'Ayatollah Rafsanjani favored independence from West, East' | ||
'Ayatollah Rafsanjani favored independence from West, East'
The passing of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an iconic figure whose career spanned several decades on Iran's political scene, has once again prompted reviews of his policies while functioning in a range of positions. We asked Kaveh Afrasiabi, author and political scientist from Boston, to give us his analysis of the former president's views and strategies. Afrasiabi said that as part of his foreign policy, Ayatollah Rafsanjani tried to distance Iran from both the West and the East during the bipolar system of the Cold War. Ayatollah Rafsanjani had “this principle of equidistance from the superpowers that translated into both the West and the East,” the analyst said. “He favored detente with the Western nations so long as they respected Iran’s sovereignty and rights,” he mentioned. Pointing to Rafsanjani’s policy vis-a-vis the West’s intervention in the region, he noted that the Iranian politician “promoted the idea of collective security in the Persian Gulf, which was rebuffed then and is still being rebuffed by conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf region.” Ayatollah Rafsanjani “was a man who met many challenges but met them all with wisdom and resolute determination. He was an example for the present and future generations of Iranians,” the author added. Afrasiai said “this big loss for Iran can only be filled by his own legacy,” which he described as “the shining example of a true statesman who exhibited wisdom, patience, moderation and tremendous ability in the conduct of the nation’s domestic and international affairs.” The analyst described Iran’s former president as a person who promoted pluralism as well as a moderate and tolerant figure who advocated dialogue and reconciliation. “He was a guru for the Iranian politics,” and “the key to his viability was his ability to stand above factional politics to promote a vision that was in complete harmony with both the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) and the late Ayatollah [Seyyed Rouhollah] Khomeini, the Revolution’s founding father who created an Islamist democracy replacing the one-man dictatorship.” The political commentator also went on to say that Ayatollah Rafsanjani pursued “pragmatic flexibility” to liberalize the Iranian economy and integrate it into the world economy. Afrasiabi is a prominent Iranian-American political scientist and author of several books -- on Iran, Islam, ecology, Middle East, UN reform, as well as poetry and fiction -- and numerous articles in international newspapers and journals. Afrasiabi gained a PhD in Political Science from Boston University in 1998, with a thesis titled "State and Populism in Iran" under the supervision of famed historian Howard Zinn. Afrasiabi has also studied theology at Andover-Newton Theological School and his theological writings have been praised by Bishop John Chane as a "must read" in his introduction to Afrasiabi's book, titled Mahdism, Shiism, and Communicative Eco-Theology (2015). Afrasiabi has taught political science at the University of Tehran, Boston University, and Bentley University. Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University (1989-1990),[5] University of California, Berkeley (2000-2001),[6] Binghamton University (2001-2002)[7] and the Center for Strategic Research, Tehran. During 2004-2005, Afrasiabi was involved as an advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team.
Afrasiabi is a former consultant to the United Nations "Dialogue Among Civilizations", for which he interviewed the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami.[9] Afrasiabi is a member of the advisory board of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran. Afrasiabi has authored numerous articles in scholarly journals and newspapers, including Harvard Theological Review, Harvard International Review, UN Chronicle, London's Guardian, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Harvard's Belfer Center's Iran Matters, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Global Dialogue, Middle East Journal, Mediterranean Affairs, Brown's Journal of World Affairs, International Herald Tribune, Der Tageszeit, Der Tagesspiegel, Journal of International Affairs, Telos, Nation Magazine, Asia times, Global Times, Review of Politics, Eurasia Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Monthly Review, as well as dozens of articles and letters in The New York Times, per the newspaper's archive. Afrasiabi has made dozens of television appearances as a Middle East expert on CNN, Aljazeera, Voice of America, PBS, BBC, PressTV, Russia Today, Canadian TV, and other networks. Afrasiabi is fluent in several languages and has published in Farsi, English, German, French, and Spanish. Afrasiabi's official website is: www.kavehafrasiabi.com | ||
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