Before the contested Iranian election of 2009, scholar Hamid Dabashi notes, most people in the U.S. only thought of Iran in terms of geopolitics. But when protesters poured into the streets that summer, he points out, "Suddenly people mattered. People's liberty, and economic and social well-being mattered."

Dabashi has a new book out, Iran, The Green Movement and the USA: The Fox and the Paradox, and he joins Laura in studio for a conversation about geopolitics and internal politics, about the long, tumultuous relationship between the U.S. and Iran, and to discuss the best course of action for peace in the region, with hawks clamoring once again for war.