In Wurmser's scenario, a post-Saddam government in Iraq that includes meaningful participation by Iraq's Shiite majority will remove the Iranian mullahs' most powerful claim to legitimacy, which is that they represent the only regional power center for Shiites.
They thus enjoy a more powerful leadership and legitimacy that way, and in a time of globalization, we need strong leaders with quick responses".
This is partly because science is a powerful source of legitimacy, and regulators often want to portray their assessments as far more objective, reliable and consensual than is actually the case.
Summarizing their findings, the award announcement said: "Rules that are imposed from the outside or unilaterally dictated by powerful insiders have less legitimacy and are more likely to be violated.
In addition, they can weaken the perceived legitimacy of powerful actors that are producing biofuels unsustainably.
For the rebels, losing Aleppo would be a powerful blow to their legitimacy as a military..
Within hours of its capture, the Bastille began to be used as a powerful symbol to give legitimacy to the revolutionary movement in France.
Many of the most powerful leaders may lose their legitimacy in the days to come.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, a globally recognized figure as well as being wildly popular inside her country, is putting a powerful personal imprimatur of democratic legitimacy on a system built by the former military junta, analysts say.
Worse, the I.M.F. board does not seem to feel the need to establish even a pretext of legitimacy for the powerful No. 2 position; everyone takes for granted that the board will rubber-stamp whomever the Obama administration nominates.
