Iranian Weltanschauung and its Relevance to U.S. National Strategy
Abstract
Understanding the world view, or weltanschauung, held by Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei is the key to designing effective US national strategy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although Khomeini died over 30 years ago, his world view lives on through his disciple, Khamenei, now ruling the country. Khomeini and Khamenei's world view stymied every US administration since President Carter, and contemporary administrations continue to struggle with developing strategies to counter Iran's ceaseless war on America. To date, no national strategy has achieved the ends of rolling back Iranian revolutionary expansionism, global terrorism, and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Overwhelmingly, the paramount weakness found in US strategy is failure to adequately understand the operating environment, namely, failure to comprehend Iranian decision making-how they think and what they believe. Consistently, the United States treats Iranian decision makers as simple rational actors that mirror US ways of thinking rather than attempting to see world the through an Iranian lens-the Khomeini-Khamenei Weltanschauung.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1135874
Entities
People
- Marcus S. Welch
Organizations
- National Defense University