Contemporary Research on the Islamic Revolution

The Greater Middle East Project was put forth by Colin Powel, the Minister of Defense at George Bush Administration on 12 September, 2002. The objectives which have been posed for this plan include: Economic reform, promotion of human rights, establishment of democracy and freedom of election in the Middle East which could be implemented by different instruments and tactics. Of course, it is necessary to detach a division between the announced (explicit) objectives of this plan and hidden objectives of America, because in developing this plan, attempts have been made to have progressive and philanthropic objectives as a cover to its real objectives. The designers of this tricky plan have other objectives in mind. Among these objectives, one may refer to the supply of the security of production and display of energy for America, maintaining the survival of Zionist regime and confrontation with the Political Islam. The question is: What is the nature of recent changes of revolution in the Middle East and to what direction do they incline? The present research has been organized in an analytic-descriptive method and the findings of the research indicate that despite the claims of the analysts and politicians of America to fulfill the Greater Middle East, the colorful presence of Islamic streams at the top of recent changes of the Middle East in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and the presence of religious leaders at the top of the revolutionaries specify that the nature of recent changes is the fulfillment of Islamic Awakening and defeat of the Greater Middle East Project.

Since 2011, the region has been a profound socio-economic changes originated from n Tunisia, & spread to Middle Eastern and the former power structures affected. The management and direction to these uprisings is the key question of this paper. The key question, is the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran how answer to these Middle East public uprisings in the years 2011-2014? The answer to this question is, Islamic Republic of Iran through the promotion of revolutionary Islam in the region of Middle East, In fact, Iran's strategy towards these developments combined to promote dialogue of resistance against hegemonic and strengthen geopolitical forces aligned with Iran. Thus, on the one hand, Iran has tried to promote revolutionary positions that contradict the intervention of regional powers (Saudi Arabia) and trans-regional (America) and the other hand, Iran, by spiritual support, encouraged the aligned forces to dialogue of resistance to effective involvement in changes. This paper use the method of explanation-analysis

The developments in the contemporary world, particularly the revolutions, coups and wars, have led to development of many theories about social movements. One of the methods used in social movements to bring about sociopolitical change is nonviolence. Nonviolent method of struggle was theorized by Gene Sharp, who collected and introduced 198 methods of nonviolent actions, protest and persuasion. The present paper is an attempt to study Imam Khomeini’s approach to political struggle against the Shah’s regime. The focus of this paper is analysis of methods used by Imam Khomeini in his struggles until the victory of the Islamic Revolution. The main question of this paper is: What was Imam Khomeini’s approach to violence and nonviolence in his political struggles against the Shah’s regime? The hypothesis formulated based on the above question is as follows: In Imam Khomeini’s approach, ends do not justify the means, hence, he used many nonviolent methods and did not preach or use violence in the course of his struggles. Documental method has been employed for the purpose of this research. The Findings of this paper indicate that Imam Khomeini’s approach to political struggle was nonviolent and based on Islamic teachings, mainly employing "persuasion" and "nonviolent protests." The findings also indicate that these techniques are among the 198 techniques collected by Gene Sharp.

Many local and foreign theorists and authorities have tried to present a theoretical elaboration of the nature of Imam Khomeini’s leadership and its profound impact. Therefore, the basic question of this research foresees this fact ‘What kind of interactions has existed between Imam Khomeini’s personality and leadership method and the observation of human dignity?’ Was this method of leadership and its immense influence on the basis of the rejected model of charismatic leadership and can it be interpreted on this basis? The findings of this research, based on the analytical-documental method indicate the complete interaction of Imam Khomeini’s character and leadership method, with the theme of human dignity and specifies that the Imam-as the highest symbol of human dignity and particularly a perfect human being and in the position of an educated, pure and dynamic religious authority in the lap of the high Islamic and Shiite teachings during his life and periods of leadership-had a special and inexpressible attention to the subject of human dignities and basically one of the reasons for the immense influence of his leadership are attributed precisely to this fact. Attempts have also been made concerning the incompatible aspects of the charismatic leadership with human dignities and demonstrating the lack of conjunction of this model with the Imam’s leadership style, as another document to be presented in support of quest for dignity and dignity-centered attitudes of his character and leadership. Indeed, the Imam was the symbol of dignity and the perfect divine human being and for this reason, he left his profound impact on the peoples’ opinion and the majority of Muslims, the impact that has not become routine and afflicted with any defect.

If culture is seen as a framework of "should" and "should not," defensive culture is based on issues, which are available in the society. Issues that differ from one society to another and are influenced by the strategic culture of the countries. So, the present study aimed to answer the question that what are the most important components of a defensive culture in the framework of the strategic culture of Iran, based on the Supreme Leader's views. Based on the results, the most important components influenced by Iran's strategic. culture include martyrdom and Ashura culture, deepening insight and recognizing enemy, Islamic-Iranian identity and national unity, self-confidence and belief in divine victory, denial of oppression and defense of the oppressed, defensive diplomacy, democratic defense, and multilateral defense which can be effective in adopting an appropriate defensive strategy and enhancing the defensive capability of the Islamic Republic of Iran against enemies. In this article an analytical-descriptive method is used.

With an emphasis on its prominent historical points, this article attempts to take a fresh look at the evolution of political thought in Islam and Iran. This review attempts to identify the milestones of the history of political thought in Iran and in particular, in the Islamic world. By identifying them, the impact of each of the ideas of urban Iran, Sunni Islam, Shiite Islam, the Greek and the new West on the formation and continuation of political thought in Iran can be understood and the contribution of each of these sources to various historical stages and in different ways that, have produced political power in Islamic Iran can be investigated. This essay seeks to show, through a historical approach, the stages of the rupture and the connection between the course of political thought and historical developments. An examination of the history of thought, scholars, and the political system in Iran and Islam reveals that an important and influential component in the development of post-Islamic Iranian society is the supremacy of the Shi'a intellectual tradition, which has had a significant impact on the growth, and excellence of the Islamic world and Islamic civilization. The golden age of Islamic civilization during the third to fifth centuries, and the political, economic, and cultural flourishing of Iran in the tenth and eleventh centuries, were the product of the rule of Shiite political thought. Accordingly, the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran based on Shiite rationality can lead to a new period of civilization in Iran and the Islamic world.

In the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the ensuing dominance of political Islam discourse and its impact on Pakistani society, the ground was prepared for the spread of Wahhabism and anti-Shiism in that country due to the failure of the Islamabad government to manage the reactive conduct of extremist Salafist groups as well as its engagement in internal disputes. Consequently, plots and threats from Salafist extremism in Pakistan led to the emergence of a confrontational ideological identity against the Islamic Revolution. In response to the question about the main root of Pakistani extremist groups’ security threats and plots against the Islamic Revolution, the hypnosis of this paper is that efforts made by radical Salafist groups for constructing an extremist identity based on authorization triggered the confrontational identity formation against Iran’s Islamic Revolution. This research will first analyze the impact of the Islamic Revolution’s influence on the reaction of extremist groups in Pakistani society. Then, it will study the impact of such factors as poverty, political instability, religious schools and regional machinations on the growth and creation of extremism in Pakistan. The third section will explain Pakistani extremist groups’ security threats and plots targeting the Islamic Revolution.