#ICYMI
𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 Issue 35.2
🔹 A Roundtable on the 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝐶𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝑊𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝑂𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 — imperial vs sovereign futures
In the last couple of days, we have been highlighting the articles from the roundtable on the Ramadan War. This post is a summary of the roundtable!
"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁."
#RamadanWar #Imperialism #Sovereignty #Iran #AxisOfResistance #WorldOrder
Roundtable: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫: 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
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𝟭. "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿: 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀" – Helyeh Doutaghi & Bikrum Gill
The war contains two competing logics: imperial restoration and anti-imperial liberation. Its outcome will have determinative consequences for the very structure of the world order.
𝟮. "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲" – Prabhat Patnaik
The war is part of a strategy of recolonization: imposing unequal treaties, controlling oil resources, and extracting a 'tribute' from the Global South to overcome the twin crises of stagnation and US current account deficits.
𝟯. "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲: 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿" – Bikrum Gill & Helyeh Doutaghi
International law emerges from colonial origins as a dual structure: it universalizes norms while preserving a 'state of exception' that authorizes imperial violence when core interests are threatened. Iran's sovereign power now stands as a potential enforcer of a post-imperial legal order.
𝟰. "𝗦𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻" – Vira Ameli
The Resistance Economy doctrine calls for pishraft—sovereign progress from within—against 'development' that assumes some nations are incomplete versions of the West. The war revealed the accumulated capacity of decades: not a hollow state, but one built through Iranian engineering and social endurance.
𝟱. "𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗮𝗿: 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮, 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮'𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗦-𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹𝗶 𝗔𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻" – Zeinab Ghasemi Tari
A small, organized minority of diaspora activists has manufactured moral and narrative consent for war, through retrotopian nostalgia, inflated casualty figures, and media monopolies. Yet the coalition's reliance on manufactured consent has actively alienated those it claims to represent.
𝟲. "𝗡𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻" – Seyed Yasser Jebrail
Market-oriented reforms, implemented under sanctions, can lower protest thresholds—but external actors mistake social fragility for regime fragility. A population under economic pressure is not raw material for regime-change projects. The same society that has become more contentious may become less available to foreign coercion under military attack.
𝟳. "𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻" – Sina Emami
The wars of 2025 and 2026 did not produce an unambiguous triumph. Yet they yielded something measured against two centuries of Iranian history: the frustration of a global hegemon's war aims by a state whose governing logic has long been organized around that pursuit.
𝟴. "𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝘇𝗮, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻: 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆" – Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria
Gaza shattered the credibility of humanitarian language. The war on Iran is what coercive power looks like after humanitarian legitimacy has been exhausted but before imperial force has been relinquished. Military superiority no longer translates into political authority.
𝟵. "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦-𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹-𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘆" – Fuquan Li
The final struggles of a declining hegemonic power pose a far greater threat to global order than it did in its heyday. This war marks the entry of US decline into a new and more dangerous phase—accelerating the unraveling of its global influence and leaving the world with a highly uncertain post-American era.
... and much more! Continue reading the full roundtable here:
tandfonline.com/toc/ccri20/3…