alternative foreign policy views among the iranian policy elite

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32 IRAN'S STRATEGIC INTENTIONSIn the foreign policy arena, it believed in full resistance to theWest and the US, support for Islamic and liberationmovements, and close relations with the Third World countries.To sum up, this tendency regarded itself as follower of theImam [Khomeini]'s thoughts and was known as the "Imam'sline" tendency in the society.The other tendency emphasized giving a free hand to theprivate sector in the economic arena... It regarded any effort tosupport the deprived and the poor as an influence of Marxistand socialist beliefs. In the cultural arena, it believed in acertain dogmatism and backwardness which originated from itstraditio~mlist approach to intellectual developments . . . . In theforeign policy arena, it had a cautious approach toward theWest and the US, etc . . . .Since the emergence of the two tendencies, various titleswere used for them: hardline ,and moderate, radical andconservative, left and right, etc. Both the domestic and foreignmedia used the various terms . . . .It is true that many people, who believe that "the one whowins is right," have change color and have co-ordinatedthemselves with the "tide current." The Majlis member for onetown entered the Third [1988] Majlis on behalf of one wing(the so-called left wing) and entered the Fourth [1992] Majlison behalf of the other wing (the so-called right wing).The radical and moderate labels each apply to tendencies, not toformal or tightly knit groups. On any issue, lines may blur, withsome radicals taking a more moderate stance on that point andsome moderates taking a more radical stance. To make aWestem analogy, the two trends are more like Democrats andRepublican in the U.S. Congress than they are like Labor andConservatives in the British Parliament: individual egos, not partydiscipline, rule supreme. To continue the analogy, much as theDemocrats have "old Democrats" and "new Democrats," so themoderates are split between technocrats (the smaller group, withabout 100 of the 270 seats in file Majlis but with domination ofthe ministries) and the traditionalists (with about 130 Majlisseats). The traditionalists were well described in the New York
PATRICK CLAWSON 33Times as "economically liberal but culturally hard-lineconservatives" connected to the bazaar. 9The thesis of this paper is that domestic political impulseslead a large majority of Iranian politicians to support two foreignpolicy stands. The first is an emphasis on economicdevelopment, which is the cement that holds together themoderate coalition of teclmocrats and traditionalists. The foreignpolicy component of this emphasis on economic development iseconomic ties to the West, which is seen as vital by technocratsand enjoys support from the traditionalists. The second issue isopposition to Western culture, on which the radicals and thetraditionalists agree. The radicals argue that opposition toWestem culture entails a foreign policy based on suspicion aboutthe West's political agenda and support for anti-Westemmovements, though the traditionalists are not so sure if thisforeign policy is necessary. The final section of this paperexamines prospects for the future.MODERATES, ECONOMICS,AND THE WESTIranian radicals have generally opposed any emphasis oneconomic growth or on material weUbeing. During the 1993election campaign, leading radical Mohtashemi complained,"When you set the economy as the principle, and sacrificeeverything at its altar, there would remain nothing by which youcould be powerful, free, and independent . . . . We can't haveIslamic and revolutionary culture by slogans and rhetoric whenour economy is a Western capitalist economy. "1° AyatollahKhamenei has shown sympathy for this point of view, though he9 "ban's Chief Faces Merchant Class Challenge," New York Times,January 31, 1993.loS a l a a m , May 17, 1993, as printed in Akhbaar.
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