Why the clergy did not take the political power in the constitutional revolution. Civil society and political opponents are a primary target of iranian intrusion campaigns, which gives rise to the motivation and basis for our research into the ecosystems and threats originating from the country. Although the violence in russia that accompanies the trend is an extreme form, the pressures on civil society are by no means just a russian problem. Air forces federally funded research and development center for studies and analyses. Many of the individuals interviewed spoke of the need to allow civil society to flourish and play its natural role in the country. The basis of a civil society is the existence of influential civil groups and their institutions that can, through established mechanisms counterbalance state power. Irans president heckled at rally after criticism by. Government insistence that all activities in iran are in accordance with islamic teachings is largely responsible for this fact. At the head of both the state and oversight institutions is a ranking cleric known as the rahbar, or leader. The iranian revolution past, present and future brought the safavids into direct conflict with the ottoman empire and led to two centuries of intermittent warfare between those two powerful states. Iran is a unitary islamic republic with one legislative house. Civil society, iranian civil society, contemporary iran, iranian ngos. Third, the impact of irans success in creating conventionallyarmed, precision guided missiles and more effective air defenses.
These institutions, including the security forces and the judiciary, play a major role in the suppression of dissent and other restrictions on civil liberties. Bahmani j 2016 the role of civil society in development. Revolutionary iran g i 7 civil society and state in the. The nuclear agreement with iran has eased one key aspect of military confrontation in the region, but there still are major military risks in terms of irans influence over other states like iraq, syria, and lebanon. Civil society, dense network of groups, communities, networks, and ties that stand between the individual and the modern state. In the domestic sphere, the withered civil society was revived and expanded, civil. Case studies are drawn from the palestinian occupied territories, jordan, iran, nigeria, niger, and morocco and particular effort has been made. The aim of my thesis is to investigate the reason for why and how the language and concept of civil society was used to enhance positions of power by reformists in iran. An overview 6 3 ideological factions among irans leadership elite 11 4 the president 22 5 the supreme leader of the revolution 46 6 the constitutional assemblies 58 7 the revolutionary armed security forces 65. First, the changing strategic relationship between iran and its arab neighbors and the uncertainty of the future u. The power of civil society is an animated infographic, produced by family care international as part of its macs mobilizing advocates from civil society project. Although the violence in russia that accompanies the trend is an extreme form, the pressures on civil.
The focus on isis and terrorism deals with only one key aspect of the threats in the gulf. The safavid dynasty ruled iran until 1722, when an afghan army invaded the country and captured isfahan. The role of civil society in iran and ngos center for. By other authors, civil society is used in the sense of 1 the aggregate of nongovernmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens or 2 individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of. This book deals with the issues of power, civil society, and human rights in iran. Pdf the power of civil society in the middle east and northern. Freedom of association civil society is a sphere apart from the state. Civil society and state in the modernization process. It also has the second largest population of the region after egypt, with an estimated 78. It is telling that in a collection devoted to civil society in the middle east, the author of the article on iran chose to concentrate on counterculture. Civil society in iran 37 market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. The future role of civil society 7 according to the civicus civil society index csi project of 20082011, across csos in 33 countries, only 8% believe that the legal and policy environment for civil society is fully enabling for their operations, and a higher amount 47% find it either.
In particu lar, the ongoing struggle for freedom and its often subtle but persistent. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Political culture irans government and politics have been considered perfectly legitimate to the iranians, since centuries ago. However, recently there has been a downward trend of the legitimacy of the iranian government and politics with many demanding reforms. Empowering civil society organizations csos in iraq. Consortium of 31 civil society organizations implemented eight projects in the areas of human rights, corruption and service delivery from may 20 to april 2014.
The renaissance of interest in civil society draws strength from its european roots, which are traceable to the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century development of the distinction between civil society and the state au1 keane, 1998. Both powers interfered in local politics and forced iran to make trade concessions. Meanwhile, the death of insurgent leader abu musab al. Map of iran xvi i irans maze of power centers 1 1 introduction 2 2 formal and informal power structures in iran. Iranian civil society is neither weak or nor strong but rather its strength is. Politics, governance, and statesociety relations atlantic council 1 foreword the middle east is seeing a centuryold political order unravel, an unprecedented struggle for power within.
Associate professor of department of political science, islamic azad university, central tehran branch, iran 2. Civil society can be understood as the third sector of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. Ap comparative government and politics course and exam. This modern definition of civil society has become a familiar component of the main strands of contemporary liberal and democratic theorizing.
