Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockstar
Could also have something to do with internal divisions & strife inside Iran too. Not every in that country is happy living in a militant islamic theocracy.
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I don't think internal division in Iran is any greater than the US, at least I see no evidence to support that. If anything, the divisions seem to be less so. You've got moderates and conservatives just like you do in any polity, but the moderates and conservatives don't share completely different worldviews. You can't really say the same in the US, which is much more pluralistic and recently has been struggling with that same pluralism.
A lecture by Rick Steves on his trip to Iran, and his impressions of the country:
The documentary is worth seeing, but the lecture is better.
Other things I have read suggest the real operating philosophy behind Iran is not Shia Islamic fundamentalism, which has a relatively pessimistic outlook and some ME commentators have called "stillborn" in inception, but simply Persian nationalism/populism.