Journal of Interdisciplinary Civilizational Studies of the Islamic Revolution

Journal of Interdisciplinary Civilizational Studies of the Islamic Revolution

Intelligent Spiritual Governance in the Arena of Civilizational Confrontation: Reconceptualizing Cultural Intelligence Identity in the Discourse of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution Based on Grounded Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
(Problem and Research Gap) In the contemporary era, where civilizational confrontation and the war of narratives have replaced hardware-based conflicts, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) has become a strategic necessity for governance. Existing studies have predominantly examined cultural intelligence at the micro and organizational levels, with its application in governance and civilizational confrontation receiving less attention. (Method) This research, employing a qualitative grounded theory approach, has analyzed the statements of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution in the domains of civilization-building and cultural resistance. The findings revealed that in this context, cultural intelligence has evolved from an individual competency for adapting to multicultural environments into a macro-level capability that enables the redefinition of fundamental concepts, discursive resistance, and the engineering of social agency. Accordingly, a four-dimensional model of Intelligent Spiritual Governance was extracted, comprising: (a) the Strategic-Semantic Dimension (discourse engineering and redefinition of ideals); (b) the Behavioral-Motivational Dimension (design of agency patterns such as “Basiji”); © the Cognitive-Analytical Dimension (intelligence from the cultural battlefield and enemy analysis); and (d) the Metacognitive-Psychological Dimension (management of collective mentality and emotions), which, in dialectical interaction with symbolic capital and internal and external obstacles, advance the governance process as a collective spiritual journey and duty-oriented practice. (Conclusion) This model not only extends the conceptual boundaries of cultural intelligence from the individual level to the governance level but also provides an analytical framework for understanding the mechanisms of soft warfare and meaning production in civilizational confrontations, and can serve the project of the New Islamic Civilization.
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  • Receive Date 16 February 2026
  • Revise Date 29 April 2026
  • Accept Date 09 August 2026
  • Publish Date 23 September 2026