Cultural Awareness: Iranian Culture Individuals from various cultures can easily distinguish differences in traits by making comparisons to their own. These differences make up the fundamentals of a society’s way of life. The rules that most individuals abide by comprise the framework of a culture. Culture is the shared beliefs and social norms of a country or area that are different from other places. In the country of Iran, an abundance of diversity defines their culture. Using the United States Army’s operations variables, this paper will define the culture of Iran by analyzing the environmental, political, religious, and military operational variables, as well as their military conflicts with the United States. The …show more content…
The variables used in this process are political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment and time (PMESII-PT). Evaluating these characteristics can give insight into a country’s culture and background for knowledge purposes as well as for military actions. Understanding how and why the people in different regions operate is the only way to gain the advantage and spread cultural awareness throughout the world. The social variable of PMESII-PT identifies a group of people that share a common set of cultural ties (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2010). These ties include political authority, religion, language and ethnicities. The Islamic Republic of Iran; also known as Persia, is unique due to its diversity but is still considered the same cultural amenity. There are an estimated 70 million people with a variety of ethnicities. Farsi is the principal …show more content…
After its founding in 1979, Iran became a Theocratic Republic. It was originally a monarchy, but after much fighting, the last Shah (king) went into exile and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the Islamic Republic (Kagan, 2012a). In a theocratic republic, God is the supreme civil ruler of the nation. The people elect a supreme leader and president to oversee political and some civil laws, but the leaders must look to the Qur’an for spiritual and civil guidance (Theocratic, 2016). The supreme leader has the overall control in all matters to include the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a military entity charged with protecting the revolution of 1979 and its achievements (Kagan, 2012). The state’s government is a multi-tier system with some checks and balance systems in place so that one group does not have total power. The first tier is the Islamic consultation assembly, a parliamentary group who creates and passes laws. The second tier is the Guardian Council. Elected by the supreme leader, this group is the approval authority for all of the parliament’s decisions. The Guardian Council also has the power to remove the Supreme Leader if they feel he is not worthy of the title. The Expediency Council is the last tier, which mediates decisions between the previous two entities. The
Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.
...ries and the 1979 revolution. The author presents Iran through the leadership of mullahs and shah tradition. The book has rich information covering the history of Iran. Mottahedeh managed to develop an impressive book that satisfies the curiosity of a reader wanting to understand the history, culture and political atmosphere of Iran through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh and Ali Hashemi represent two views of Islamic learning and Iranian history and culture. While Ali Hashemi represents a religious view of Islamic learning and history of Iran, Parviz represents a secular view of Islamic learning and ambiguity of culture in Iran. The two views help to bring out the ways in which Islamic religion and culture influenced political atmosphere, in Iran especially at a time when politics in Iran was shaped by religion.
When the Iranian Revolution succeeded in 1979, Iran wanted to gain the admiration and the support of Arab countries, benefiting in particular from the support by the Shah of Iran and his relationship with Israel before the collapse of his regime. On this very first day of the victory of the revolution, Iran was keen to extend its bonds with the Islamic world, and when this was not possible in most cases, because of many complex causes of the revolution, Iran began to look for «organizations» instead of «regime’s or countries», in order to continue its role in Islamic issues. Iran was keen to show that this role was one of the foundations of the revolution and its beliefs, in order to free Iran from the charge of Persian racism.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly known as Iran or Persia, was crowded with a young generation looking for full freedom against the Shah. Persia, once as a powerful country with vast oil resources, soon became a vulnerable nation, ready to accept a new leader to guide them. The people were ready for change, but were the changes they got the changes they were looking for. The people wanted freedom against the shah, (For generations Iran was ruled by Kings) who allowed some freedoms, but it was somewhat limited. The people wanted freedom of speech, so that the press could freely publish their own opinions. They wanted to get rid of a law that made all eighteen-year-old males attend two years of military service unless they are accepted to a university, which would allow them attend the army later as a service worker. The shah was anti-religious, which was not ideal for many of the civilians in Iran. Savak (Secret organization of Iran) was accused of many anti – human rights actions, such as killing students who protested and immediately jailing press members for inappropriate conduct. A major problem was that the shah was a “puppet” of the United States many say, because the Shah would constantly confer with the U.S. of all of his decisions as ruler. The after affects of the revolution resulted in similar conditions, however. Human rights are horrible, the government limits all freedoms, the economy has suffered greatly, average salaries are hard to live with, most of the educated people in Iran fled to foreign countries, the quality of public schools is horrible, and the government still controls all television broadcasts and keeps a watchful eye on the newspapers. From bad to worse is what many people feel has become of Iran, but the people are ready for a real change.
Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.
Ludwig, P. (1999). Iranian Nation and Islamic Revolutionary Ideology. Die Welt des islams. 39(2). 183-217.
Iran’s political landscape is complex to say the least, and despite popular American belief it is not fair to classify Iran and the government as a totalitarian regime (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph 615). A traditional definition of a totalitarian regime is a government in which the leaders, generally a small group of elites, exercise control of public and private life (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph ch. 1). While it is true that Iran has an assembly of religious clerics whom play a role in determining how the country is run, in recent years the control over public and private life have slipped. Furthermore, the people are responsible for electing the president and legislative branch, Islamic Majles. Iran also maintains a constitution that is a mix of democracy and th...
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
The Islamic revolution was the result of discontent for westernization and modernization in Iran. The people felt as if shah was imposing a society contaminated with westernized influences, and straying from culture and religion. This seems to be a common trend in other revolutionary movements. It seems as most revolutionaries are a result of a want or need to change an injustice. It is created on the basis or ideation of an injustice or a need for change within the society, politically or economically. It is usually led by thinkers, educators, prestige leaders, as seen with Khomeini. However, unlike other revolutionaries, the Islamic Revolution differs because religion actually played a prominent role. Although other revolutions came as a result for change between the separation of religion and state, the Islamic revolution was based off the ideologies of a religious leader. He wanted to restore religion back into politics, and thought the Shia lacked religious and cultural foundations, and weened away toward a modernized and fundamental society. Khomeini’s intent was to restore Iran, and remove the contamination brought by westernized influences. It also is not looking for the rights of all Iranian people, but those of Sunni or Islamic faith. When other revolutions included the majority of people, The Islamic Revolution excluded, and discriminates against the Shia (Nasr, 2007).
The cultural turn in the war on terror has been the reason behind many new military programs, new military training, and the way military strategies are planned. The cultural turn is the idea that having cultural knowledge of the enemy is crucial to military practice and strategy. This cultural turn has led to changes in the infrastructure of the military, and how money is used. The military now relies on think tanks, journals, and specialists aiming at producing cultural knowledge of the enemy. In these efforts, the military has produced the Phraselator and the Culture Smart Card to give to military personnel to aid them in the war on terror.
A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come. Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people.
Moving to America from Iran has certainly become a huge challenge for me. I have realized that there are some significant differences between these countries. Living in two different countries is an experience that opens people’s mind to a new way of thinking. In my case, I have lived in Iran and in the America, and now I understand better Iran than ever before. Iran and the America have differences in culture, marriage traditions, and economy.
In recent years, the Iraqi nation has endured a crisis that will forever remain in the hearts and minds of the Middle Eastern culture. However, the outcomes of the War on Iraq will not change the long-lasting and passionate traditions and memories that have been held in the country for decades. One major event that happened in Iraq’s history is that on October 3, 1932 Iraq was established as an independent nation. Iraq has always been a country in which respect and generosity have been highly valued and play an important cultural role in everyday life. Additionally, approximately ninety-five percent of Iraqis are Muslim, and therefore Islam is the official religion of this nation (Gutierrez 1). Furthermore, Iraq is a country that holds a lot of historically, culturally, and religiously significant beliefs, customs, and traditions.
A Persian writer, Shahrokh Meskoob once said, "Identity is a reactive matter and attention to self becomes more meaningful in relation to others." This quote illustrates how one’s identity is greatly affected by the society around them and how they communicate and connect with one another. While this can draw on aspects of everyone and anyone’s life, it can be especially applied to different cultures, and in this case, the Persian culture. Taking into consideration how far it dates back to, this is an ancient culture and it has been kept alive for so long by the people who have the desire to do such and pass on their Persian background as my dad has done for me and as I will do for my children.
...ah and started establishing new laws of this state (Anderson, 1989). The first change was identical to Plato’s philosopher king which allows anyone who wants to be a supreme leader of Iran has to have several features. First quality is scientific competence necessary and that includes Islamic ethics and philosophy. Second quality is justice and piety and thirdly, this person should have a vision of political and social perspectives, courage and the capability for leadership. This example shows us the successful process that helps the society by a philosopher king.