The Global Impact of the Islamic Revolution

The General Impacts of the Islamic Revolution

1. In the Governments

Our study in regards to the reactions of the governments of the world which are all members of the United Nations including the Western and Eastern governments, those of the third world countries and even those of the Muslim countries, shows that basically, when Iran’s Islamic Revolution attained victory, the contemporary governments did not principally welcome this great historical change and event. Rather, they were looking with a sense of astonishment, and even bewilderment at this emerging phenomenon which none of them had neither predicted nor imagined.

On the other part, each one of them was in a way afraid of the impacts of the Islamic Revolution upon its society and the future of the stability of the system ruling their countries. Essentially, this was due to the fact that governments contemplate their survival more than anything else and any popular and liberating movement can pose a threat and even a danger to them. Consequently, they did not fancy these types of movements and revolutions which may pose danger to their stability specifically, it was because their governments were secular and had accepted the separation of religion from politics as a fixed principle. This revolution whose pulp came from the religious ideology was definitely a threat to them. The reason being that it had disturbed the status quo and was proposing a new system and values naturally, there was no rival to welcome such a phenomenon and even if some very limited cases were seen, whereby they officially recognized the revolution and system that arose from them, it was due to their concern about the consequences or the popular and social pressures.

Just as you have witnessed, the Western governments in general and the United States of America in specific, reacted in a hostile and vengeful manner towards the process of the Islamic Revolution. They made a lot of efforts to break it down and even to topple the government arising from the revolution and this matter can be traced from two main principles; firstly, the complete dependence of the former regime on the West and especially the United States and as a matter of fact, it was due to the decline of the interests of the West in Iran. Secondly, principally, the revolutions based on religious and Islamic values have always challenged the Western secular-liberal systems of thought and falsified their predictions and theories.

During the developments before the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, not only did the United States and the West explicitly reveal their unwavering and undisputed support for the Shah’s regime, but also greatly attempted to prevent the inception of a revolution once they were satisfied with the fall of the Shah’s regime, provided the Islamic Revolution did not succeed, and had no otherwise but to witness the fall of the Shah’s regime and the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, they thus resorted to turning all their efforts in deviating and weakening the impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution despite it being a quarter of a century since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and its ever-increasing stability, these efforts are still being made.

In regards to the Muslim governments, it can be said that Iran’s Islamic Revolution had generally negative impacts upon these countries, since they essentially lacked popular bases and greatly relied on the Western world and specifically, the United States. In other terms, it can be said that any government that felt its future was more threatened as a result of this revolution in Iran, had more negative reactions towards Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Likewise, the quick reactions from these governments due to this matter can be seen and the interesting matter is that any government that had a significant number of Shi’ahs or had a relatively significant minority of Shi’ahs, showed more severe reactions because of the fear of popular uprisings in these countries. These reactions were to such an extent that the Ba’athist regime of Iraq that ruled a country that had a great number of Shi’ahs, reacted in an indescribable hostility against Iran’s Islamic Revolution. In fact, it even started a merciless and relentless war against this newly established government. A war that was not only recognized as the longest in the twentieth century but also brought tremendous financial losses and hundreds of thousands of deaths for the two countries.

These conditions are of lesser degree in Bahrain and Lebanon. Of course, there were also even the Muslim governments that had a small number of Shi’ahs or predominantly, the Shi’ahs did not have a significant position. Despite this, due to the fear of the influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon all the Muslims, they opted for the negative aspects. At the same time, by paying heed to the sovereignty of different governments in these countries, we can conclude that whatever these governments had a more independent policy from the West and in other words, they had taken a kind of a revolutionary approach like the government of Libya, Algeria and Yemen who in the early days of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, adopted a friendlier political relationship with revolutionary Iran. Nonetheless, this position should not be perceived as an embrace of the revolution. Likewise, with the growth of Islamism within their societies, not only did these governments gradually limit their ties with revolutionary Iran but also some went as far as inclining to hostility and enmity towards them.

On the other part, we should not neglect geographical situations in the aspect of their distance and proximity with revolutionary Iran. This means that the closer geographically they were with Iran, the more they felt the danger of the inception of the revolution and its influence upon their people via their own borders. Consequently, they employed tougher measures. In summary, in regards to the impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon the Muslim governments, we can boldly claim that not only did these governments fail to welcome the Islamic Revolution, but rather, revealed a kind of negative attitude against this phenomenon regardless of it being a quarter of a century since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, these conditions are still present and of course on varying degrees.

