...during the Iranian Revolution. In the early pages, Marjane illustrates that she saw herself as a prophet. She wanted to change the world, and with the help of God, she thought that she could. During Satrapi’s early childhood, the traditions and history of Iran had been going through drastic changes. The Iranian Revolution was when Iran’s monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and replaced with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who led the revolution. ii Persepolis is framed during 1979 and after the Iranian Revolution. The Shah of Persia was overthrown and eventually replaced by an Islamist government during this time. Satrapi narrates her experience of the Revolution, which includes bombings, violent deaths of family and friends, and inequality. Women of Iran had many restrictions, and the leaders of Iran had disrespected them in many ways and belittled them as citizens. I The Islam religion forces women to wear veils for many reasons. Satrapi shows us how men saw themselves superior to woman and how most women did not enjoy the attitudes of men and also following certain obligations like wearing the veil. Following the Revolution, intense social changes took place in what had previously been a liberal country, became a religious republic. Her family lived through many events. She discusses how her mother told her that the regime burned down a movie theater with people in it. Marjane wanted to participate in the protest that was being...
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...Europe’s relationship with Iran for much of the century leading up to 1950.”[2] In understanding Iran’s flux of identities throughout the 20th century, several notions must be clarified. Firstly, Iran is not an Arab nation nor have they adopted Arabic language or culture. Secondly, the Shi’a minority in Iran, and their lingering divergence in beliefs compared to that of the Sunnis and the West has always been an issue with respect to their distinctiveness as a nation. That being said, Iran’s inability to sustain a lasting individuality is directly related to the differing identities proposed by Iranian leaders throughout the 20th century. In the following article, I will distinguish between the secularization and modernization proposed by Reza Shah Pahlavi; the period of ambiguity in political identity and subsequent authoritarianism adopted by his son; and the role of the Islamic revolution in revitalizing religious unity. Iran was fortunate enough to...
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...Student activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. Although often focused on schools, curriculum, and educational funding, student groups have influenced greater political events. | There are conflicting views regarding students' participation in politics. It has been a very controversial subject. Two contrasting opinion is have been expressed by the two groups of people. There are people who always want to keep students very far from the politics. There are others who hold opposite view. They think that students ought to be well versed in politics because they are the future leaders of the country. There has been much discussion whether students should join politics or not. Some persons say that they should join and some say that they should not. We should first discuss the subject very reasonably. Then we can decide whether students should join politics or not: Before southern parts of Asia had been free from the bondage of the British rule, some politicians said that school students also should join the struggle for freedom. During the days of Non-co-operation movement, students were advised to give up studies and join the fight for freedom. Their argument was—"Everything is useless without freedom. Education can wait but freedom cannot. Everything will be set right as soon as we get freedom. If school students join the political movement, it will gain additional strength. Now, we have no longer to fight against the British...
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...The comic book novel Persepolis is a story of a childhood. A young girl named Marjane Satrapi grows up around the Iranian revolution. Marji realizes the anger and frustration of the people in Iran. One of the images in this book has to deal with the rebels burning down the Rex Cinema. The picture depicts a theater with locked doors we are told that people are locked in there. We see figures running away from the building on the outside looking for help and afraid for those inside. The fire trucks are there but the caption tells us it took forty minutes for them to arrive. There are several more pictures of the horrible things that go on in Marji’s life during the Revolution. The picture on the top of page 15 of the book is the police burning...
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...Social Media and Political Revolution Project 3: Research Paper Steve Gubenia Professor: Robert Zornes CMST 301 Outline I. Introduction a. Rise of digital media in political upheaval II. Body b. Social Media i. Development 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. YouTube 4. Others but these are “big three” ii. Attraction to sites 5. Ease of use 6. Socio-economic barriers 7. Demographics of users c. Revolution before social media iii. Regime control of media iv. Medium used to get message out 8. Slow distribution took longer to organize v. Fall of Soviet Union d. History of social media in political revolution vi. 2001 Philippines vii. Ukraine 2004 to 2014 9. Original Orange Revolution 10. Oksana Makar incident 11. President Yanukovych being ousted viii. 2009 Moldova ix. 2009 Iran “Twitter Uprising” x. 2010 Tunisia xi. 2011 Egypt “Facebook Revolution” xii. Lebanon, Syria, Libya lack of internet e. Critics of social media revolution xiii. Arguments against social media making a difference 12. Social media platforms built around weak ties making ineffective 13. Twitter’s limitations xiv. Examples of activists failing 14. 2006 Belarus ...
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...Page 1 Ryan Lawson 19 April 2011 PolSci 111 Exam 2 I.Ds: 1. UNDERDEVELOPMENT- Frank reading. Underdevelopment is when a country exists with shortcomings or even lacks in areas of industrial growth, social welfare, jobs, political stability, education, and literacy. These countries typically have much poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. This is significant to comparative politics because we study how underdeveloped countries come to be more successful nation-states with prospering markets. We also study examples of countries that have failed at this. Some of the more successful countries would be Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Africa and Afghanistan would be prime examples of countries that still have trouble with underdevelopment. 2. SYNCRETISM- Sil reading. Syncretism is the strategy of Nation building that combines foreign/modern and native/traditional values. Sil believes that in order for a Third World country to move forward, traditions must be reconstructed with newer, more modern ideals. This is significant to Comparative Politics because it is a way of understanding how social mobilization affects modern nation building. 3. ZAIBATSU- Johnson and Fukai reading. Zaibatsu are eastern Asian industrial and financial conglomerates that unleashed entrepreneurship in countries like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. They focus capital in developmental projects in underdeveloped countries and constitute compromise between inefficiencies of...
