‘Iran’s Grand Strategy’: A nuanced understanding of how historical trauma is embedded in statecraft
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Vali Nasr’s Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History is one of the most vital works that demand attention during the ongoing Iran-America standoff. The author argues that Iran’s strategy is not driven by ideology alone, but shaped by a collective memory of invasions, humiliation, foreign interference, and a deep-seated fear of national disintegration. To understand the politics of the Islamic regime, one has to understand the historical psychology behind it.
According to Nasr, the Islamic Republic views itself as both isolated and vulnerable because the Arab Sunni states surround it, while it possesses a distinct Persian identity fused with Shi’ism. Under the Safavids, especially Shah Ismail I, Shi’ism became Iran’s state religion as a strategic decision helping distinguish Iran from its Sunni Ottoman and Uzbek rivals. The Persian nationalism which in unique ways was subsumed in, as well as perpetuated by, Shia theocracy is distinctive to modern Iran. This nationalism is absorbed in the ideological framework of the Republic.
A perennial battleground
By intertwining religion with geopolitics, contends Nasr, the Safavid rulers transformed their authority into something far deeper than mere kingship, giving their rule profound ideological and emotional resonance among the people. However, over time this feeling would transform into being a besieged civilisation surrounded by hostile...