2. In the NATIONS

From the fact that the Islamic Revolution was popular and in reality, the most popular among all the revolutions, it is natural that it attracted the interest of other nations and influenced them and they embraced it with a positive attitude. This embrace and affection were subjected to different degrees of generalities and contrary to the ruling government in the countries which had a negative attitude towards the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Revolution has been welcomed by the nations with a reverse attitude towards the governments. The more the Iranian nation had a common ground with other nations in achieving its revolutionary goals, the welcome too, was in equal measures.

From the fact that most of the ruling governments do not rule according to the desires of their people but rather, according to the desires of the power holders and only certain classes hold onto the powers, there are a lot of similarities between the Shah’s regime and the other ruling governments. Therefore, based on some kind of sympathy, they generally expressed their happiness and astonishment at the same time. On the other part, by considering the dominance of the cultural dimension of the Islamic Revolution, the nations and societies that had more cultural commonalities with the Iranian nation had more positive impacts. Hence, the Muslim nations and specifically the Shi’ahs generally revealed their happiness for the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and in reality, they considered the revolution as their own. Perhaps, it is possible to say that the Islamic Revolution had the least influence in the societies that had very little ties with Iran and the Islamic Revolution. Indeed, these societies did not have the full knowledge regarding what had happened in Iran or the negative waves of the mass media propaganda in the West and countries affiliated with the West did not allow the truth regarding the revolution to reach them. Rather, it generally deviated from the realities.

3. In the International System

The inception of the Islamic Revolution occurred at a time when the global system was based on Western ideology and had been accepted by the international community as an obvious affair for almost four centuries. Any kind of transformation in this system in the different aspects of ideology, culture, economy, and new dialogues that were presented, originated from the West and the Western system had never been challenged before.

Even the great revolutions of the world which occurred outside the Western world like the Chinese Revolution in 1949 or Cuba in 1960 followed the Western ideology. This is while the Islamic Revolution as a new change managed to challenge the global system based on the Western ideology in different aspects. According to what has been elaborated in the second discussion, it can be primarily concluded that the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution led to great changes in the global community in the following aspects:

1. Reviving Islam: As a Global and Comprehensive Religion

The most important impact of the Islamic Revolution is the revival of Islamic values and awareness. As a matter of fact, the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution showed that despite the passing of time and the advent of modernization and development, religions and specifically the religion of Islam, did not come to an end. Rather, it reemerged as the most significant way and means of liberating man from oppression and inhumanity. It abruptly stopped the world which was moving towards materiality at a very high speed and opened a gate of spiritual power and religious beliefs and specifically the young generation turned away from the materialistic ideology and embraced Islam. The Noble Quran and its precious verses have found a new meaning in the world after the Islamic Revolution.

2. The Collapse of the Bipolar System and the Challenge for Western-Oriented Systems

Undeterred by the fact that the inception of Iran’s Islamic Revolution took place during the peak of consolidation and stabilization of the bipolar system, it challenged the bipolar system in its first steps and not only did it fail to observe its legitimacy, but rather, it stood against it. As a result, two great superpowers that were rivals put away their rivalry and hostility and came together to oppose the Islamic Revolution. Even after the collapse of the bipolar system, all the efforts of the Western world in reviving and the formation of western-oriented systems such as the monopoly system, globalization, the clash of civilizations and so on were challenged. The Islamic Revolution designed a new system that was not only incompatible with the Western standards but rather, contrary to it.

3. Changing the Dialogue of Global Conflicts

Not only did Iran’s Islamic Revolution change the dialogue of these conflicts, but rather, excluded the major actors in international hostilities from the realm of the government-nation. Based on the new dialogue, the fundamental conflict is not between governments with different interests. Rather, between the power holders with the people on one hand and the real fight is between the imperialists and the oppressed people of the world on the other hand. With this dialogue, the geographical, racial, ethnic, and even religious boundaries were disrupted. It raised a real and final conflict with the war of governments as imperialists on one side, with the nations as the oppressed people on the other side whereby the efforts of the Western world were to theorize such conflicts in the context of counterterrorism after September 11, 2001, or a “clash of civilizations.”

4. The Rise of the World of the Oppressed Against the Imperialists

As a result of the change in the global dialogue, the global alignment also changed. On one side, the ruling governments fundamentally put aside their own rivalries and hostilities and in line with the general rise of nations that had crossed geographical boundaries, stood up with one voice against the power holders and entered the arena of global conflict in the form of individual or collective movements and thus come into existence and have been somehow identified. An example of that is the Hezbollah of Lebanon which today stands as a prominent non-governmental power and is in such a place that it actually speaks first and above its own state in the conflict with international Zionism and the occupation of Israel.

