Theocratic Secular Totalitarianism Business Countries. General Case

¶ … Theocratic Secular Totalitarianism business countries. General Case Study Guidelines instructor: Simply answering questions part case; questions clues important concepts facts.

There can rarely be any compromise between secular and theocratic institutions in a state promoting a totalitarian ideology. A theocracy is a political system present in a country where religious leaders are in charge of imposing laws and legislations that are in accordance with religious thought. A country that is controlled by religious leaders is related to as being an example of theocratic totalitarianism. A country that is controlled by military and bureaucratic leaders is related to as being an example of secular totalitarianism. A political system based on theocratic totalitarianism involves the military being in charge of the government and of decisions that it believed to be for the country's best interest.

Iran and a large part of Afghanistan stand as an example concerning theocratic totalitarianism, taking into account that the two countries are controlled by pro-theocracy individuals. Communism is an interesting form of secular totalitarianism, as it "does not differentiate between the economic and political bases of the government." (Sharan 190) People wanting to engage in business enterprises in either a theocratic system or in a secular one are likely to encounter serious problems as long as they do not cooperate with ideologies largely promoted in countries they want to invest in.

The theocratic legal system imposes law that is in accordance with religious teaching in an attempt to have individuals in a country concentrated on acknowledging the importance of religious values in the respective area. Islamic law stands as one of the best examples concerning the theocratic legal system and it is based on the Koran. "Islamic law was initially a guiding factor for ethical behavior, but subsequently it was extended to commercial transactions." (Sharan 191) A bank working in agreement with Islamic law cannot demand interest on loans it provides and does not provide interest on deposits it receives. This means that such a system is largely in discordance with how society, as a whole, works. This is why it is difficult and practically impossible for outside banks to get involved in countries that support Islamic law, taking into account that such institutions would have to change everything about what they are in order to do so. International banks are generally reluctant to work in countries that have adopted Islamic law (Sharan 191).

When dealing with totalitarian regimes, companies have the advantage that they are not going to be provided with opposition from rival political parties, as there is only one dominant political party in a totalitarian regime. However, investing in a country that is controlled by the military is in some cases likely to lead to an investor having to pay bribes to government officials in order to be able to operate. "Refusal to pay could result in loss of market access or even forfeiture of investment in the country." (Aswathappa 130)

Getting involved in business enterprises with either a theocratic or a secular regime is very risky. Contract laws tend to be vague in totalitarian countries and individuals who control affairs are practically provided with the authority to interpret particular laws so as for them to profit from any business that someone would want to do within their borders. Even with the fact that totalitarian governments have expressed more liberal attitudes in recent years, it is still difficult for companies to operate in these countries because corruption is a significant problem in most of them.

Numerous theocratic and secular countries fail to respect human rights and the fact that some companies invest in these countries practically supports their leaders to go through with expressing little to no interest with regard to the human rights agenda. While most would be inclined to think that it would be absurd to invest in a country that supports a totalitarian government, the reality is that matters are much more complex. A political system is not necessarily the only thing influencing a company's chances to have success. "A country's tax system, policy toward foreign and domestic investment, political stability, judiciary" (Aswathappa 131) are just some of the elements that are essential when discussing a company's chances to succeed in a given country.