Development of Humanities, Islamic Science Required for Achieving Decline of US in Cyberspace: Scholar

Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Javad Norouzi, Head of the Political Science Department of the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (RA) addressed the issue of “governance theory, cyberspace and the post-American world” in the fourth meeting on “Cyberspace Capacities in the Post-American Era” from a series of the preliminary meetings of the 2nd International Conference on “the Decline of the United States” and said: “This issue is based on the fundamental question that given the characteristics of cyberspace, what governance view or theory we can raise in the post-American cyberspace; it should be noted that governance is one of the most important features of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and independence”.

Realization of the decline of the United States in cyberspace requires the development of the humanities and Islamic sciences

Emphasizing that cyberspace is not part of the essence of the United States and accordingly, the decline of the United States in this space is also possible, Hujjat al-Islam Norouzi continued: “The belief that cyberspace is one of the intrinsic coordinates of the United States is not correct. There is also cyberspace in the post-American world. The belief that this space and other products belong to the United States is not compatible with Islamic and cultural views and stems from the liberal view that has penetrated in the United States.”

Emphasizing that with the help of Islamic religious teachings and theorizing them in cyberspace, we can have an effective presence in this space, and will be able to introduce the Islamic values, he added: “Other societies also try to transmit their message, but the superior message will win a victory and we believe that the supreme message in this field is the message of Islam; If this theory wants to put an end to the disorder, it should realize human development so that all human beings accept it (this theory), and this requires great jihad (work) and the rationality of this message will be proved with great effort.”

Hujjat al-Islam Norouzi held that among the important requirements in mastering and promoting the values ​​of the post-American era in cyberspace are broadening the knowledge; mastering Islamic humanities, and introducing its civilized propositions and said: “These propositions should be extracted from the ideas, and then turned into a lifestyle. In the statement of the second Phase of the Revolution, serious attention has been paid to the development of science and lifestyle.”

Hujjat al-Islam Norouzi, the faculty member of Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (RA), stated that Islamic models and humanities based on these teachings are a tool to introduce the theory of governance in cyberspace.

“The decline of America is gradual, the most important crisis for America first is the idea itself, and then it expands into the humanities and cyberspace” He remarked.

Referring to the history of the decline of the United States, Hujjat al-Islam Norouzi said: “The decline has been discussed since the 1960s, but we believe the West has survived on the cyberspace, psychological warfare and blackmail in the media. Signs of a theoretical decline are that over 20 years, the West in general and the United States in particular, specifically after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, have lost the power to resolve the problems”.

Discourse Building for Realization of the Theory of Governance in Cyberspace

Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Norouzi spoke about the necessity and importance of discourse building for realization of the theory of governance in cyberspace and added: “in order to move towards the theory of governance in cyberspace, we need to build discourse. Discourse building causes that governments with different ideas, especially with different society and people, achieve a consensus about security.

Referring to the formation of the theory of governance in Iran, upon the Islamic Revolution, he added: “The theory of governance first emerged in our real world simultaneous with the emergence of the Islamic Revolution, and today, with over more than four decades since its emergence, it has advanced step by step; although it lacked the required technology in its first day, it was able to overcome the obstacles due to the superiority of its message, and we believe that this can be achieved in cyberspace as well.”

Hujjat al-Islam Norouzi, stressing that the core of the theory of governance is Islam, and referring to its power to create consensus, he maintained: “This theory eventually goes to the camp of the oppressed against the arrogant and has now won its supporters around the world. In Latin America, for example, it has many fans, which shows the strong influence of this message; and it will act as a platform to move towards governance in real space”.

He said that strategies appropriate to the conditions and requirements of the struggle in cyberspace should be adopted in order to realize the theory of governance, adding: “Our first strategy in this space is asymmetric warfare, which requires achieving independence in the hardware dimension. The other dimension is the software dimension meaning that we are smartly playing on the same field. One dimension of this smartness is the precise identification of gaps, and the other dimension is the rationality of the message. In this space, by using rationality and asymmetric warfare, we will achieve what we want in cyberspace, i.e. this space will be designed by ourselves and our message will be unique and novel. The requirement for emergence of our unique message in this space is to turn the ideas into science, and science into a lifestyle.

The 2nd International Conference on “the Decline of the United States: The Post-American World” will be held on November 2, 2021, by Imam Hussein Comprehensive University and the Secretariat of the Expediency Discernment Council, in cooperation with the universities and research institutes.

For more information, interested parties may see the conference website at www.usdecline.ir and the virtual pages of the conference secretariat on social media at @usdecline.