Reconceptualizing Khomeini: The Islamic Republic of Iran and U.S. Democratization Policies in the Middle East
| Title: | Reconceptualizing Khomeini: The Islamic Republic of Iran and U.S. Democratization Policies in the Middle East |
| Author: | Lewis, Adam |
| Advisor: | Wing, Susanna |
| Department: | Haverford College. Dept. of Political Science |
| Type: | Thesis (B.A.) |
| Issue Date: | 2010 |
| Abstract: | In this thesis, I argue that in order to craft effective democratization policies in the greater Middle East, the U.S. must be willing to engage, even if only conditionally, with Islamist opposition groups. I assert that U.S. refusal to engage with such groups is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of what Iran and the Iranian revolution has come to mean to Islamist movements throughout the Muslim World. Rather than representing an attempt to reclaim a fundamentalist and idyllic vision of Islamic community that stands in opposition to the modern world, I argue that the Iranian state (and Khomeini's political project) instead represents a progressive attempt to reconcile the perceived conflict between traditional Islamic values and forces of modernity. |
| Subject: | Khomeini, Ruhollah |
| Subject: | United States -- Foreign relations -- Iran |
| Subject: | United States -- Foreign relations -- Islamic countries |
| Subject: | United States -- Foreign relations -- Middle East |
| Subject: | Democracy -- Middle East |
| Subject: | Iran -- Politics and government -- 1979-1997 |
| Terms of Use: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ |
| Permanent URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/10066/5454 |
Files in this item
| Files | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010LewisA_release.pdf | **Archive Staff Only** | 93.61Kb | application/pdf | |
| 2010LewisA.pdf | Thesis | 6.111Mb | application/pdf | |
Citation
"Reconceptualizing Khomeini: The Islamic Republic of Iran and U.S. Democratization Policies in the Middle East".
2010. Available electronically from
http://hdl.handle.net/10066/5454.