Abstract:
The present study attempts to analyze Iraq war against Iran based on Parsons' subsystems. The main question aims at finding the social positive/negative functions of the war. According to the studies, the first effect of the war was damaging behavioral organism subsystem so that it couldn't realize its functions. Subsequently, the chaos spread to the personality subsystem. Except for the qualitative and the quantitative development of the defense industries, the war caused failure in most purposes of the first development plan drawn up the behavioral organism subsystem. To create unity and cohesion in the society and based on the specific necessities of wartime, the social subsystem ratified the laws tending to be supportive and economic, though it was not so successful. Eventually, the cultural subsystem which was influenced by the war could revive different values in various eras of wartimes and spread them to the society. It could also issue the necessary orders to other social subsystems so that they could confront the problem relating to the war. At the end of the war this subsystem relatively lost its effectiveness.
Machine summary:
The present paper firstly introduces the sociological reasons of Iraq-Iran war, then investigates the war consequences based on its developmental outcomes according to parsons' subsystems theory in which Iran's the first development plan is explained.
Its major goals included human development, reducing dependence on oil exports, emphasis on agriculture, increasing investment, increasing gross domestic product, improving situation of the oppressed and underprivileged social classes, promoting justice and social welfare and fighting unemployment, preventing emigration from villages to cities in order to prevent sprawling of big cities, realizing import substitution policy as well as self-sufficiency in economy and defense.
With regard to the realization of predicted rise in investment and growth in gross domestic product during the First Economic Development Plan, it should be said that Iran’s foreign exchange revenues were largely reduced as a result of reduction in export and international oil prices.
In view of the above facts, political system in Iran failed to implement the First Economic Development Plan due to war-related problems and apart from qualitative and quantitative development of defense industries, which was in line with import substitution policy, most projected goals of the plan were not attained.
As it was mentioned, military costs largely increased during the war and the oil exports and revenues got greatly slumped during the concluding years of the First Economic Development Plan and thus, the country was encountering shortages in terms of investment and gross domestic product.