The decision to pursue this study was driven by two central questions regarding the nature of political development in Iran. The more obvious question revolved around what many considered the failure of political development in Iran during the 20th century, and in particular the inability of its leaders to provide a sustainable political framework for economic growth. While Iranians were not short on opinions, there seemed to be a scarcity of significant, well thought out arguments. This reflected, it seemed, an enthusiasm for providing solutions to an ill-defined problem.

Indeed, it became quite clear, that few had in fact reflected on the precise nature of the problem. This drew attention to the other central question of the study, the apparent inability of standard analyses to define the problem. The consequence of this was that many Western analyses (and it must not be forgotten that 80% of social science literature is produced in the West) tended to quarantine Iran in a category all its own, pursuing a wholly unsatisfactory and somewhat illogical line, that if the reality did not fit the theory, then there must be something wrong with the reality. This has led to a whole range of curious theories describing modern Iran, as post-modern, post-traditional, or quasi- something, which tends to cloud rather than illuminate the problem.

This study therefore begins by deconstructing some basic (Western) assumptions about the nature of social and political development, in order to provide the intellectual space in which a more fruitful discussion can take place. It argues that a more nuanced and less rigid application of Western theories of development, in particular the role of religion and secularism, would resonate more obviously with the Iranian example, while at the same time, it is important to recognise that conceptions of development within Iran are at present contested and open to debate and discussion. Within this highly fluid environment, the study aims to show that a working synthesis between Islam and democracy is indeed possible, and it draws as far as possible on the writings of important Iranian thinkers as well as the dynamic press corps, which until recently, acted as a vital conduit between the intellectual elite and the increasingly politically aware populace. While focusing on the dynamic of ideas, the study also aimed to show the structural determinants and obstacles to change, arguing that while much had been achieved, there was still a considerable amount to do.


Dr Ali M. Ansari

In sum, this study represents an interpretation of political development in modern Iran, placing it both within a theoretical and historical context. It is sure to be one of many, and it is hoped that this contribution, will in the least, help to stimulate serious debate and discussion about a country, whose political future, is a matter of interest to us all.

Dr Ali M Ansari
CMEIS – University of Durham
Associate Fellow – Middle East Program, Chatham House
Ali.Ansari@durham.ac.uk

The book ''Iran, Islam & Democracy - The Politics Of Managing Change'' can be ordered at all good book stores
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direct from the distributor ‘Plymbridge’ at -
(t): 01752 202 301
(f): 01752 202 333
E-Mail:orders@plymbridge.com

Answer to History: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1980), Stein & Day (IBSN 0812827555). Memoirs of Iran’s last emperor written in exile and completed just days before he died on July 27, 1980.

Answer To History - Front Cover

Creation: Gore Vidal (1981), Abacus (ISBN 0349104751). A historical novel set in ancient Persia.

The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution, Amir Taheri(1987). An excellent biography on Ayatollah Khomeini and his rise to power.

The Blindfold Horse: Shusha Guppy (1988), Heinemann Ltd (ISBN 0434308501). A magical book by a well-known singer and writer now living in London recreating the lost world of her childhood in Persia before the oil boom and the eventual overthrow of the Shah.

The Shah and I: Alinaghi Alikhani (1991), I.B. Tauris (ISBN 1850433402). The Confidential Diary of Assadollah Alam, the late Shah’s most trusted friend and political confidant, 1969-1977.

Crowning Anguish: Translated and edited by Abbas Amanat (1993), Mage (ISBN 0934211361). Memoirs of Taj Al-Saltana, a Persian princess from the Harem to Modernity.

My Uncle Napoleon: Iraj Pezeshkzad (1996), Mage (0934211485). Translated from the Persian by Dick Davis. First published in the early 1970s, the novel became an all-time bestseller in Iran. In 1976 it was turned into a popular television series. Set in a garden in Tehran in the early 1940s it is a rich, comic and brilliant satire lampooning the widespread Iranian belief that the British are responsible for events that occur in Iran.

Layla and Majnun: Dr Collin Turner (1997), Blake Publishing Ltd (ISBN 1857821610). An original translation of Nezami’s classical love story of 12th century Persia that inspired song-writer Eric Clapton to create his most spiritually uplifting song, LAYLA.

Eric Clapton, inspired by Layla And Majnun

Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah: Cyrus Ghani (1998), I.B. Tauris (ISBN 1860642586). A detailed historical account of the period from the 1919 Agreement with Britain, instigated by Lord Curzon, to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1926.

Life and Art, the new Iranian Cinema: edited by Rose Issa and Sheila Whitaker (1999), National Film Theatre (ISBN 0851707750). An interesting celebration of Iranian cinema whose artistic vibrancy has become widely hailed throughout the world.

