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| Volume VIII, March 2001, Number 1 |
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| ABSTRACT: The Role of Iran in the New Millennium: A View from the Outside |
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| R. K. Ramazani |
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The following is the text of
an address by (emeritus) Professor Ramazani of the
University of Virginia on September 4, 2000, at the United Nations.
This article is the text of an
address to President Mohammad Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran on
September 4, 2000 took place at the United Nations during the week of the U.N.
Millennium Summit.The principal
argument of the address is that, although Iran's geostrategic importance is
conceded universally, this fact does not necessarily mean that the Islamic
Republic of Iran will play a greater role in world politics in the future than
at present. To illustrate this point, the author recalls the historical
fact that for over a century Iran played the role of either a buffer state
caught in the clutches of rival imperial powers -- Great Britain and Russia --
or that of a surrogate state on behalf of the United States.
The Iranian Revolution destroyed
not only the old regime, but also Iran's age-old subservient role in world
affairs. More important, the revolutionary regime adopted the two
time-honored aspirations of the Iranian people in history -- independence and
freedom -- as its basic and coterminous goals. Hence, for Iran to be able to play a greater role in world politics in
the future than at present, the Iranian people and government must do three
things: (1) realize that their country's strategic significance is not in and
of itself sufficient to control the nation's destiny at home and abroad; (2)
arrive at a reasonable degree of consensus on the priority of the principles of independence, freedom and
Islam; and (3) most important, create appropriate structures and procedures for
implementing effectively these principles, for I believe there can be no
durable political order without equitable justice under the law and no justice
without liberty.
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