It may seem that Iran and the USA have nothing in common; hence their global stand-off which has the world’s attention. But as I think about it today, there are some interesting parallels between Iran and the USA:
*Both have leaders that claim to represent the country’s dominant religion.
*Both leaders have religious followers that will accept anything those leaders say as “God’s will” because “God/Allah is in control.”
*Both are traditionally religious societies that are secularizing quickly as the citizens get sick of the combination of politics and religion.
*Both have weak legislatures, yet both are Democracies.
*Both have a history of de-stabilizing, poorly-thought out, military adventurism in the Middle East.
*Both are increasingly multi-ethnic/religious societies that have leaders in power desperately trying to defend one ethnicity and religion against all others (White Evangelicalism/Persian Shia Islam).
*Both have a growing elite that are financially very wealthy, while living standards for the general population are in decline.
*Both have large generational divides with the young wanting radical change.
*Both are bankrupting their nation through military spending and view military force and violence as the answer to most problems.
*Both have a strong-strain of religious apocalyptic-thought that puts their country at the center of end-time scenarios
*Both view themselves as indispensable world powers/civilizations (American/Western, Iranian/Persian)
*Both have leaders that love making over-the-top, boastful threats full of hyperbole and irresponsible machismo.
*Both are rooted in a religious dualism viewing everything through a good vs. bad / winners vs. losers (“Axis of evil”/ “Great Satan”paradigm that is rooted in their religious worldview. (Evangelical/Zoroastrianism)
*Both give off the impression that they are strong, stable countries; but both are facing incredible amounts of internal division and strife at home and are thus very fragile.
*Both are countries that produce highly entrepreneurial people that are good with technology and business.
*Both are known for having very friendly, fun-loving people which goes against their national image as war-mongers.
*Both have a population that loves the United States (Iranians, unlike their leaders, love the USA).
They say “you often hate what you are.”
Iran and the United States have some political, cultural, and religious similarities that lead them to over-reach often, make them enemies around the world, and both tend to box themselves in in moments of crisis giving themselves no good options. This is not a good combination. I could see one, if not both of these countries having a paradigm-shifting revolution before this is all over. Both the United States and Iran are on paths that are completely unsustainable in the future; financially, militarily, even religiously. The majority of the people in both countries know it and they are increasingly hostile toward their elites and their top-leaders. A backlash is brewing in both countries and the response of the government is centralization.
Both countries have young people that are disillusioned and seeing living standards drop very noticeably. And both are practicing theocracy (the mix of politics and religion), which always spells doom for those political religious parties in the end. Both countries desperately need to look in the mirror and fix what is at home. But as philosophically dualistic nations, they have a long history of passion over-riding common sense. Whether the good people of these countries can make their voice heard above the calls for war, retribution, and religious dominance will decide the future of both countries.