A civilization is different from a nation-state. It has a long memory. Longer than the lives of many nation states. It is easy to carve out or erase nation-states. To push them into oblivion or amnesia. That is not the case with a civilization, certainly not with an ancient one like Iran, which has a memory of its greatness.
“Civilizations are the ultimate human tribes,” wrote Samuel P. Huntington in his 1996 classic ‘The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.’ In it, he implied that Civilizations are broader, cultural, and historical entities, distinct from nations, which are political and geographical units.
India lived under Islamic rule for eight long centuries, followed by British rule for two centuries. And yet, India survived, thrived, and reasserted itself after a millennium.
Greece was under Turkish rule for four centuries, from the mid-15th century until the early 19th century.
The Ottoman Empire began its conquest of Greek territories with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, followed by the capture of Athens in 1456 and the Peloponnese by 1460. Most of mainland Greece and the Aegean Islands were under Ottoman control by the early 16th century. Yet, Greece reasserted itself after four centuries.
One more episode from Greek history is worth recalling, for it exemplifies the long memory of a civilization.
In 480 BC, Athens was burned by the Persians during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. The Persian forces, led by King Xerxes I, invaded Greece and subsequently destroyed Athens, including the Acropolis.
Exactly 150 years after this event, in 330 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded Persia and burnt Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, to avenge the burning of Greek temples by the Persians.
These instances demonstrate that civilizational memory can endure for centuries, even millennia.
The West must understand this when dealing with Iran, a 7,000-year-old civilization that has survived many storms in its long history.
Iran: The Only Civilizational State In The Middle East
There are many states in the Middle East. However, many of these nation-states emerged from the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in the First World War.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Also, there were not very strong nationalist movements in these places.
During the First World War, Britain actively encouraged and supported rebellions against the Ottoman Empire in several key regions. These included the Hejaz (Saudi Arabia), Transjordan, Iraq, and parts of Syria.
Following the Ottoman defeat in the war, many of these territories were divided into British and French mandates, from which emerged many of the modern nation-states in the Middle East, including Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.
The boundaries of these nation-states are the result of accidents of history. For these reasons, pan-Arab nationalism was a potent force in the 1950s and 1960s.
However, Iran is different. Not only was Iran not part of the Ottoman Empire, but throughout history, Iran, also known as Persia, has maintained a distinct civilizational identity.
Iran has endured the Greek invasion, Islamic invasions, Mongol invasions, and invasions by ethno-Turkic peoples, as well as colonial influences. Yet, despite all of this, a Persian identity has survived.
During the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, estimates suggest that the Persian population may have declined by 50 to 60 percent, or possibly even more.
According to Iranian historian Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), as a result of the Mongol invasion, the Persian population may have declined from 2,500,000 to 250,000 due to mass extermination and famine.
The story repeated itself during the Timurid invasions when millions of Persians were killed, enslaved, and forcefully displaced.
In modern times, Iran has shown tremendous fortitude during the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), when Iraq received support from the US, Soviet Union, the UK, France, and many other countries while Iran was practically isolated. Iran also weathered multiple chemical attacks launched by Iraq.
History shows that while Iran is not invincible and has been defeated and invaded many times, from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan and Timur, Iran has always regathered itself and struck back.
A regime change in Iraq, Syria, and Libya was sufficient to dismantle those countries; however, that would not be so in the case of Iran.
Iran, as an ancient civilization, retains a memory of its past greatness and grandeur, with extensive empires including the Achaemenid Empire, the Sasanian Empire, the Safavid Empire, and the Pahlavi Empire.
Iran has its own literature, poetry, architecture, and cultural ethos. It was never part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Iranian nation is not a result of the post-World War I British and French mandates.
Even if a regime change is forced in Iran, the country is unlikely to end up like Iraq or Libya. Iran might be put down, but it can not be erased.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
