The Pahlavi Period

Extract

Two Decades have Passed Since the Overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy, yet the upheavals of the post-revolutionary years have preoccupied scholars so much that the detailed and dispassionate analysis of Iran under its last dynasty is still in its infancy. To be sure, important events like the 1953 coup or the Islamic revolution and major issues such as oil or U.S.-Iranian relations have received the attention they deserve. But when it comes to the long years that separate moments of crisis, we know much more about the exertions of those who opposed Pahlavi rule, be they Mosaddeqists, leftists, or Islamists, than about the activities and policies of those who actually ran the country from 1925 to 1978. This asymmetry makes many an account of Pahlavi Iran an exercise in retrospective prediction, leading all too often to the tempting but logically flawed conclusion that the fall of the dynasty was foredoomed. Scholars’ preference for studying the exceptional rather than the routine is understandable, as the former is, almost by definition, more exciting than the latter.