True and cca 8 years ago it was not all doom and gloom either in Iran, I had quite a few anti-regime talks with random folks who just came to me as visible outsider, not sure about now.
But his point still stands, things can and do go to shit, anywhere. 90s were a magical period when world consistently fell even from major news like moving towards bright future. 9/11 changed that for good and common americans let that fear-based manipulation (and 2 absolutely meaningless wars as we see now) happen and gradually roll over entire world, that's also one of 'super powers' of being a superpower.
But his point still stands, things can and do go to shit, anywhere. 90s were a magical period when world consistently fell even from major news like moving towards bright future. 9/11 changed that for good and common americans let that fear-based manipulation (and 2 absolutely meaningless wars as we see now) happen and gradually roll over entire world, that's also one of 'super powers' of being a superpower.