by NikoRad

Created on: October 23, 2009   Last Updated: October 24, 2009

Rather than diving in, taking a side and saying "War is bad, no one should have nukes" or "We don't have a right to force ourselves on other countries", I think it's in our best interest to step back and look at the situation in a wider perspective. It's better to understand the situation, *then* argue a side, rather than just letting the situation elicit an emotional reaction based on our own, "westernized" perspective.

Iran is looking at this situation totally different than much of the world. Its pursuit of a nuclear program is founded deeply in cultural and religious beliefs that have been culminating for many, many centuries. Its nuclear arms program is only the latest example of a long tradition of looking out for its own interests first in the volatile environment of the Middle East.

This deep-rooted ideology is the reason why sanctions and "talks" with Iran will most likely be futile in the end. The country is pursuing a means of defense (and perhaps, attack) that it believes it is justified to have, and no amount of outside pressure is going to ultimately change their mind.

World leaders, to an extent, realize this and that's why the hubbub has been raised. By drawing attention to what Iran is doing and putting it on the world stage, the hope is that Iran will ultimately feel forced to back down in the nuclear program. But even if this happens, no one should be under the impression they will stop pursuing the beliefs that made them pursue the nuclear program in the first place.

That's the real difficulty of the situation - the nuclear program is just a manifestation of a deeper issue, which is the mindset and motivation behind the program's creation. Iran's president has already made it clear that Israel are, in his own words, "pigs that he vows to wipe off the map." This is a serious issue, with shades of Hitler seen in his words.

And it's not just Ahmadinejad here - Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has much influence too, but gets dwarfed in the media by the antics of the president (who is the 3rd most powerful figure in their politics, I believe?).

"This cancerous tumor of a state [Israel] should be removed from the
region" - Khamenei

How do we handle this? What are the consequences of ignoring the threats? Would modern-day sanctions have curtailed the German Nazi regime?

But do we have the right to stop Iran from pursing something we ourselves have? Why shouldn't all countries have the right to such technology? Because, right or wrong, that's simply not how the modern world works. As the world governments become more globalized and inter-connected, a sort of wolf pack mentality seems to form - who is the alpha dog?

Right now, that position is held by several countries, such as the U.S. and the U.K. As the leaders of the pack, they take it upon themselves to dole out who can do this and who can't do that, and try to bring some order and perspective to the world stage. You can see this pack mentality in the U.N. - many countries are represented, but let's be honest, not everyone has the same influence.

Iran doesn't feel the rest of the world understands it, and will act accordingly. It's a game, and a dangerous one. Putting a halt, even temporarily, to the nuclear program is a good thing, I believe, but there is a greater issue at hand that has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. It has to do with leadership and mentality; unfortunately, the world is often more concerned in dealing with the tangible, and rarely seem to look much deeper than that.

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