Life And Art - Front Cover

Letters from Tehran: Sir Reader Bullard (1991), I.B. Tauris (ISBN 1850432406). A lively and entertaining memoir of the Second World War written by a shrewd observer of the politics and society of Iran at a turning-point in the history of a nation.

By James Buchan
The Harvill Press £10.99 pp 343*

Not since James Clavell’s Whirlwind has a novel so evocatively portrayed an ancient civilisation smashed to pieces. A Good Place to Die is a brilliant thriller by James Buchan who was a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times. The story begins in the spring of 1974 when 18-year-old John Pitt leaves England and travels to Iran. In Isfahan, while posing as an English teacher, he meets and falls in love with one of his pupils, Shirin Farameh, the daughter of a high-ranking general in the Shah’s Imperial Air Force. This novel is set against the backdrop of Iran’s tormented history, its poetry and despotism, violence and religious fanaticism. From the glittering salons of a crumbling monarchy to the execution-yards of the Evin prison and the bloody battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, John stumbles through history, searching for his beautiful Persian wife.


James Buchan / Front Cover

It was during the course of researching material for a novel on Shiraz that I realised the wealth of information available to both British and Iranian writers and researchers in the UK. The modern British Library behind St. Pancras station is a wonderful place to start especially if you visit the India Office Library and Records room where there are hundreds of volumes of declassified government papers. Sitting behind a comfortable desk under a wall covered by huge oil portraits of the Qajar shahs one can request and read the original ‘Secret Files’ on Persia going back three hundred years.

A limited collection of diaries and photographs taken by the various consuls, telegraph engineers, missionaries, and political officers posted in Tehran, Mashad, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz and Bushire gives an authentic portrait of British influence in Persia. I was particularly intrigued by a ‘Blue Book’ prepared in 1912 in which the brief biographies of fifty or more personalities in Shiraz were meticulously put together. In order to gain access one needs to become a member of the British Library. The library at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) is also another place rich on books about Iran and is open to visitor’s six days a week. Often lectures by prominent scholars and former diplomats are held in the university hall such as Sir Denis Wright’s talk on the British in Qajar Persia held last September.

Other material sources for researchers can be found at the Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office Printed Library, the Bodleian Library, the Royal Asiatic Society, and the Public Record Office. The Middle East Centre at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, is an ideal place to view the private papers of Christopher Sykes and Sir Percy Cox. For those interested in British military operations in Southwestern Persia 1914-1918 I recommend the archives of the Imperial War Museum near Elephant and Castle tube. At Cambridge University one can access the tapes and transcripts of Habib Lajevardi’s Iranian Oral History Project begun at Harvard in 1981. The project provides scholars studying the contemporary political history of Iran with primary source material consisting of personal accounts of individuals who either played major roles in contemporary political events and decisions from the 1920s-1970 or witnessed events from close range. Particularly helpful members of staff at the Iranian Library (funded entirely by Iranian exiles) on Crown Street in Acton will guide you through hundreds of mostly Farsi books on Iran.

For those interested in reviewing the press during the last years of the Shah’s regime copies of the Etela’at newspapers are a handy reference. In recent years a few Iranian foundations outside Iran have been active in promoting research and cultural activities. The Iran Heritage Foundation, is a non-political UK-registered charity founded in 1995, in response to cuts in public funds related to the preservation of the history, languages and cultures of Iran.

The objectives of the Foundation (see http:\www.iranheritage.com) are pursued by means of encouraging and supporting research, publication, and diverse activities of cultural or scholarly merit in a variety of related fields. In recent years many books have been published by Tauris publications which in itself are a source of information. Another recently established organisation is the Mihan Foundation, a non-political organisation founded by the last Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi which aims to restore Iran’s culturally rich image.

At The Institute of Isma'ili studies in London. An authority on Isma'ili studies, Dr. Daftary has written several acclaimed books in this field of Islamic Studies, including The ISMA'ILIS THEIR HISTORY AND DOCTRINES and THE ASSASSIN LEGENDS: MYTHS OF ISMA'ILIS, and his edited Medieval ISMA'ILI HISTORY AND THOUGHT. He is also a regular contributor to the ENCYCLOPEDIA IRANICA, of which he is consulting Editor, and the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM.

Dr. Daftray spoke to BIBN about his future plans.

BIBN) why do you think more Iranians are not writing in English?

FD) Actually I am not really the only one writing in English, there are quite a few others. In fact I know of several Iranians who are active in famous American universities, and they write in English. Perhaps the main reason is that most in Iranians authors completed their education in Iran. For that reason they could feel more comfortable using Farsi rather than English. I am sure in the future we will have an increasing number of Iranian scholars writing in English.

BIBN) Do you target a specific audience when you write?

