Religious regimes and prospects for liberal politics: Futures of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia

This paper interrogates Huntington's civilizational perspective in order to assess its power to explain cultural change in a non-Western context. As an alternative, it considers cultural change as issues resolutions. The paper then suggests that the nature of the national regime is one of the most important factors that shapes resolutions of issues—hence the state as one of the best predictors of the future of cultures in Islamic countries. From the values surveys carried out in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, this article extrapolates trends in values change among the publics from these countries. Key features of these trends include shifts toward liberal democracy and individualism among Iranians, toward secular politics and nationalism among Iraqis, and away from religiosity and toward support for gender equality among Saudis.