I feel as if every time I find an article on the emergence of Iran and the untapped potential it has, I find an article that says it is internally crumbling. I have found articles that say that Iran spends billions of dollars a year to keep things like clean water and electricity alive in their country. I do not see how a country that spends that much money on things like that contending amongst the world's elite. I wonder how long this smoke screen of a dominant country can stand if they have so many problems with infrastructure and political corruption.
The issue that we are supposed to be looking at, the Iranian elections, are an example of the corruption in politics and the corruption that has plagued Iran for years. The following article talks about how even after an election that caused criticism, Iran's politics are still corrupted.
Iran speaks of how they want to be a player on the world stage, and granted a lot of countries have political corruption. However, few countries have been caught and then proceeded to continue the corruption. I see stories of an Iran that intimidates many countries including the mighty and all powerful United States. However, I also see an Iran that suppressed its people's rights, is corrupt politically, and is struggling with the daily living of its people. This election was supposed to be one of change. There were new movements within Iranian politics, but they were squashed. Things have stayed the same for Iran politcally, and that means that Iran's position in the world stage will stay the same as well. They create an illusion that they are progressing, but if they cannot progress domestically they cannot progress internationally. Things like this make it seem as if the United States position of opposing the Iranians strongly will hold out and win.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/978/re73.htm
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From reading this, and our in class discussion on Iran's infrastructure, clearly it has some very big positives that other countries in the middle east lack. What stuck out in my mind is that it is actually a developed state, focusing on things like education and luxuries, for example the vacation spots along the (caspian?) sea to the north of the country. For these reasons i feel that Iran is struggling to shake the mold of its authoritarian-styled government, but at the same time it is afraid. I do not know if the people are afraid to rule from themselves, although from protests they appear ready, but i know for a fact the government is obviously hesitant to make the move to a more enlightened government. Should the country move to a more democratic state, remove most of its government corruption and focus on welfare and domestic progression, it could easily become an economical giant. In the region it is in, looking at the power void many of the neighboring countries have such as Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, Iran can be a regional leader and right the wrongs of many countries in the region.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, Iran has the power to not only better itself, but once it does that it can show its neighbors how to better themselves and can literally flip the middle east into the next vacation hot spot. Although this thinking may be a little far fetched, i am simply trying to show you what possibilities lie in a resource rich environment such as Iran and many countries of the middle east, but it all starts with fixing its internal problems.
http://www.meforum.org/788/domestic-threats-to-iranian-stability-khuzistan
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about how Iran has cultural differences within their borders. I see this as saying they have the same problems that other countries of the middle east have plus they have the whole corrupt government thing working against them so i have a hard time seeing them as any better off than the other countries in the Middle East. Other countries also have potential and have the resources to be a great country but with the massive amount of different cultures its hard for anything to be accomplished because there are always going to be disagreements. You can have all the peace talks you want but some of these people have hated each other for hundreds of years and that hate doesn't just go away. I agree with potter in that the middle east could be a vacation hot spot but by the time that happens i think the moon will also be an option.
Rich, you say that you are finding somewhat conflicting sources about Iran's power vs. its struggle to do things like provide clean water and electricity. I think this isn't necessarily surprising. Sure, maybe Iran is putting up a fight to provide a standard of living, but I'm not sure that this is hindering their political or international power.
ReplyDeleteWe can take China as a similar example. Extremely powerful and developing nation (ok, sure there are over 1 billiion people living there). But the quality of life there isn't necessarily desirable. There is constant struggle to provide things like water to its population, just like in Iran. However, maybe what differs Iran and China with regards to the resources is that Iran's battle is more political, while China's is more geared to the large population.