My only critique of the strategy is that it overstates the impact of American oil consumption on Iran and disregards the consumption of other modern economies in Europe and particularly growth economies in India and China. I do agree that a green revolution in America could make significant strides in opening up freedom and reform in the Middle East and that America is still well positioned to lead this green revolution, but a critical requirement is that European and Asian countries must follow suit with their own green revolutions to produce the effect that Thomas Friedman writes about.

Other than this critique, I want to highlight a great quote that is used in this article. The quote is from Michael Mandelbaum, a foreign policy specialist at John Hopkins University:
“People do not change when you tell them they should; they change when they tell themselves they must.”

This is a great quote for leaders. Significant emphasis in leadership studies is the influence that leaders must have to drive change in their organization. This change also involves people. While a leader may seek to influence change, the best tool available is influence; coercion produces negative effects in attitude and motivation that hinder the positive effects of the change. Leaders need to practice the art of leadership to motivate people to change themselves.

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