People come and tell me that nationalism is a disease which led to two world wars and that we should not be concerned with countries or a people, but with the world as whole and all its peoples.

Although I agree with them, I have a different approach. I look at it this way, the world is a big place, we are from a part of it called Iran and we are Iranians. By helping our homeland and our people wherever they may be, we are making our contribution to the world. If all the people of this world help build their respective homelands, the world as a whole would benefit. If the Cubans worked to improve Cuba, the Chinese China, South Africans South Africa, we will be doing our part, by helping out Iranians and Iran. This would all make sense given that improving ones homeland isn’t at the expense of others.

The world is a big place. I sometimes feel many Iranians say something like we need to pay attention to the world and not Iran. But then it’s all talk, because they know that the world is a huge place and that they wouldn’t be able to do much, so they don’t do anything at all. It’s a form of copping out, of relinquishing yourself of your responsibilities by paying mind to something too big, and then because it’s too big, doing nothing.

True, our responsibility is to the world. Our part of the world is Iran and our people of this world are Iranians, therefore, by helping them, we are helping a segment of the world. Saying: "forget Iran and that we should help the world," and then doing nothing, is counterproductive.

This doesn’t mean that given the opportunity to help a non-Iranian, you shouldn’t do it because they aren’t Iranian. My point is, that we need to get our priorities straight.

About the author:
Pouya Alimagham is the president of the Iranian Student Alliance in America (ISAA – isaa.berkeley.edu) and is a senior at UC Berkeley studying Middle East Studies and Political Science.