A New Brand of Islam?

[Christina]

February 04, 2007 at 15:39:36 Tehran's Global Agenda: A Disaster Waiting to Happen? by Dr. Eldad PardoI suggest that an entirely new version of Shi'ia Islam, sometimes dubbed "revolutionary Shi'ism," has been established by the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini.Taking a closer look at Iran's current ideological discourse suggests it is a new political religion or ideology, one that goes beyond the classic Shi'ia-Sunni divide, and even beyond normative Islam. Iran's radical take on Islam includes a wide array of components, with a heightened emphasis on revolutionary Third World rhetoric that is populist, anti-Western, and hate-mongering and fashioned specifically to accommodate target audiences around the globe. Iran often argues that the world should become multi-polar, but all indications suggest that Tehran actually strives to establish the global Islamic Revolution-with Iran at its epicenter-as the world's only superpower.I propose to study Iranian policies with an eye to a number of factors that shape Iran's global perspective. First is the combination of an Islamic regime committed to overturning the world's normative status quo, while it simultaneously seeks to develop a nuclear weapons program.Second is the significance of Iran's inherent economic and social problems including unemployment, corruption, widespread prostitution, drug abuse and AIDS. Arguably, while the regime is unstable and unpopular within the domestic realm, it is still ambitious and is determined to pursue its international interests.Dissatisfaction with the clerics' regime encompasses the majority of Iranian public opinion. Youth, women, ethnic minorities (not withstanding the Bazaar, a marginal percentage of society that provides support to the regime) and growing sections of the elite, maintain negative sentiments toward the current regime. The Islamic government's loss of clerical legitimacy among its people, combined with tough domestic problems, has given rise to new extremist policies.I argue that we should also further investigate the implications of Iran's cultural history focuses on martyrdom, self-destruction and the ensuing abrupt political upheavals through crumbling polities and revolutions.We know that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is the main body supporting President Ahmadinejad and has been predominantly responsible for developing the country's nuclear weapons program in recent decades. IRGC members are skilled at inciting greater friction among its opponents within the elite ruling circles and across the country. Thus, in Iran, millenarian groups that entertain Armageddon-type ideas are not marginal like those of some cargoistic cults in the West, but rather part of the regime and its decision-making processes. I believe that the theological dimension and the explosive combination of cults and new religion should be studied more deeply. We know that the thrust of Iranian strategy in the last three decades shows impressive consistency in its drive to influence and control its neighboring Sunni Arab lands. I suggested studying the implications of the fact that a nuclear Iran will be in a position to control almost all of the oil exports from the Persian Gulf area, and could wreak havoc on key economic markets. Sunni Muslims also fear that Iran aims to dominate Islam's holy sites in the Hijaz province of Saudi Arabia, thus combining wealth and prestige for its campaign to lead the entire Muslim world in new global ventures.If Tehran is left to its own devices, a clash between Iran and the rest of the world is inevitable. A united global front against Iran seems to be slowly forming and could, with efficient sanctions, defuse Iran's nuclear mania and change the country's attitude. But there are still many unexpected developments that may very well arise. This intricate field should be further researched.