# Some questions about Iran **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 21, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-iran/304902 "2005-05-21T22:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-iran/304902/21 "2005-05-29T02:13:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Has the structure you describe for a “democracy with the trappings of a theocracy” ever been brought about? Is this similar to the way Turkey brought it about Not that I can think off hand. And I’m not saying it absolutely will work :). It may not, however I think theoretically it is perfectly viable. Maybe even necessary. Turkey went down a different road - forced secularization, enforced by a highly indoctrinated military which actually has a constitutional role to defend that secularization ( it’s what makes Turkey’s democracy rather fragile and technically compromised, though so far it doesn’t seem to have led to a tendency towards permanent juntas ). This was possible because of a variety of conditions present in Turkey at the end of WW I and though it is an ideal much beloved by certain scholars like Bernard Lewis, it is questionable whether such a system is transferable to the modern Middle East. At any rate the Turkish experiment _has_ led in the last couple of years to the interesting compromise of a more of less _moderate_ and democratic Islamist party taking power without causing any extreme societal stress. This after an earlier, more threateningly open ( to the military’s way of thinking ) Islamist government was bounced by the army. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Wake\_up\_call](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dec6dc/32.png) [@Wake\_up\_call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wake_up_call)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-iran/304902/22 "2005-05-29T03:52:39Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Ah, see, there’s where I disagree. Actually, I do not see a disagreement between what I said and what you are suggesting. Think of a line which starts at point A (current state of theocracy in Iran). The line from point A passes through point B (what you are suggesting) and continues to reach point C (what I am suggesting). Going from A to C may take Iranians about a 100 years of evolution. But the final destination is C, not B. As you admitted: > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Now personally I’d _prefer_ a secular model and I also wouldn’t live in anything else. > > Again, I wouldn’t prefer such a system myself. That indicates you prefer point C on the line. You then concluded by saying: > [@Tamerlane](#): > > I think that is okay - if nothing else it may “presage” a movement to my own preferred ideal of a more secular society. I suppose your proposed “presage” is the point B on the line, an intermediary phase between A to C. BTW **Tamerlane** , like **Shodan** and many other Dopers, I have the highest respect for your depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding of the ME region, its culture, history, and realities. May I suggest that you expand your intermediate solution (point B on the line) into an article and submit it to [www.Iranian.com](http://www.Iranian.com) for publication. I understand the site has a large audience, not only among Iranian expatriates abroad, but among many in Iran who can read and understand English. If [Iranian.com](http://Iranian.com) publishes your article, I offer to translate it to Farsi and have it posted in several Farsi language sites and blogs in Iran. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-iran/304902.md?page=1)