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...Though people around the world practice an allegedly unified Islam, their understandings of the tradition reflect the specific local contexts and circumstances of individuals, communities, and nations. The challenge of western colonialism caused Muslims to be against European imperialism as it threatened their political, religious and cultural identity. Their responses to colonialism varied from rejection and confrontation to admiration and imitation (PP Islam and the West 24). Showing how reactions to westernization can be specific to region. The country Turkey operates one example of a nonviolent revolution. In Turkey, Islam was showing a more dominant position is the social-economic and political life of society. With the acceptance of westernization, Turkey had been able to experience the power of religion in Muslim politics cordially. A little to the East, the Iranian revolution in Iran reinforced the belief that Muslims wanted to emulate the ideas of the west; economic and political power could be attributed to the rebirth of Islam in contemporary Muslim politics and society (Esposito 222). Both of these examples represent an example of how regions practicing the same religion have a different approach to changes in their society have difference experiences with the experience of westernization. Although united though the confession of...
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...Ministries 97 The War Years 101 Independence and Bloodshed 111 Part III 17 18 19 20 Nonviolence in the Anti-Nuclear Movement Nonviolent Direct Action 120 Consensus Decision Making 123 Open, Friendly, and Respectful 136 Civil Disobedience 142 Epilogue 151 Notes 154 ©2002 by Howard Ryan. All rights reserved. Readers have my permission to use and distribute for non-profit and educational purposes. Critique of Nonviolent Politics 2 Preface (2002) Critique of Nonviolent Politics may be the only comprehensive critique of nonviolent theory that has been written. I wrote it between 1980 and 1984, while living in Berkeley, California. Since 1977, I had been active in the movement against nuclear power and weapons which, in California, focused its protests at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant near San Luis Obispo, and at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Labs where nuclear weapons are designed. Nonviolence was the prevailing political theory in the movement, especially in the "direct action" wing which organized mass blockades and occupations at nuclear facilities. Nonviolence informed our tactics and strategies, our group processes, and our general ethos and outlook. As I engaged in the movement, I was drawn to nonviolent theory and became an avid...
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...toppled centuries old dictatorial regime but also became a source of inspiration for Arab masses to revolt against their governments. “The self-immolation triggered unrest in Tunisia and ultimately the resignation of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. This was followed by unrest in a number of Arabian countries that the global press dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’” (Friedman 2011). So far, the spring breeze has entered into 20 countries in the Persian Gulf and the North Africa. Four countries—Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen—have overthrown their governments. Algeria, Iraq, Iranian Khuzestan, Israeli border areas have witnessed major protests. Syria has landed in a civil war. Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Morocco, Lebanon have gone through protests and governmental changes; Bahrain is going through sustained civil disorder and government changes and countries like Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania have also had minor protests. And, the impact of Arab Spring has been felt worldwide directly or indirectly. Keeping the Arab Spring at the centre, the essay will analyse the factors that contributed to surprising mass involvement in uprisings....
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...preserving, and a life calling. They are people fighting against the heavy hand of secular oppression, emptiness, anomie, and the restriction of freedom. As Bruce (2000, p. 117) states, “Fundamentalism is the rational response of traditionally religious peoples to social, political and economic changes that downgrade and constrain the role of religion in the public world... . [F]fundamentalists have not exaggerated the extent to which modern cultures threaten what they hold dear.” THE RECENT RISE OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM In the 1970s, fundamentalism appeared to hit the world stage from out of thin air (Am merman 1987). Although there were earlier movements [such as the Jewish Gush Emunim (the Bloc of the Faithful) in 1974], the Iranian Revolution was the first unmistakable indicator of a growing phenomenon. Fundamentalism also resurged in the United States, this time as a much more politically active strain. Fundamentalist movements emerged in most of the world’s religions on most of the earth’s continents. Something was happening. In a 1979 article, Ethridge & Feagin noted a lack of “a coherent sociological definition and theoretical context for the term fundamentalism” (p. 37). And no wonder. The accepted wisdom among those who studied...
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...International Security Lecture 1 March 30th, 2015 The politics of security knowledge What is international security? We could start thinking about the security council of the UN But also about the invasion of Afghanistan (chapter 7 UN in order to secure the international security) We can also think about security in terms of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This was a unilateral act of war, but sure it can also mean other things We can think of the national security agency, the agency in charge of spying all the signals and communications to a certain extent. What’s interesting about the NSA, it is seen as a threat to the security of the privacy. Lately, with the reports of the UN development programme, we start talking about HUMAN security (not military security, but rather the security of individuals, having a livelihood that’s acceptable). Whether security is international or not, it can be a rather confusing word The protection of values we hold dear. We search for it, we pursue it, we achieve it, we deny it to others. * what is to be secured? Is it the security of states? Or individuals? * What is the actual threat that we’re facing? Primarily to be dealing with military threats, or are there other types of threats we are facing. Essentially contested concept A concept that ‘inevitably’ involves endless disputes about their proper uses on the part of their users – Walter Gallie There can be ambiguity (one persons freedom-fighter is the other’s...
