Insights of Pakistan, Iran and the Caucasus Studies

The Language of Liberation: A Postcolonial Discourse Analysis of Khomeinism as an Ideological Framework against Western Domination

2026-02-28T14:27:27+00:00

The language of liberation operates as both a moral code and a communicative weapon in revolutionary movements, shaping consciousness and constructing a counter-narrative against domination. This study undertakes a postcolonial discourse analysis of Khomeinism as an ideological framework that dismantles Western cultural hegemony through linguistic, theological, and political expressions. Imam Khomeini’s discourse fuses Quranic morality with anti-imperial rhetoric, positioning Islam as a system of intellectual emancipation and resistance to Western arrogance. Drawing upon his speech broadcast on Radio Tehran on March 21, 1980, titled “We Shall Confront the World with Our Ideology”, this paper examines how Imam Khomeini transformed political language into a revolutionary mechanism for civilisational defiance. Hence, research questions focus on; a) how Imam Khomeini’s discourse challenges Western conceptual superiority; b) how linguistic structures reflect decolonial consciousness; and c) how ideological framing produces collective identity against imperial narratives. Theoretically, this study applies Edward Said’s Orientalism to decode colonial representation and integrates Norman Fairclough’s Discourse and Ideology to interpret Imam Khomeini’s rhetorical strategies and power construction. Complementary tools from conversation analysis explore tone, rhythm and religious invocations as instruments of persuasion.

Findings indicate that Imam Khomeini’s discourse establishes an enduring linguistic order of resistance in which divine sovereignty replaced Western modernity as the supreme reference of legitimacy. His use of language redefines power as moral authority, transforming political communication into a theology of liberation that continues to challenge colonial epistemes and Western narratives of civilisation.

From Pledges to Practice: The Political Economy of Delayed Climate Finance and Its Consequences for the Global South

2026-02-28T14:37:37+00:00

The widening gap between climate finance pledges and actual disbursements, focusing on the political and economic forces that hinder delivery. While developed nations committed to mobilising $100 billion annually under the Paris Agreement, the target was met only after delay and largely through loans rather than grants, with adaptation finance falling far short of rising needs. Drawing on panel data from the OECD, UNFCCC and the Green Climate Fund, alongside case studies of the $100 billion pledge and post-COP29 negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal, the research finds that domestic fiscal pressures, fossil fuel lobbies, weak enforcement mechanisms and geopolitical rivalries shape funding patterns. Strategic delays, preference for mitigation over adaptation, and reliance on private capital deepen inequalities between the Global North and South. The paper argues that without stronger accountability and grant-based support, trust in global climate governance will continue to erode.

Rural Health Inequality: A Case Study of Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Herbal Medicine in South Punjab

2026-04-08T11:28:59+00:00

Rural health inequality in Pakistan remains structurally embedded, with South Punjab experiencing limited access to formal healthcare infrastructure, workforce shortages and uneven service delivery. This study addresses the governance and accessibility problem arising from reliance on informal and traditional medical systems, particularly ancient Persian and modern Iranian herbal medicine, in underserved rural contexts. It advances two research questions, first how herbal medical systems are positioned within Pakistan’s broader health framework, and second how these practices function within the socio economic and cultural landscape of South Punjab. Empirical evidence from interviews with experts (N=5) and their patients (N=20), where each expert accounts for five patients trained through apprenticeship-based learning, indicates strong socio-cultural acceptance driven by affordability, historical continuity and perceived therapeutic effectiveness, alongside concerns regarding standardisation and clinical validation. Recent literature between 2020 and 2026 supports this trend, including Hamid Reza Nasr in Traditional Persian Medicine and Healing (2021), Ali Abbas Rizvi in Herbal Traditions in South Asia (2023) and Sara Ahmed Khan in Rural Health Systems in Pakistan (2025), each emphasising the resilience of herbal systems under constrained health infrastructures. The findings demonstrate that herbal medicine in South Punjab operates as a compensatory healthcare mechanism within a structurally unequal system, sustaining access while remaining outside formal regulatory integration.