Iran

Irony could be defined, I think, by those caught by surprise by history.

The protesters in Iran -- where almost 70% of the population is under the age of 35 (meaning they don't remember the relationship between the U.S. and the Shah from personal experience) -- are at least in the game toward overthrowing the current, hierarchical, theocratic regime:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-27/could-the-mullahs-fall-this-time/full

 

(Frankly, I'll feel more confident when Michael Ledeen predicts it.)

The irony comes from the fact that Iran's theocracy hates us today because we opted to support -- or, at least, not oppose -- the Shah when Khomeini returned from exile in the late-'70s. Today, any future Iranian government might choose to hate us because we did nothing to promote the Islamists' fall outside of empty rhetoric and belated condemnation.