Iran enjoys one of the regions most robust civil societies, partly as a result of the brief openness that blossomed. Irans power struggle an opportunity for civil society. Iran islamic republic ofs constitution of 1979 with. Iran and the gulf military balance center for strategic. The impact of globalization on development of civil society in iran with an emphasis on the political parties and the press mohammad tohidfam ph. Pdf on jun 1, 2001, mehrzad boroujerdi and others published. Ultimate power rests in the hands of the countrys supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, and the unelected institutions under his control. Specifically, i argue that civil society played a crucial role, framing the movement as broad, national, and prodemocracy, which enabled it to overthrow the authoritarian regime. Irans president, hassan rouhani, has been heckled during an annual propalestinian rally in tehran, a week after he was criticised by the supreme leader, as a power struggle between the two. The power struggle between iran s hardliners and centrists within the ruling establishment presents an opportunity for civil society and democratic forces to strengthen labor unions and various other grassroots organizations, he writes for radio farda. But other elements of irans dynamic society have received less than adequate attention.
During the revolutionary period 1750 1850, the traditional language of civil society societas. Why governments target civil society and what can be done. Special focus is placed upon reformist public intellectuals as agents of change. In each case we identify the empirical questions that are correlative to the theoretical articulation of this relationship. The fourth ring consists of formerly influential individuals and groups positioned between the regime and civil society, whose goal is the peaceful reform of the system from the inside. Irans nuclear programs and the prospects for a broader rapprochement between iran and the united states. Covering most governorates of iraq they help enhance accountability of local services through citizen participation and networking between the civil society and local authorities. Iran and the united states have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1980. Iran and the changing military balance in the gulf net. The major contribution of the book can be summarized as follows. It includes contributions from charles robinson metropolitan university prague, arshin adibmoghaddam soas, university of london, farid mirbagheri university of nicosia, cyprus, naghmeh sohrabi brandeis university, us, vera vojtiskova a zuzana krihova both charles university, czech republic. During this period, influence in iran was divided between russia and britain, russias chief western rival in the region. Iranian civil society warns against military strike in new.
In particular, this thesis examines how reformist public intellectuals used civil society to craft their vision of irans sociopolitical future. All of irans power centers, both formal and informal, are controlled by an islamic revolutionary leadership elite composed of shii clerics and laypersons. Civil society is a direct expression of hegemony, which gramsci famously theorised as a pattern of established power relations among social groups in a given historical political situation. Civil society in syria and iran lynne rienner publishers. Civil society is a transitional force into democracy and control of political power. They noted the huge electoral win of rouhani in the presidential election of 20 and the extent to which this reflected the hopes of much of iranian society for a more inclusive and participatory environment in which there was dialogue and exchange between civil. The political regime of the islamic republic of iran in. Paf provides the air force with independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development.
Contacts are carried out through the iranian interests section of the pakistani embassy in washington, d. Second, irans growing capabilities for asymmetric warfare in the gulf area. World scenario series the future role of civil society. Pakistan serves as irans protecting power in the united states, while switzerland serves as the united states protecting power in iran. Halliday proceeds to introduce the explanatory power of atavistic determinism to explain the contributory significance of the differing ideologies of the nations. The middle east after the iraq war rand project air force rand project air force paf, a division of the rand corporation, is the u. In this sense, iranian civil society is neither weak or nor strong but rather its strength is changing visavis the relations with the iranian state.
The effectiveness of the new coalition government remained in doubt, however, and reconstruction of the economy and civil society remained slow. Niblock builds upon this claim, stating that the war was an inevitable regional response to the shift in civil society that followed the iranian revolution 2008, pg. Empowerment is an active and multidimensional process which enables women to realize their full identity and powers in all spheres of life pillai, 1995. Iran has an active and visible womens rights movement, despite a limiting environment. The countrys 1979 constitution put into place a mixed system of government, in which the executive, parliament, and judiciary are overseen by several bodies dominated by the clergy. There are five issues relating to womens empowerment. Since russian president vladimir putin first came to power in the early 2000s, the space for civil society has been shrinking. It identifies a sociopolitical division of power and influence between state and civil society during a long period of irans islamic history as the key theoretical basis for understanding modern transformations of iranian society. Ap comparative government and politics course and exam description, effective fall 2019 author. According to the 2010 freedom house report, many of the current laws are actually more conservative than the customary practices in most of the iranian society, with the exception of some groups such as some tribal communities and. The 2015 iran nuclear agreement is breaking apart, raising the risk not just of a nuclear weapons capability for iran, but also of a military clash in the persian gulf. With 83 million inhabitants, iran is the worlds 18th most populous country. Theauthor, who isone ofthe most distinguished historianswritingoniran today. In the nineteenth century, iran, under the qajars, lost much of its territory in the caucasus and central asia to russia.
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