The Safavid's had a good chance at becoming a Great Power

For the purposes of organization, my contentions against this resolution are going to be sort of built into my rebuttals to Pro's contentions. .. .R1) Internal Strength of the Safavid Dynasty(1) Persian NationalismPro claims that the Safavid Empire was united by an old sense of Persian nationalism, but that only applies to ethnic Persians, who mainly only live in Iran and western Afghanistan [1]. However, the Safavid Empire spreads far beyond just that [2], so it can safely be assumed that the empire was very multi-cultural, including Arabs, Armenians, Uzbeks, Jews, and Turks, to name a few of its ethnic minorities. Pro claims that some ethnic minorities in the Safavid Empire viewed themselves as Persian, but he doesn't really provide any evidence for this, and it is also counter-intuitive, seeing that those ethnic minorities were forcefully assimilated into the empire via conquest [3]. Thus, we have no reason to believe his assertion. The Safavid Empire was multi-cultural enough that Persian Nationalism wouldn't be a significant unifying factor throughout all of it. Also, on this note, Pro points out the unifying effect that Shia Islam had on the empire, but that ignores the fact that the Safavids committed lots of persecution against Sunni Muslims, Sufi Muslims, Christians, and Jews to keep it that way [4], and state-sponsored suppression has never been a good sign of political stability. (2) Weak NeighborsPro argues that the weakness of the Safavid Empire's neighbors shows its own political strength. However, this is not necessarily true. European colonial powers such as England, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were all able to survive despite the fact that they had very strong neighbors all around them (i. e. each other). This displays a much higher degree of internal stability than that of an empire which is only able to survive because its neighbors are weak. If anything, this contention only works against Pro's case. .R2) Relative Strength Among Neighboring PowersFirst of all, I would just like to point out that Pro already conceded that all of these neighboring powers are weak. .. thus, logically, being strong compared to them proves nothing. The only reason I'm addressing his points about the Safavid Empire's victories over the Ottoman Empire is because I don't agree with his assessment that the Ottoman Empire was significantly weaker than the Safavid Empire. Safavids vs. OttomansPro points out that the Safavid Empire has beaten the Ottoman Empire in a few wars, but he fails to take into consideration the fact that during most of those wars, the Ottoman Empire was simultaneously occupied fighting off the European navies in the Mediterranean, making it extremely difficult for them to win on either front. Also, in one of the most important said wars, the Safavids managed to capture Baghdad, but only a few years afterwards, the Ottoman Empire recovered Baghdad and actually ended the war in a win! [5] Additionally, the Ottoman Empire has won significant victories over the Safavid Empire, most notably being the Battle of Chaldiran [6]. In the said battle, the Ottomans easily defeated the Safavids, halting the Persians' rapid expansion and putting a dent in Safavid international reputation. Thus, the Ottoman Empire is at least equal to the Safavid Empire in terms of military prowess, if not greater. Again, the reason I am not responding to the contentions about the Safavid victories over the Uzbeks and Mughals is because Pro has already admitted (and is correct in saying) that those weren't very strong military powers to begin with, so being able to beat them is no big deal. .R3) Cultural Powerhouse of the SafavidsThis contention is irrelevant. .. Having a rich culture has very little to do with exerting influence on a global scale. The Mughals, Ottomans, and Ming Chinese all had very rich cultures as well, yet all of them fell prey to the cultural influence of the Europeans. Military, political, and economic power is what paves the way for the exertion of cultural influence, and I have already refuted most of Pro's contentions concerning those aspects of Safavid power. .With that, I hand the debate back over to Pro. Good luck, Jifpop! SOURCES[1] . http://www.britannica.com...[2] . http://en.wikipedia.org...[3] . http://ic.galegroup.com...[4] . http://www.bbc.co.uk...[5] . http://en.wikipedia.org...(1623%E2%80%931639)[6] . http://historyofislam.com...