Editors foreword.

Few countries at the center of the contemporary international debate have proven as willing, openly and actively, to challenge the status quo as Iran. With the resumption of its nuclear program, having been labeled as a state sponsor of terrorism, it is clear that Iran presents a potential threat to many nations. But as power broker of the Middle East, Iran also presents significant opportunities for cooperation and reconciliation. Understanding the duality of modern Iran, as both friend and foe, as human rights violator and facilitator of democratic reform and as keeper of tradition and agent of modernization, is central to understanding Iran's emerging identity and its trajectory today.

With this sixtieth anniversary edition of the Journal of International Affairs, we take a closer look at an Iran in transition--a nation that has seemingly moved into the spotlight in recent years, yet has acted on the international stage for thousands of years. Drawing on the insights of some of the foremost scholars and practitioners, this issue offers a nuanced portrait of this rising power and endeavors to fully unpack and transcend the rote issues that have dominated the mainstream discourse.

Past issues of the Journal of International Affairs have reflected a commitment to exploring the era's most salient global debates. In covering the Middle East over the past sixty years, the Journal has charted the evolution of both the region and the strategic and scholarly thinking that describes it. The first of these issues, published in 1959, examined the origins, policies and problems of the region. In a 1995 issue, "Continuity and Transformation: The Modern Middle East," the Journal examined the dynamics of conflict, privatization and other forces for change. Most recently, our 2001 issue on rogue states featured an article by Stephen Fairbanks entitled "Iran: No Easy Answers."

Today, as the Journal revisits the question of Iran, the search for answers has become ever more complicated. Yet that complication has yielded a common theme that runs through this volume: the duality of modern Iran.

Afshin Molavi expresses this duality aptly in his description of the tension between "spectacle" and "substance" in Iranian foreign and domestic policy. Ideological dogmatism and brinksmanship with the United States, he argues, has led to squandered opportunities in diplomacy. He writes, "The untold story of the Iranian revolution is the slow decline of the economy."...