Political Science

Iranian revolution laid a foundation for major transformation and challenges that are currently being experienced in the Middle East. Revolution took six years from 1905 to 1911, which led to the fall of Pahlavi dynasty and as a result, Qajar dynasty was overthrown under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Qajar. The monarchy was then replaced by Islamic republic which was led by Ayatollah Ruhollah. The revolutionary ideals for the Iranian government were anti imperialism and against American ideologies. It was more concerned with the oppressed in the society and the policies were well defined to create a boundary between the people of the Middle East and the Americans (Shahram, pp165).

Iran and the United States relations
The kind of leadership in Iran advocate on so many ideals of leadership that is based on protection of the citizens from oppression and protecting the wealth of the State. According to the people of Iran, the existence of America poses a lot of threat than gains and therefore they feel insecure and feel they can easily be dominated by the Americans and may lose their allies in the surrounding States. The government of Iran is opposed to the system used by the American government and claim that the United States government does not respect peoples rights. For the sake of unity in the Middle East, they rather support Palestine than to support the United States or Israel (Shahram, pp166).

As a result of lack of inspirational leaders that can lead others in protest, it is believed that the failure to be a classical power is as a result of political failure but not military failure. Most of the leaders in Iran are more concerned with the military influence and do not value diplomacy as a way of solving the problems. In the long run, terrorism and suicide bombers have increased in most parts of the world. Their religion also is promotes violence or war as a way of solving the problems rather than embracing diplomacy (Shahram, pp167).

Even though the USSR was once a major threat to the American government, several transformations have taken place and there is a paradigm shift of power from the USSR to Iraq especially before Sadam Hussein was hanged and now its Iran. This is posing a lot of challenge to the American government (Shahram, pp167).

As a result of the emerging super power in the Middle East, the US government has established friendship with other States in the Middle East such Persian Gulf or Kuwait and Qatar. Their relationship is seen as a threat to Iranian supremacy in the Middle East since the Gulf States are becoming more organized politically, economically and military. The rivalry between the two States has increased as a result of winning the confidence of the allies and the advancement in technology especially in the manufacture of nuclear weapons and other dangerous weapons that can pose a threat to security (Shahram, pp167).

Even though some States in the Middle East are not stable financially, the urge for unity is becoming more and more relevant in the fight against the American influence. For instance, Qatar has launched an initiative to focus on the problems affecting Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Egypt in Gaza and Saudi ArabiaAfghanistan (Shahram, pp168).

Many people believe that America is gradually losing power and that Iran is becoming more and more active in terms of policies and even some are for the idea of Iran coming up with harsh policies to control and provoke the United States and to frustrate their exclusive hegemony in the Middle East. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a lot of effort in ensuring that the government remains powerful and free from oppression and as a result, Khamenei international advisor Ali Akbar supported the supremacy of Iran in the Middle East. With increasing rates of development, Iran has gained so much power and influence not only for political influence but to ensure that defense is well taken care of and to prevent any challenge that may be posed by others. Diplomacy between the two States has not been embraced since Iranian government believes that negotiation cannot be made without resistance (Shahram, pp168).

Iran was once a less powerful State but today, it is worth noting that Iranian government has progressed with time and the influence especially in the Middle East is worrying especially to weaker States such as Bahrain that can be easily occupied by the Iranian government. The Iranian activities are worrying, for instance, Iranian support for Hamas during problems such as war that took place in Gaza between 2008 and 2009 posed a danger to the weaker States such as Lebanon (Kaye Wehrey, pp2).

Theory and the nature of influence
The theory of liberalism can be said to be more applicable in the cold war between Iran and the United States since every State is interested in new alliances for the interest of the state and all the achievements, depends on the capability of each State. In international relations terms, liberalism allows the plurality in State actions and preference varies from State to State and that interaction is not only based on politics but also on economic influence. This can be said to be the reason why the United States is in constant cold war with the Iranian government just to control economic activities such as oil mining in middle East and coming up with policies that favors them politically. On the other hand, Iran is seeking both political freedom and economic freedom and sees the United States as the stumbling block for the realization of both.

The progressive move by Iranian government to gain allies from the Arab States has faced serious challenges since Iran is a non-Arab State. Iran is faced with serious challenge to serve the interests of the Arab States. Consequently, Iran may lose more allies as a result of the US influence and support to the Arab States and support from other non-Arab States.

It is also true that the current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has enjoyed a lot of political appeal from the Arab States especially after the success of Hizballahs against Israel in the wake of 2006. The failure of unity among the States in the Middle East can be attributed by eminent factors that are more to do with the US influence and different policies in the Arab States. For instance, failure to have a unified consensus on the issue of Tehran is a clear sign of lack of unity among the Arab States. The deliberation to withdraw the American soldiers from Iraq can be said to be a clear sign of defeat for both the government of Iran and Iraq and this poses a big challenge to the States in the Middle East (Kaye Wehrey, pp5).

Most people believe that the American government handed over the power to Iran to control the affairs of Iraq. As a result, the United States influence is becoming more enormous and their interest can be a threat both politically and economically hence worrying. Iranian connection has contributed a lot to the political systems and reforms in the Middle East since 2003. During the delegation that was held in Baghdad, Iran was the first country to send a delegation to Iraq to attend the negotiation and recognized the power of the US government (Kaye  Wehrey, pp5).

Iran gave financial support to the government of Iraq to help in the building of infrastructures and putting up electricity to ensure that development is realized. This move by the Iranian government made many people to view Iran as a stronger country in the Middle East and in 2005, there was a high level delegation at Baghdad where the two governments, Iran and Iraq negotiated 1 billion aid for Iraq, to assist them in creation of new trade blocs, export electricity and to finance oil processing from crude oil to refined oil. This move even made Iran to be an important actor in Middle East and their influence in Iraq is seen as a sign of political stability (Nasr, pp2).

Conclusion
Finally, the current moves by the American President Barrack Obama to negotiate with the government of Iran is even making the condition to worsen and most of the experts argue that this may result to failure on the side of Iran and posing an economic challenge to the States in the Middle East. Iranian government is therefore facing a serious challenge of liberating themselves from the American influence which is seen to be growing day by day, even though the American government is reluctant to stop any move by Iranian government to gain political power or economic supremacy in the Middle East and the theory of liberalism can help in reducing the challenges facing the Iranian government.