Event Title
Iran: Global Insurrection and the Mahdi
Presentation Type
Oral and/or Visual Presentation
Presenter Major(s)
Public Administration
Mentor Information
Jonathan White
Department
Frederik Meijer Honors College
Location
Kirkhof Center 2266
Start Date
11-4-2012 5:00 PM
Keywords
Culture, Globalization, Religion, Social Science, U.S. Diversity, World Perspective
Abstract
The current conflagration between Iran and the west intimates a conflict of ignorance. This conflict has amassed inordinate consequences charged with ethnocentric and ideological behavior by both sides. This argument seeks to hyphenate western perspectives of Iran with an appraisal of Iran's political and religious history. Further, this argument believes, as the political scientist Samuel Huntington's theory of "the clash of civilizations" intimates, that future conflicts will become increasingly more prevalent between Muslims and non-Muslims. This notion is enlightened by an examination of the Muslim belief in the return of the Mahdi. This belief invigorates the erratic and hostile behavior, including state sponsored terrorism, by the Iranian caliphate. This argument identifies and examines four critical historical criteria that have espoused Iran's siege mentality and led to the exacerbation of Mahdi eschatology.
Iran: Global Insurrection and the Mahdi
Kirkhof Center 2266
The current conflagration between Iran and the west intimates a conflict of ignorance. This conflict has amassed inordinate consequences charged with ethnocentric and ideological behavior by both sides. This argument seeks to hyphenate western perspectives of Iran with an appraisal of Iran's political and religious history. Further, this argument believes, as the political scientist Samuel Huntington's theory of "the clash of civilizations" intimates, that future conflicts will become increasingly more prevalent between Muslims and non-Muslims. This notion is enlightened by an examination of the Muslim belief in the return of the Mahdi. This belief invigorates the erratic and hostile behavior, including state sponsored terrorism, by the Iranian caliphate. This argument identifies and examines four critical historical criteria that have espoused Iran's siege mentality and led to the exacerbation of Mahdi eschatology.