Economists are often ridiculed for assuming that all people act rationally at all times. So how should an economist react when a rational individual suggests that it is time for the leaders of Iran to cede power in order to give way for an Iranian Republic? By giving this person the final AS Award for 2009.

Roger Cohen, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, believes it is now time to change Iran at the top, and that this change should be precipitated voluntarily by the “militarized coterie bent, in the name of money and power, on the bludgeoning of the Iranian people.”

He also argued: “New sanctions against Tehran would only throw a lifeline to Khamenei and further enrich the Revolutionary Guards. President Obama’s outreach is still the smartest approach to Iran, a nation whose political clock has now trumped its erratic, wavering nuclear clock.”

There is wishful thinking; there is fantasy; and then there is delusion. I believe that Mr. Cohen has entered the world of delusion with respect to Iran, and for this reason he deserves this award.

The leadership of Iran will finally topple, but it will not be voluntarily, and unfortunately, it will take much more bloodshed. Outreach to a corrupt and despised regime will long be remembered by the new leadership and the people of Iran.

For the brave people of Iran resisting the evil theocrats and their crazed henchmen, either we are for them, or we are against them. It is time the U.S. and Canada unequivocally stand with them!

The opinions expressed in this blog are personal and do not reflect the views of Global Brief or the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs.