Thursday, March 16, 2023

Peace Between Iran And Saudi Arabia

Peace was achieved between Iran and Saudi Arabia this week, with the mediation of China, and diplomatic relations are in the process of being restored. The question is why these relations were broken in the first place. Both countries stand for conservative Islam, although one is Sunni and the other Shiite.

Ironically the two countries did have good relations when Iran was ruled by the Shah, before the Revolution of 1979. Even though the ideologies of the two were much further apart than they are now. Saudi Arabia was a conservative Islamic society but the Shah of Iran was much more secular and open to western influences.

As I have pointed out here before the relationship between these two countries is an ideal example of the importance of kings. Honestly I have been following world events since childhood and it was only in the past few years that I realized how very important kings are. A way of doing things that has been around for thousands of years is not suddenly going to go away overnight.

The French Revolution, of 1789, opened the modern political era and the world has been reenacting it ever since. The revolution overthrew and guillotined the king and queen. An unintended consequence of the French Revolution was that it resulted in the rise of the prototype of modern dictators, which was Napoleon.

When Iran was ruled by the Shah both it and Saudi Arabia were ruled by kings. The 1979 revolution in Iran, which was very much a reenactment of the French Revolution, overthrew the Shah. Even though the two countries were now much closer in ideology this put them on opposite sides of the French Revolution, and their relations have never been good ever since.

Kings are far more important in the relationships between countries than most people realize. As I stated I have been following world news since childhood. We would have dinner while the news was on television. When I got older I would follow world events like many people would follow sports. But it is only in the last few years that I have realized how very important kings really are.

Here is a link to the posting "The Theory Of Kings":

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-theory-of-kings_28.html?m=0

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