It’s a clash of civilisations that’s unfolding in the Middle East

One thing is certain: the war in the Middle East will see to it that, in the end, all the actors of the war—Iran, Israel and the US—will be weakened

Is the world heading for an apocalypse, a catastrophe bigger than anything that the world has witnessed since the Second World War? A catastrophe that will engulf the whole world and a kind of bloodbath that will shame humanity? The present Iran crisis has the potential to brutalise the human conscience to an extent that it will take ages to recover from. Unfortunately, all the actors in the game are oblivious to its consequences. They are more guided by their hubris, larger-than-life egos, civilisational curse, and ideological false consciousness. All of them are, in their hatred for the other, hell-bent on making the world less worth living for the next generation.

One of the biggest crises of the present war is the total disregard for any kind of value and rule-based system. And this is happening when war is being driven by religious impulses whose fundamental purpose is to inculcate universal values, to make humans better people. If Israel’s basic impulse is Zionism, then Iran is guided by the Islamic ideology, and Trump epitomises right-wing evangelism. And they all pretend to protect and fight for their faith and save its followers.

In this war, religion is one of the prime movers, alongside geopolitics. If Iran believes that American culture ruined the great Iranian civilisation and that is why the Islamic revolution was needed in 1979 to regain its past glory, then, similarly, Trump is the new messiah of the right-wing Christians in the USA, who became the president to Make America Great Again, which is nothing else but a more sophisticated version of the white supremacist movement that believes that America belongs to white Christians and other races have a polluting impact on them.

Before 1979, Iran was a modern country with abundant liberal values. Under Shah Reza Pahlavi, Iran was very close to America, which was neither liked by Islamists nor by Communists and liberals. In 1979, they all collaborated to dislodge Pahlavi’s regime, but after that, since Islamists were better organised, they marginalised other factions of the revolution and established the rule of clerics and religious preachers, who became the supreme leader.

Khomeini said, “This will be a government based on the Sharia. Opposing this government means opposing the Sharia of Islam… revolt against God’s government is a revolt against God, and revolt against God is blasphemy.” A majority of people in Iran have not liked the Islamic rule. But the Islamist ideology is so deeply entrenched in the system that, till now, it has not been overthrown by the people.

On the other hand, the election of Barack Obama as the president of America proved to be a turning point in American history. Obama was the first non-white president, which was not liked by right-wing evangelists and white supremacists. American society was deeply divided, and what worked in favour of Trump, other than the support of right-wing Christians, was the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

She was not only seen to be carrying forward the legacy of Obama, but her gender also worked for Trump. America, despite being the oldest democracy, is extremely patriarchal and is still not willing to elect a woman as president. It is no coincidence that both times Trump won, he defeated a female candidate—first Hillary Clinton and then Kamala Harris. This again has a religious overtone.

Israel was created in the name of religion. And this was the reason Mahatma Gandhi criticised its creation in 1948. Even ten years before the creation of the Israeli state, Gandhi said, “Besides, my sympathy for the Jews does not blind me to the requirements of justice. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs.” No doubt, Jews are the most persecuted community in world history, despite being one of the oldest religions in the world.

For more than two thousand years, they have been without their own country, and since the creation of Israel, they have been fighting for their existence, but under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, influenced by ultra-right Zionist allies, the Israeli state has turned into a killing machine, which is not liked by even a large section of Jews in Israel and outside. No wonder Netanyahu has been declared a war criminal by the International Court of Justice, and there is an arrest warrant against him.

It is the peculiarity of this religious interplay that makes this war very complex. It must be understood that Zionist and evangelical forces are fighting with Islamist forces to maintain not only geopolitical hegemony but also to establish civilisational superiority. Iran’s attack on the Muslim countries of the Gulf region is also a manifestation of its frustration with their alignment with the USA. And it is to be noted that despite facing a barrage of missiles and destruction from Iran, till now they have not retaliated in kind.

Rulers of these Muslim states, whether Saudi Arabia or the UAE, are aware that their Muslim population (Shia or Sunni) will not like any attack on Iran by them, as that will be viewed as supporting Zionist Israel and Christian USA. In the Gulf, and also in other parts of the world, Muslims in general have an aversion to the USA and Israel.

Thus, in a way, Samuel Huntington’s theory of the clash of civilisations is being manifested now. What turn it will take has to be seen. But one thing is certain: this war will see to it that, in the end, all the actors of the war will be weakened. 

The USA might lose its overpowering hegemony; Israel will undergo a qualitative change, as no country and community can remain in a state of perpetual war; and Iran has to lose its Islamist rhetoric, which has only brought it poverty and ruin.

ASHUTOSH