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- The Islamic Republic of Iran: Multidisciplinary Analyses of its theocracy, nationalism, and assertion of Power
The Islamic Republic of Iran: Multidisciplinary Analyses of its theocracy, nationalism, and assertion of Power
Show moreGenocide and its prevention both result from human choice and bystander indifference. Since the Armenian genocide, and the Holocaust, perpetrators have used dehumanizing metaphors to prepare their followers to overcome normative inhibitions that stand in the way of their becoming killers, rapists, and plunderers of members of potential victim populations. Today, one lesson from the Holocaust is that there are existential dangers associated with ignoring state sanctioned dehumanizing hate language. Not all hate language and incitement leads to genocide, and genocide can occur without hate language and incitement. There can be hate language with and without explicit incitement, propagated by rogue regimes.
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Show moreOn June 12, 2009, shortly after the polls closed, the Iranian government announced that the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had won the presidential election by a landslide. His main challengers, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, immediately disputed this conclusion on the grounds of fraud and called for new elections. Massive street demonstrations broke out protesting the reported result and in support of the opposition.
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Show moreIn light of contemporary Iranian Shi’ite fundamentalist Muslim fanaticism and recent Holocaust revisionism, it is significant to show Iran’s altruistic past in their role in enabling the rescue of Jews in Europe and Iran during the Holocaust. The issue of Iranian assisted rescue during WWII is one of several motifs in current Iranian efforts to minimize the Holocaust and advance Holocaust revisionism as a tool of Shi’te agitation against Israel, Zionism, and Jews in general. Current Iranian regime sponsored Holocaust revisionism not only is anti-Israel oriented, but contains features of anti-Semitism and classic Shi’ite Muslim disdain for Judaism and the Jews.
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Show moreOver the last several years, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was repeatedly proclaimed that Israel “should be wiped off the map.” This has not been empty rhetoric, or political posturing, or a figure of speech. Rather, Ahmadinejad has directly and publicly urged the annihilation of the people of Israel. What gives weight and urgency to his words is the steady accumulation of nuclear capabilities in Iran. Ahmadinejad has proclaimed Iran to be a “nuclear state,” announcing that it has attained the capacity to enrich uranium to weapons grade if it chooses to do so. This paper argues that Ahmadinejad’s conduct, taken in context, constitutes the crime of incitement to genocide under international law.
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Show moreOn an issue as complex as that of the Iranian nuclear program, analysts have an obligation to firmly uphold the importance of first principles, not just the latest twists and turns which so dominate the news and can distract policymakers. Three such principles are: by what yardsticks can diplomacy’s progress be judged? what would constitute success for sanctions? and what are the key concerns of the Iranian side in the negotiations?
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Show moreThe protest movement following the 12 June 2009 Iranian presidential election raised the question of what should be the European and American policy towards democratic forces in Iran. Another way of framing the issue is: should the West support “regime change” in Iran as an objective? Serious arguments can be made that the West should instead concentrate on resolving the nuclear standoff, even if Iran has an odious government. But there are two serious complications to any effort to reassure Tehran that the West is prepared to accept the regime so long as it agrees to a nuclear deal: Iranian leaders would not believe such a U.S. statement no matter what actions the U.S. government takes, and the United States has a strong interest in the cause of democracy in Iran.
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Show moreWhile there are many sources of unrest and instability in this troubled region, there can be no question that Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability is the principle threat not only to the security of Israel and the region, but the entire world. How the international community addresses (or fails to address) Iran’s nuclear programs will have grave implications for the entire nonproliferation regime. Other states considering their own nuclear programs are watching the situation in Iran closely.
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Show moreDuring July 2008, Professors Moshe Sharon and Benny Morris both opined solemnly about an inevitable Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. These two respected Israeli academicians, despite holding very disparate political views, also concurred on the moral justification for such pre-emptive action—the genocidal threat to Israel posed by a Shi’ite Iranian regime gripped with an apocalyptic, Jew-hating fervor.
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Show moreWhen we talk about human rights in Iran, the first thing that comes to mind is the torture of political prisoners. Amir Fakhravar is one of the eye witnesses to torture in the Islamic Republic prisons. He spent over five years of my life in prison, under torture, and over 15 years in the corridors of the Revolutionary courts.
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