5. Designing Political Islam as a New Dialogue

For the very first time in the modern history of dialogue, the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution based on the Islamic values and criteria presented political Islam to the political science and international relationship that demands a part or the whole of the political power. This dialogue is raised in the secular world where not only is religion considered to be separate from politics, but also as a thing that has nothing to offer in the modern world. Karl Marx viewed religion as a thing that oppresses the masses. In fact, he claimed that its time had elapsed and that it belonged to history. The dialogue of political Islam opened a new gate for the politicians and political pundits that not only can the religion of Islam be political, but also has new ideas to present to the modern world.

6. Disproving the Western-Oriented System

The Islamic Revolution of Iran challenged the West in practical strategy. In reality, the big problem started from the fact that this revolution started in a land that was in the sphere of Western influence and triumphed in greatness and challenged the dominance of the Western-oriented dialogue. In the emerging and powerful dialogue of the Islamic Revolution, the West’s close relationship with the world leadership is under pressure with the idea of ​​the Western-oriented system as a sustainable model of development and progress facing serious opposition. From this point of view, we can consider the emergence of Islamism in the destruction and suppression of Europeanism and Central-Europeanism. Owing to this fact, the spread of Islamism was considered to be the fundamental and essential obstacle against the West’s excessiveness in the world. In the post-modernism era, Islamism is a nucleus in a multi-core world, and the notion that Europe is the orbit of the universe has been greatly challenged.

7. The Islamic World as a World Power

With the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the awakening and solidarity that arose amongst the Muslim nations, and some sort of common aspirations and goals, homogenous interests, and most importantly, the sense of extraordinary power in different aspects, gradually, the Islamic world became an independent player and a vital power whether actually or potentially in cultural, geographical and economical perspectives. This is something that never existed before the Islamic Revolution and the most interesting matter is that there is a significant difference in the characteristics of this new player with the rest of the players that were configured in the form of unions like the European Union. There is a substantial difference in this system with what was previously considered a measure of power. Rather, something as a general conscience of Muslim nations and shared values ​​and aspirations among social groups and the masses has created a strong bond that has transcended the traditional geographical, racial and ethnic boundaries. Likewise, it sometimes penetrates deeper into societies even beyond what Huntington calls “Islamic civilization,” and is incalculable.

8. Changing the Criteria of Power in the International System

The accepted basis for analyzing and categorizing countries in terms of supremacy is power. Nonetheless, the most significant are the measurable material factors like the military, economy, population, geography and politics which were used to categorize countries into superpowers, great powers and small powers. The Islamic Revolution via a popular movement managed to fight empty-handed and win against a power that was armed to the tooth and with comprehensive support of the world’s great powers. Likewise, Hezbollah’s defeat of five major world powers in Lebanon presented new powers such as faith, jihad and martyrdom. These new powers did not only defeat the material powers but also has made it difficult for the West to be able to measure and challenge these criteria. The conditions that the Zionists are currently facing depict the signs of the West’s failure to deal with this emerging power.

1. The Three Elements of Spirituality, Ethics and Justice in the International System

In the international system developed after the Peace of Westphalia and the official recognition of the institution of a nation-state as the main player and rivalry based on the material interests of countries and also the beginning of the period of separation of religion from politics as the criterion for computation in the international conflicts and agreements, has been the only material element in the definition of national interest. The Islamic Revolution which was formed based on religious values and achieved victory brought new non-material elements like spirituality, morals and justice as the new framework in the international system where agreement with them has become more difficult for actors on the world stage it is because of this that they have suffered enormous mismanagement and endured successive failures in their assessment and in dealing with the Islamic Republic and the Muslim world. This includes the West who have suffered from the support of the Islamic system of Iran for the rights of the oppressed people of Palestine and they have had problems and have been unable to interfere with their firm positions, and many of their predictions have been misplaced.

10. The Beginning of the Islamic World Invasion

After the emergence and predominance of the renaissance movement in Europe which is considered to be an important turning point in the history of Western civilization, the West has taken an aggressive stance in the military, economic, political and cultural spheres of the other societies, especially the pre-renaissance Islamic world, which had great civilization and prosperity, were forced to defend, become passive and compliant with them, and there were no hopes of things changing. The Islamic Revolution abruptly changed the conditions and turned a new page in the history of the world and ended the period of inactivity and defensive state of the Islamic world. Also, it turned it into an offensive state in a way that today it is the West who are in the defensive state and are very much worried about their culture, civilization and future. The invasion of the Islamic world can be witnessed in the issue of the hijab controversy in France and other European countries with the Western secularist system and their passive reaction.

