Drawing on extensive fieldwork and rare primary sources, Mehran Kamrava provides a comprehensive, accessible analysis of the formal and informal institutions through which the Iranian state exercises power. Highlighting the nuances of Iranian politics, Kamrava shows how factional politics and rentierism serve to enhance state resilience.
The book delves into the jurisprudential and ideological underpinnings of the Islamic Republic of Iran, examining the intricate connection between Islam and politics following the revolution. It caters to a diverse audience, ranging from experts and scholars to those with a general interest in Islamic studies, state-religion dynamics, and Shia jurisprudence, making it accessible on multiple levels of understanding.
In this comprehensive survey of two hundred years of Iran's political history, Mehran Kamrava examines the rise and fall of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties. He explores essential questions about how and why each dynasty came to power and why they fell, looking in particular at the domestic and... číst celé
Triumph and Despair tells the dramatic story of post-revolutionary Iran's first four decades, from its establishment in 1979 until today. The revolutionary coalition that overthrew the monarchy was at once democratic, populist and Islamic. The Islamists, and the Khomeinists in particular, were able to capitalize effectively on prevailing conditions on the ground; to frame the new republic's constitution, capture nascent institutions, and consolidate their power by eliminating opponents through a reign of terror. Once the war with Iraq was over and after the death of the new order's charismatic founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic was first by tweaking its institutional arrangements, and then by fostering economic development and post-war reconstruction. A reformist interlude then followed, reversed unceremoniously by a return of populism and a broader authoritarian retrenchment. Today Iran remains at odds with itself, its economy too deeply political toyield meaningful developmental results, its foreign relations too conflicted to allow it a productive place in the community of nations. As Iran's nationalities and its women and youth carve out spaces for themselves in the broader narrative, competing identities-religious, national and otherwise-abound. After forty years, the Islamic Republic remains a country in search of itself.
This handbook provides a cutting edge and comprehensive overview of the contemporary Persian Gulf. It includes sections on history, economic development, domestic and regional politics, security, society and culture and international relations.