War and Conflicts Over National and Ethnic Identities in the Middle East

War and Conflicts Over National and Ethnic Identities in the Middle East

Oğuz Keskin, Mortaza Chaychi Semsari, Ahmet Gedik
Copyright: © 2023 |Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6741-1.ch021
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Abstract

In general, it can be said that more than half of the world's countries experienced ethnic and religious conflicts after the Second World War. Especially in terms of this conflict and war, The Middle East is one of the tensest places in the world, and all conflicts in this region have various internal and external causes. However, many of them start with a religious and ethnic motif or a small spark (a political statement, any action on the street, etc.). Today, ethnic and religious conflicts are of great concern and challenge for decision-makers and academics, and this difficulty contains an important breaking point in political debates. In fact, carrying a different meaning to the world with violence and ethnic and religious conflicts in more than a quarter of the Middle East, it aims to make the center of regional politics visible in identity conflicts and thus to open identity and ethnic space through conflict, thus opening the door to conflict politics.
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Research Questions

  • 1.

    Is Iranian National Identity Formation Necessary for Country Dynamics?

  • 2.

    Iran, Before and After Khomeini, Are Ethnic Identities More Predominant?

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Introduction

National identity is a political concept and factors of climate change and even integration at the country level and a set of positive trends and attitudes towards elements and even patterns; national identity has various constructive features such as national religious - cultural - social, and human values, and cultural - historical - geographical - political - linguistic, and other dimensions. Therefore, Iran's national identity has various shapes, measurements, and elements as a Middle Eastern country that preserves its historical importance. On the other hand, features such as Islamism and Iran (Aryan), their influence on Western culture, and the formation of two different shadow national identities that fall on Iran have a significant effect. Therefore, in modern Iranian history, these two components have different potentials, difficulties, and crises in Iranian national identity (Barzegar, 2000).

Iranian society has had a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural structure since ancient times. In this respect, Iranian politics have shown different approaches to keep these ethnicities together at other times. However, these different approaches do not mean ethnic problems do not arise (Salehi, Mohammad Ali, 2007). Although the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and the subsequent Constitution of the Islamic Republic did not emphasize the peaceful life of communities in Iran and equality among all ethnic groups, it did not show an exclusionary tendency. Economic problems in the context of ethnic groups, borders with the neighboring countries of ethnic groups, widespread communication, globalization, centralization, one of the most critical problems of Iran at the moment, the management of the country and the social problems it causes in the context of the correction of cultural and cultural values, has provided a relatively significant improvement compared to the past.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Ethnicity: Those who share the same common heritage.

Aryan: Self-described term for Indo-Iranian speaking peoples.

Iranian Islamic Revolution: Social and political movement against Pahlavi authority in 1979.

Collective Identity: The process of describing communities formed by individuals rather than an individual identity.

National Identity: Cultural features that enable a nation to be recognized.

Iran: A country that has an important historical place and continues this importance today.

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