The Islamic Republic and the World

Challenging the World

To understand Iran’s Revolution, you need to know some of its history and how its social organization differs from Western cultures which are based on the capitalist model. The West determines social relationships based on economic, not political, considerations. This creates rapid, uneven social change. Iran’s theoretical basis is the Islamic “social organizational model,” born from its 1979 revolution. This anti-Western philosophy advocates basing governance and social structure on Islamic law dating back to the seventh century. It has been tempered – on and off, with varying impact – by societal and economic reform. Iran has tried to export this model with little success.

The 1940s and 1950s

Before World War II, Reza Shah, the dictatorial monarch of Persia (now Iran), played Russia and Great Britain against each other. During World War II, he initiated relations with Nazi Germany, provoking both powers to occupy his country, depose him in 1941 and replace him with his son, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. At the time, American and Russian interests challenged the hold of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) on Iran’s oil, ...