From pillar of stability to rogue state, Iran's politics have been a centre of world attention and concern. With a glorious history as an empire, ethnically diverse population, and youthful inhabitants, the country has and will continue to play a critical role as a pivotal state in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Oil wealth mixes with extensive poverty to explain the strength of the state and the potential for unrest in a country that experienced two revolutions in the twentieth century. Exploring continuities and changes, this book provides the historical backdrop crucial to understanding how Iranian pride and sense of victimization combine to make its politics contentious and potentially dangerous. From the struggle between the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini to the current tension between the reformers and traditionalists, a central issue in Iranian domestic politics has long been its place in the world and relations with the West.

Exploring continuities and changes, this book provides the historical backdrop crucial to understanding how Iranian pride and sense of victimization combine to make its politics contentious and potentially dangerous.

' Eternal Iran is a sophisticated and subtle book, a seamless narrative of Iranian history and contemporary politics. A book of careful scholarship, yet accessible to a wide readership. One of the best accounts of recent years on that important and problematic country.' - Fouad Ajami, Author of The Dream Palace of the Arabs

Autorentext
Patrick Clawson is Deputy Director of Research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and senior editor of Middle East Quarterly.

Inhalt
Preface and Introduction Land and People From Empire to Nation Decline and Tumult The Boom Revolution and War Reform vs Hardline Difficulties with the Broader World Summary Maps and Bibliography