The Cultural Underpinnings of Politics: Iran and the United States

Ever since Shah Ismail Safavid marched into Tabriz in 1501 and declared Shi9i Islam the state religion, Iran has been the home of a proud and nationalistic people. Unlike many other nation-states in the region, Iran managed successfully to resist colonialism.

Iran maintained its national integrity by resorting to its bargaining skills and the wit and wisdom of its leaders. These statesmen did a masterful job of playing one outside power off against another. This technique was especially effective in dealing with the British and the Russians. When the United States entered the Iranian political arena after World War II, it found itself working at a distinct disadvantage. It became clear that the American focus on treaties, agreements, and other legal externalities resulted in a failure to confront the realities of Iranian society and politics.

The United States has been no less nationalistic than Iran. American nationalism, however, has been a robust secular type. In Iran, nationalism carries a heavy religious flavor. Such a blend is not present in American nationalism.

Nationalism in the United States distinguishes between church and state. There is no equivalent to Shi9ism in America. The US government stresses law and judicial power. This form of nationalism can be referred to as formal-legal nationalism or Western nationalism. Eastern nationalism, which is dominant in Iran, is a fissured nationalism that carries religious overtones.

Iran is a multicultural state composed of many fractionating and fluctuating ethnic, tribal, and family groups. Tribal constellations circle the circumference of the central Iranian highland and include the Bakhtiar, the Arabs, the Lurs, the Kurds, the Qashqa9i, the Turkomen, and the Baluchi. The large northwestern province of Azarbaijan is populated by a Turkic people. Despite these differing ethnic groups, Iran has held together at the center. The reason for this continuing consolidation rests with the Shi9i ideology. Shi9ism transcends particular ethnic groups. The great Shi9i clerical leaders (mujtahids) maintain close relations with one another even though they may be from quite different ethnic groups. Iranian nationalism provides a national unity reinforced by the power of a Shi9i ideology.

Iran and America have come upon hard times. In the middle of the twentieth century, political upheaval became the order of the day. In the early 1950s, populist hero Muhammad Musaddiq led a movement to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The United States and Britain intervened on the side of the shah. Until that time, the United States had enjoyed a reservoir of goodwill in Iran. For twenty-five years after the fall of Musaddiq, the United States helped the shah control his people and in the process drained the reservoir. Then in 1978–79, a large groundswell of opposition led to the Iranian revolution. With this movement, the Pahlavi dynasty collapsed, and the United States found itself on the losing side of a revolution.

There are many reasons for the strain in Iranian-American relations. This ruptured relationship can be explained partially by political and economic considerations. Politically, the United States was preoccupied with the Soviet challenge, and the appearance of a homegrown communist party (the Tudeh) was particularly worrisome. Economically, Iran had huge oil and gas deposits, and the United States sought access to these reserves.

Political and economic considerations alone, however, do not explain the shattering breakdown of Iran-US relations. Nor do they explain the depth and longevity of the divorce between these two rivals. For the answer, one must probe deeper. The explanation may be found in the differing cultures and worldviews of the two countries.

A Typology of Culture and Politics

Princeton philosopher and political scientist Manfred Halpern has developed a typology of eight different human relationships. The interaction is based on the encounter between self and other. Halpern's basic hypothesis is that "for all encounters between self and other in all recorded human history and all societies, there exist only eight different types of relationships that give...