Background: This academic essay was written in early 2019. In it, I aimed to explore the rise of ‘Islamism’ in the Middle East, an ideology emerging from Islam that claims to represent the political wing of the faith . In light of recent tensions between the United States and Iran after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, I thought now would be an appropriate time to post this essay. Today, Iran is the only internationally recognized state to have adopted ‘Islamic rule’ and ‘shariah law’ as its official mode of government.
Despite this, the ideological convictions driving Iran have not been articulated effectively in the international press, and as a result are not well understood by the public. Hopefully this essay will go some way in bridging this gap of understanding. Whilst the focus here is not on Iran per se, the proliferation of Islamism in that country and across the Muslim World is a development that continues to have a huge impact on efforts at diplomacy in the region. It therefore needs to be understood before an effective solution can be offered.
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