I was one of the principal actors advising the State Department on the situation in Serbia. There, I led on-the-ground efforts to demonstrate to the Serbian opposition that President Slobodan Milosevic <\/a>could be beaten.<\/p>\n

At the time, many in both the U.S. and Serbia thought that nearly 80-days of NATO bombings and the 1999 Kosovo war had produced a rally around the flag effect in favor of Milosevic.<\/p>\n

And yet, the polls I conducted conclusively demonstrated the opposite.<\/p>\n

The data revealed that, despite efforts by the regime to portray Milosevic as strong and popular, he was extremely weak, with a 70% unfavorable rating.<\/p>\n

As was acknowledged <\/a>in the Washington Post at the time, the strategic guidance I provided based on those polls led to the development of a campaign that soon toppled a regime few thought was quite so vulnerable.<\/p>\n

HERE\u2019S WHAT A POST-AYATOLLAH IRAN COULD LOOK LIKE IF WAR WITH ISRAEL LEADS TO REGIME\u2019S FALL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There are striking parallels between Milosevic\u2019s downfall and the situation the Khamenei regime<\/a> finds itself in today.<\/p>\n

In both, there are some who feel that foreign airstrikes would strengthen nationalist sentiment in favor of a regime that prioritizes projecting an aura of popularity despite being incredibly disliked by its citizens.<\/p>\n

Further, in Serbia, we found that there was pervasive anger towards the government, particularly over the poor state of the economy. In Iran, there is similar \u2013 if not even more intense \u2013 dissatisfaction with the regime\u2019s chronic mishandling of economic and national policy.<\/p>\n

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Slobodan Milosevic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

To be sure, polling data from inside Iran is limited, although Stasis, a firm which specializes in conducting methodologically-sound surveys in the country, released a poll <\/a>last October that is telling.<\/p>\n

They found that nearly 8-in-10 (78%) Iranians feel that the government\u2019s policies are to blame for the country\u2019s economic struggles.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in a country of 90 million, where roughly<\/a> 60% are under the age of 30, the same poll shows that more than three-quarters (77%) of Iranians believe that “Iranian youth do not see prosperity for their future in Iran.”<\/p>\n

All of this is to say that like Milosevic\u2019s regime, the Iranian government appears to have strong popular support, but underneath the surface, is extremely weak and vulnerable.<\/p>\n

MOMENTUM FOR REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN SURGES AMID ISRAEL’S CONFLICT WITH TEHRAN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For many, the idea that Israel \u2013 and especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <\/a>\u2013 could bring about regime change in Iran is hard to take seriously.<\/p>\n

But, a more detailed examination of the current situation, as well as Iran\u2019s own recent history, supports the notion that Netanyahu could be more accurate than not.<\/p>\n

Consider the history: Since 2009, there have been 10 nationwide protest movements, with millions of Iranians taking to the streets against the government.<\/p>\n

And while there was a wide range of causes for those protests \u2013 from blatant election fraud to the most recent demonstrations set off by the killing of Mahsa Amini <\/a>\u2013 they all underscore widespread opposition to the current regime.<\/p>\n

In that same vein, much like I saw in Serbia, the large number of protests and their various causes reveal a significantly large opposition that, under the right conditions, can effectively mobilize and pressure the regime.<\/p>\n

To that end, whereas we had to actively organize those movements in Serbia<\/a>, those conditions are already evident in Iran, and on a much greater scale.<\/p>\n

NETANYAHU CALLS ON IRANIAN CITIZENS TO SEIZE ‘OPPORTUNITY’ FOR REGIME CHANGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Aside from the bleak future facing Iran\u2019s youth, the regime\u2019s oppressive laws towards its nearly 44 million female citizens have turned virtually one-half of the population into second-class citizens with little to lose from rising up, as hundreds of thousands did during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests.<\/p>\n

Underscoring just how deep the hatred is towards the regime, Iran International has reported<\/a> receiving letters expressing personal thanks to Netanyahu, and the Jerusalem Post reported<\/a> than an Iranian source told them, “This war has greatly strengthened and revived new optimism” among Iranians for regime change.<\/p>\n

The Post\u2019s source inside Iran continued, saying that “conversations around the capital city (Tehran) are focused on the final days of the regime and that they brought it on themselves.”<\/p>\n

Outside of Iran, the debate has already begun.<\/p>\n

On one side are leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as journalists like former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and Yorktown Institute President Seth Cropsey.<\/p>\n

PENTAGON FLEXES US MILITARY’S DECOYS AND STRATEGIC DECEPTION THAT TOOK IRAN AND WORLD BY SURPRISE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Those men have argued \u2013 Bolton and Cropsey in the Wall Street Journal, and Netanyahu speaking to Fox News\u2019 Bret Baier<\/a> and in other forums \u2013 that this is the most opportune moment for regime change in Iran since the revolution in 1979.<\/p>\n

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Given the deep reservoir of anti-regime sentiment among the Iranian people, the argument goes, the best course of action is that Israel\u2019s destruction of the regime\u2019s military and symbols of power will give Iranians the courage to rise up, united, against the government.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the debate are those such as French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a>. Haunted by failed regime change efforts in Iraq and Libya, Macron cast doubt on the possibility for success in pursuing regime change, saying<\/a> it would “result in chaos.”<\/p>\n

Some have also argued<\/a> that Israel\u2019s actions could create a “rally around the flag” effect and spark nationalism among the Iranian people.<\/p>\n

To be clear, while both sides have legitimate arguments, based off my experience in Serbia<\/a>, I believe that Netanyahu and those on his side have a much stronger case.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Iranian government is weaker than ever before after Israel destroyed virtually its entire chain of command and remains in total control of Iranian skies.<\/p>\n

Likewise, unlike Libya and Iraq, Iran has a well-organized opposition, with a much more established sense of national unity than either Iraq<\/a> or Libya ever had.<\/p>\n

Taken together, there is strong evidence underpinning Israel\u2019s belief that the Iranian regime could fall, especially given Israel\u2019s extreme caution in only targeting symbols of the regime in order to avoid stoking nationalism.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are risks in encouraging regime change, and it\u2019s not at all guaranteed that the next regime is the one the West wants. It could very well result in a more extreme government led by remnants of the Revolutionary Guard hard-liners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, it is a mistake of similar magnitude to dismiss this chance out of hand. History has shown that when an oppressed people, angry at their government, find their confidence and are supported \u2013 even only by air power \u2013 the outcome need not be chaos, or the survival of the current government.<\/p>\n

It has, and could again, result in genuine regime change.<\/p>\n

In both cases of Iran and Serbia there was widespread bombing of the country and indeed the civilians, with collateral damage on the civilian population. In the Serbian case all of the net results was that it strengthened the resolve of the Serbian people to rid themselves of an authoritarian dictator \u2013 Milosevic. And in the Iranian case, if history is any guide, it will weaken an already fragile regime and hopefully provide an outlet for the millions of Iranians who want a greater measure of freedom and peace in their lives.<\/p>\n

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Douglas E. Schoen has more than 40 years of experience as a pollster and political consultant. He served as an adviser to President Bill Clinton and to the presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. Schoen is founder and partner of Schoen Cooperman Research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump teases regime change in Iran after US strikes Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has updates on the latest in the Middle East after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites on ‘Special Report.’ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! With President Donald Trump\u2019s extraordinary decision to attack three of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24577,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24247\/revisions\/24577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}