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...decades comprising years 70–79 of other centuries, see List of decades. From left, clockwise: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil crisis put the nation of America in gridlock and caused economic damage throughout the developed world; Both the leaders of Israel and Egypt shake hands after the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978; The 1970 Bhola cyclone kills an estimated 500,000 people in the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (which would become independent as Bangladesh in 1971) in November 1970; The Iranian Revolution of 1979 ousted Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi who was later replaced by an Islamic theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini; The popularity of the disco music genre peaked during the middle to late 1970s. Millennium: | 2nd millennium | Centuries: | 19th century – 20th century – 21st century | Decades: | 1940s 1950s 1960s – 1970s – 1980s 1990s 2000s | Years: | 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 | Categories: | Births – Deaths – ArchitectureEstablishments – Disestablishments | The 1970s, pronounced "the Nineteen Seventies", refers to a decade within the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1970, and ended on December 31, 1979. In the 21st century historians have increasingly portrayed the decade as a "pivot of...
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...«IS IT AN ARAB SPRING OR BUSINESS AS USUAL? RECENT CHANGES IN THE ARAB WORLD IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT" By Michael B. Bishku* INTRODUCTION What began in Tunisia in December 2010 and continues most violently in Syria today has been labeled by observers of and experts on the Middle East as the "Arab Spring," but is that the correct term? (It should be noted that Lebanon engaged in the Cedar Revolution in 2005 - following the assassination of Sunni Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri by Hezbollah operativeswhich resulted in the withdrawal of Syrian froops after 30 years.) While Tunisia seems to be emulating Turkey as a historically secular country with mildly Islamist politicians exercising the greatest amount of influence in their country's respective foreign and domestic affairs, Egypt, the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood, appears to be at the center of a struggle between the Islamists and the military, which has dominated politics in that country since the early 1950s, while secularists and the minority Copts feel as if they have been sidelined. Majority Shi'a in Bahrain were quashed in their attempt to have a minority Sunni government recognize their rights, while Yemen's longtime leader was replaced by that country's vice president. Libya toppled an erratic dictator, but has no experience with representative government and like in Yemen the population possesses tribal identities. Syria is now engaged in a brutal civil war in which at least 20,000 people have lost their lives by the...
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...(ADJ 202) DELAWARE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACKGROUND Hezbollah is also known as: Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Party of God, Revolutionary Justice Organization, and The Islamic Resistance. The name “Hezbollah” is Arabic, which translates to, “Party of God,” and whose name comes from a Koranic verse promising triumph to all those who join the Party of God. Shia clergymen founded Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 1982, with the goal of driving Israel from Lebanon, and establishing an Islamic state there. Hezbollah closely coordinated its efforts with Iran, and quickly became an effective fighting force thanks to the training, weapons, and funding of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was operating in Lebanon at the time. Soon thereafter, Hezbollah began running training camps for not only its members, but for other terrorist organizations on how to conduct assassinations, kidnapping, suicide bombings, and guerilla warfare. In addition to Lebanon, Hezbollah’s security apparatus operates in parts of North and South America, Europe, East Asia, and other parts of the Middle East. Hezbollah’s current goals include the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in Lebanon, the destruction of Israel, and the elimination of Western influences from the Middle East. Over the last twenty plus years, Hezbollah has not only professionalized its military capabilities but also joined Lebanon's political...
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...SECURITY RESEARCH PAPER A PERSPECTIVE ON TERRORISM Piers Hutt piershutt@hotmail.com 1 March 2015 A PERSPECTIVE ON TERRORISM ABSTRACT Purpose: To critically examine the threat of modern terrorism to Western society. Design/methodology: An assessment was made of publically available documentation. The paper is then divided into a number of sections. It initially deals with the difficulties of defining terrorism, followed by its symbiotic relationship with the media. The next section looks at the modern Islamic Fundamentalist threat and the primarily neocon response since 9/11. Whilst the US has withdrawn combat forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, a bipartisan approach has been maintained to counterterrorism. The dangers of such an approach are examined along with emerging threats. Table of Contents * Abstract * Introduction * Define * Role of the Media * Psychology * Modern Terrorism * The Response * Counterview – The Dangers * Looking Ahead – The Next Potential Threats * Another Approach * Conclusion INTRODUCTION “Terrorism has become part of our daily news diet. Hardly a day goes by without news of an assassination, political kidnapping, hijacking or bombing somewhere in the world. As such, incidents of terrorism have increased in the past decade, the phenomenon of terrorism has become one of increasing concern to governments....” Introduction. With the recent high profile terrorist attacks in Sydney...
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