Who Decides What Is Legitimate? Power, Democracy, and the War on Iran

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Democracy is invoked as moral legitimacy in war, while Iran’s authority rests on layered political, religious, and historical foundations.

Democracy, however, is not the enemy. Its manipulation is.

For decades, Western political discourse has equated legitimacy with elections—numbers counted on a single day, certified by institutions that themselves operate within systems shaped by immense financial power. The result is a troubling reduction: legitimacy becomes procedural rather than moral.