The Soft War in Contemporary Iran

Since the 1979 revolution, the idea that the West has been involved in a conspiracy against Iran has become one of the most important national myths of the Islamic Republic. In recent years this national narrative has found new meaning as the “soft war”. A modern iteration of the myth of foreign conspiracy, it stipulates that Western powers seek to infiltrate the moral fabric of Iranian society through Western cultural products and media channels and by extending support to Iranian civil society. Since the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests the soft war has become one of the defining features of Iranian governmental discourse. The election protests relied to a large extent on digital communication and social media platforms to mobilize the opposition to the re-elected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). The soft war narrative was the primary justification for the increasing control of the Iranian authorities over their country’s cybersphere which accompanied the...Show moreSince the 1979 revolution, the idea that the West has been involved in a conspiracy against Iran has become one of the most important national myths of the Islamic Republic. In recent years this national narrative has found new meaning as the “soft war”. A modern iteration of the myth of foreign conspiracy, it stipulates that Western powers seek to infiltrate the moral fabric of Iranian society through Western cultural products and media channels and by extending support to Iranian civil society. Since the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests the soft war has become one of the defining features of Iranian governmental discourse. The election protests relied to a large extent on digital communication and social media platforms to mobilize the opposition to the re-elected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). The soft war narrative was the primary justification for the increasing control of the Iranian authorities over their country’s cybersphere which accompanied the regime’s crackdown on the 2009 demonstrations. While the topics of digital repression and the soft war during the terms of president Ahmadinejad have received their share of scholarly attention, a review their status under the current Iranian president of Hassan Rouhani is lacking. This thesis aims to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing how the soft war narrative has been used in Iranian governmental discourse to justify control of Iran’s media environment and in particular, control of Iran’s internet, during the tenure of president Rouhani as compared to during the Ahmadinejad era. Particular attention is paid to the legacy Western imperialism in Iran, factional politics in contemporary Iran and the influence of the country’s political economy on the Iranian state’s restrictions on internet freedom under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani.Show less

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The Soft War in Contemporary Iran