11.  The Return to the Glory of the Islamic Civilization

The medieval history is reminiscent of the glory of Islamic civilization. However, the West tried so hard to forget that period and even ignore it as much as possible and referred to it as the Dark Ages in case they remembered the flourishing period of the Islamic civilization, they considered it to belong to the past and history by paying heed to the rapid pace of the Western civilization by its reliance on the industrialization and technology, they had viewed the revival of the Islamic civilization as a feat that is almost hard to achieve and in fact, impossible. The victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution despite the wishes of the Western world, and the Islamic awakening and its effects and practices have at least made the Muslims believe that the issue of reviving the Islamic civilization and restoring its flourishing period is not only a possible matter, but also, it is going to become inevitably real. The belief that corruption and ethics are rampant in the West today and the emergence of the glittering talents of the Islamic world that are emerging in the light of Islamic ethics and teachings, form the basis of this belief.

50. Changing the Dialogue of the Revolution

Before the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the theorists generally believed that attitudes stemming from the collapse of the ruling regimes were not due to the power of the revolutionaries but due to the structural weakness and diminishing power of the ruling regimes. They principally believed that it was not possible to stand against a powerful and firm regime and defeat it and as Theda Skocpol puts it, “Revolutions do not come into fruition.” The victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution against the powerful regime of the Shah which had all the weapons and was also supported by all the powerful nations of the world surprised the theorists of the revolution and led to the change in the dialogue of the revolution. On that account, the theorists have turned to the factor of mobilizing popular power, organizing the revolution, ideology and leading the revolution. Indeed, they have analyzed the Islamic Revolution as a new phenomenon and in other terms, they have admitted that there could be another set of revolutions that could be carried out and achieve victory.

1000.  The Islamic Republic of Iran as the Epitome of Islamic Political System and Regional Power

Basically, in the modern world and the late twentieth century, there was no fundamental belief in the possibility of the formation and continuation of a government based on the religious and Islamic criteria and by observing the principles and values put forward by Islam in the past fourteen centuries. Likewise, it was believed that the Muslim countries have no way other than to epitomize the Western and secular system this belief even existed in many sympathetic statesmen and leaders of the Islamic world as to whether it was possible to establish a government based on the Islamic values put forward by Islam in the past fourteen centuries! The victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the religious values and by utilizing the institutional entities and its continuity for a period of twenty-five years, and its success in establishing balanced relationships with the other countries and even the skillful and powerful administration of the eight years of modern classical warfare, stunned all the political observers and theorists. By the same token, it has aroused the lesson of government and inevitably opened up a new chapter in the division of governments for the Islamic Republic which can be exploited and replicated as an epitome whose equivalence cannot be found in the modern world.

14. The Islamic Revolution Leaders as New Epitomes of Leadership

In the parlance of Western political science and by relying on Machiavelli’s theories, the characteristics of political leaders and their prominence in their ability to overcome their competitors and pursue their goals was summarized by all sorts of tact, deceit and schemes what was not absolutely necessary for them was the observance of ethical principles, fairness and honesty. The rise of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution and specifically Imam Khomeini, who firmly respected and adhered to the Islamic beliefs and etiquettes and above all, before thinking about victory, paid attention to the divine duties and was exceptional in the field of politics. This is precisely for these kinds of leaders to achieve the ultimate success in their political missions. Today, studying the lives of these types of leaders has received special attention from everybody and the previous legitimacy of political leaders has been called into question it is because until now, the West has been mistaken in its predictions about the decisions and actions of the political and revolutionary leaders.

s) System of Liberation Theology

The victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution had its influence even in the religious societies that were non-Islamic. The Christian Church deemed itself firmly established that it has neither the right nor need to enter into the arena of political struggles against the authoritarian regimes, and can only offer advice and suggestions. Nonetheless, with the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution that was masterminded by religious leaders, some Christian leaders and specifically in Latin America, came to think that they were losing their place among the social groups due to their lack of attention to the public needs. As a result of this, by departing from the accepted principles and criteria of the Vatican, they joined the revolutionaries and attained their first experience in the Nicaraguan revolution. this way, they opened a new chapter in the church system named liberation theology. Despite the opposition from the Vatican, they were responsible for the leadership of vital parts of the liberation movements in Latin America.

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