Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution.

• Author: Gilbride, Joe
• Position: Book review

MODERN IRAN: ROOTS AND RESULTS OF REVOLUTION Nikki R. Keddie (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 346 pages.

In Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, Nikki Keddie examines the factors leading to the revolution of 1978-1979 in Iran and the developments that have taken place since. Citing geography, climate and culture as barriers to the historical development of a strong centralized government, Keddie asserts that what has kept Iran from the tribal and ethnic conflicts often seen in the region are its strong Shia heritage, the ubiquity of the Persian language, and a long history of Iranian identity and unity now extending over 500 years.

Leading up to the revolution, autocratic monarchical and clerical regimes were the norm in Iran despite traditions of "religious skepticism, rationalist philosophy, secularism and anticlericalism." The revolution, therefore, was a response to continually unfulfilled promises, foreign interventions, and increasingly harsh restrictions on freedoms. By appealing to an idealized version of Iranian and Muslim history and the idea that Islamic law could solve all of Iran's problems, Ayatollah Khomeini gained favor with the masses while in exile and...