Transcript Iran - High Point University

The Middle East and North Africa
Middle East critically important to the global economy and
global trade
Oil and the Suez Canal
Development in MENA
is largely resource
driven
Political Conflicts often
involve struggles over
resources
Critics argue that
MENA needs to shift
attention from resources
to other forms of
production, example
agriculture.
Other Development Concerns
Women’s rights, human rights, oppression, cultural resistance
to modernization
Barriers to Political Freedom
1. Non-democratic regimes (Petro-states)
2. Tribalism, Traditionalism, Religion? (Islamic law)
What is the most advanced Muslim country in the middle east
in terms of freedoms?
(Turkey)
Non-Muslim State?
(Israel)
Islam and Politics
The Prophet Muhammad (570-632)
The Grand Mosque at Mecca
Islamic Expansion 622-750
The Umayyad Caliphate 660-750
Schisms during the Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258
Islam in the Modern World
Sunni and Shia Islam
Divisions within Political Islam
Four contemporary currents of political Islam
1. Fundamentalists (strict Islamic theocracy)
2. Conservatives (favor Islamic law, but reject violence
and terrorism)
3. Authoritarian secularists (nationalists)
4. Democratizing secularists
Divisions within Sunni Islam
1. Traditionalist Sunni Islam – commitment to peace and
cohabitation with non-Muslims, but Islamic (shariah) law is
binding to all Muslims
2. Modernist Sunni Islam – separation of mosque and state
though some forms of Shariah law may still be applied in civil
society, reconcile Islam with democracy, human rights,
modernization.
3. Fundamentalist Islam – strict Shariah law, unified state
religion, restrictions on women, harsh punishments for crimes,
creation of a world Islamic community, opposition to Western
influence, opposition to other forms of Islam (especially Shia).
Salafi school - most prominent fundamentalist Sunni Islamic
school – salaf means “ancient ones” – i.e. Salafis adhere to a
purist version of Islam
Main Salafi schools
1. Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia – most
prominent Salafi school
Calls for purification of Islam which he
believed had become corrupted by ottoman
rule (much like Luther’s critique of
Catholic church)
Found support among the al-Saud tribe – a
minor tribe in Saudi Arabia. The al-Saud
family seized power after WWI and
proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in
1932 based on Wahhabism.
Mohammad Ibnal
Wahhab
(1703-1792)
2. Deobandi school
Founded in India in 1867 today in Pakistan and
Afghanistan
Taliban is a deobandi salafi
movement.
Mullah Omar
3. Muslim Brotherhood
A Salafi movement founded in
Egypt by Sayyid Qutb (KUH-tb)
(1906-1966) in 1948
Father of Islamic Radicalism
(executed by Nassar government in
a show trial for conspiring against
the state)
Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri
were inspired by Qutb in founding
al-Qaeda – which remains a
predominantly Salafi-inspired and
Sunni movement.
Sayyid Qutb
Divisions within Shia Islam (three schools)
Twelver Shiism – about 85% of Shiites are adherents of
Twelver school.
In addition to believing that Islam should be led by the blood
descendants of Muhammad, they believe that when the last of
the 11 blood descendants of Mohammad (the 11th Imam) was
killed in 874, the 12th Imam remains hidden and will return
someday and bring unity to Islam once again.
Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran declared himself the Mahdi –
Hidden Imam – when he seized power in 1979.
Main point – Islam remains divided into various schools of
thought and there is no consensus on the relationship
between politics and religion.
Islam and violence – jihad – struggle – what kind of
struggle?
1. Jihad of the Heart (internal spiritual struggle between
right and wrong)
2. Jihad of the Tongue (struggle to spread Islamic values)
3. Jihad of the Sword (struggle to conquer and convert) –
mainstream Islam only condones violence in self-defense
Islam and democracy
In 2002, there were only two Muslim countries categorized as
democratic according to Freedom House ratings (Mali and
Senegal, now add Indonesia)
Authoritarian rule – Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Syria under
Hafaz al-Assad and son Bashir, Egypt under Nassar, Mubarak,
Lybia under Ghadafi
Constitutional Monarchy – Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco,
Gulf Arab states
Islamic Theocracy – Iran
Case Study:
Power in Iran
Ancient Persian Empire (400 BC)
Safavid Empire 1501-1736
Territorial Loss
under the Qajar
dynasty in the
19th-20th century
Historical Timeline
1906 –Qajar dynasty forced
to establish a constitutional
monarchy, establishes first
Iranian parliament (Majles),
with competitive political
parties
1921 – military leader, Reza
Khan, seizes power, declared
shah or “king”, rules as
absolute monarch
Reza Shah
1941 – Britain and USSR
invade Iran, depose Reza
Shah (pro-German during
WWII), substitute his son
Muhammad Reza Pahlavi
as the new shah, redirect
power back to the Majles
1943 – Stalin, Churchill,
Roosevelt meet at Tehran
Conference
Muhammad Reza Pahlavi
1951 – Dr. Muhammad Mossadeq
elected prime minister.
Nationalizes Ango-Iranian oil
company, alarming Britain and the
United States.
1953 – Mossadeq arrested and
imprisoned as part of CIA
coordinated Operation Ajax, Shah
returns to absolute power. The
Shah remains an important
Western ally against Soviet
expansion.
Dr. Muhammad Mossadeq
1960s – “White Revolution” –
Shah liberalizes Iranian society,
economy – women gain right to
vote, economic growth and
expansion under elite
supervision.
1963 – Shiite cleric Ayatollah
Khomeini is exiled to France
after criticizing Shah regime for
corruption.
1970s – corruption in Shah
government leads to increased
poverty and social unrest,
protests, demonstrations,
imprisonment of political
dissidents.
1979 – Iranian revolution.
Ayatollah Khomeini returns
from exile. Shah flees Iran.
An Islamic Republic is
established. US embassy
stormed and hostages held
captive for over a year.
1980- Saddam Hussein
invades Iran, taking
advantage of weakness
and eventually
supported by the United
States. War lasts 8
years, 2 million
casualties, ended in
stalemate
Iran’s Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ali Khamenei
1989 – Ayatollah Khomeini dies, succeeded by Ali Khamenei
Iranian Presidents
1997 – Presidential election
produces a victory for
moderate reformers under
Ayatollah Muhammad
Khatami, reelected in 2001
despite opposition from
hardliners.
Muhammad Khatami
Iranian Presidents
2005- hardliner Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad elected
president, immediately
creates international
controversy announcing the
restart of Iran’s nuclear
program, calling for the
destruction of Israel,
encouraging Hezbollah to
confront Israel in Lebanon
in 2006, aiding Shiite
radicals in Iraq.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iranian Nuclear Program
Structure of Government in Iran
Direct elections in Iran
Iranian President
(4 year terms, 2 term limit)
Selects Council of Ministers
(22 cabinet ministers,
approved by Majles)
Direct elections in Iran
Parliament (Majles,
290 representatives, 4 year terms)
Assembly of Experts
(86 Shiite clerics,
8 year terms)
Indirect Rule in Iran
Supreme Leader –
Ayatollah Khamenei
(life term, elected by
Council of Experts)
Appoints Head of
Judiciary,Head of
Armed Forces
Council of Guardians (12
members consisting of 6
clerics chosen by Supreme
Leader and 6 judges chosen
by Majles)
Approves all candidates for
direct elections
Since the Islamic Revolution an estimated 100,000
people have been executed for crimes in violation of
Iran’s Islamic Laws to include such offenses as adultery
and homosexuality.