FD) it depends on the specific work I am writing, but in general I target both the scholarly community, as well as a broad audience that may be interested in the subject matter.

BIBN) how did you get into writing?

FD) Writing has been my life for a long time. I received my Ph.D. degree in economics from the university of California received in Berkeley in 1971, but Islamic, and specially Isma'ili history, was, even at that time, my hobby. It gradually took over and became my main focus of attention, especially after the Islamic revolution. And I am currently affiliated to the Institute of Isma'ili studies in London where I head the department of academic research and publications.

We have a very important Postgraduate program in Islamic studies and humanities. I also design and manage a very extensively program of research and publication.

BIBN) any religion, particularly Islam, is a very sensitive issue to write about. Being an Islamic history writer, how do you work around sensitive and controversial issues?

FD) we haven't encountered any of these problems, maybe because of our approach. We try to avoid narrow sectarian outlooks. In fact, we look at Islam not only as a religion, but also as one of the great civilisations of the world, with diversity of expression and cultures. We believe that the Sunnis and the Shias, and the various subgroups of each of these two main divisions have made important contributions to Islam. Over time as well as the contribution s of not only the Arabs but also the Iranians, Indians, Africans and so on. Therefore we try to look at Islam Globally and in term of a multi-faceted civilisation.

BIBN) Do you often use non-Islamic sources as a basis for your research and judgements?

FD) In some cases, yes. As you may know, Europeans and Christians in general remained quite ignorant of Islam and its internal divisions until the late Middle Ages. In fact in Assassin Legends, I look at a number of Medieval Western source and analyse their perceptions of Islam and the Isma'ili community in particular. On that basis, I was able to indicate that a number of legends were fabricated and transmitted by the crusaders and their Western chronicles.



BIBN) how can your books help the modern society?

FD) what we try to do as scholars falls into two categories; we either come up with new insights on the basis of new sources, or else we try to come up with new interpretations based on the known sources. History really has a lot to teach us, especially when we at least aim to have a correct reading of it and the lessons that can be learnt from parts expressions. If it is really absorbed properly, history can serve as a model for the future generations to avoid making the same errors. It also helps us to have a much better understanding of the positions of the various religious groups, to the extent that one may even say the differences between the various communities (especially within Islam) are not really as pronounced as some of the more extremist factions of these communities would like us to believe.

BIBN) why do you think you are good at your job?

FD) I enjoy may job and I have trained for it. I think when you accept a responsibility or a project you should really be properly skilled and qualified. You should have a command of the required languages and be familiar with methodologies and literature on the subject.

BIBN) As a scholar you must be dedicated to your career. But can you make a decent living?

FD) Scholars are, unfortunately, overworked and underpaid. Scholars are supposedly so much in love with their work that they need not be paid for it. Of course one could say that this principle can apply to other professions, and there is no reason why a scholar should be paid less than others who are practising other professions. On the whole I manage but it could be better.

BIBN) who do you think is at fault? Is it society in general, or perhaps scholars who do not market their expertise better?

FD) I think both. To some extend, of course, we are dealing with a simple supply and demand situation. Some of these scholars actually represent many years of investment in the skills and human resources and the market in general, it seems, undervalues the contributions of the scholars.

BIBN) what is your plan for the future?

FD) My plan for the future is to continue here at the Institute, at least for a while. We are dealing with a large number of exciting new projects. Already this year we have launched a new Isma'ili text and translations series. We shall edit, translate and publish a number of major Isma'ili texts which are in Arabic or Persian. We have an oral history project, whose aim is capture the oral traditions of the various Isma'ili communications in Syria, Iran, central Asia and so on. And I still have plans for at least three or four more books, including a biography of Hassan Sabah. So I should be busy for at least the next few years.

BIBN) why do you think the Isma'ili community, as a small sect, are so successful?

FD) the Isma'ilis actually represent one of the most important Shia Muslim communities. They are scattered in over 25 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americans. They are extremely dedicated to their community. For an Isma'ilis religion is identity, because although most Isma'ilis have changed passports, countries and nationalities several times, what remains unchanged is membership of the Isma'ili community. Furthermore, they have a very progressive leadership. For these reasons, they participate in various activities and so voluntary work (that is one of the most important living traditions of the Isma'ilis today. Of course they are all highly educated and fairly well off, so they give up their time and money for the betterment of the community, which I turn benefits the individual community members.

BIBN) how have the Isma'ilis managed to become modernised without being labelled Westernised?

FD) I would say that it was through retaining certain essential Islamic institutions, notably the central institution of the Imamat, and by laying a great deal of emphasise on education, especially modern secular education. His Highness the Aga Khan the spiritual leader of the Isma'ilis, has always emphasised modern education, the acquisition of skills and so on. For instance, even in non-English speaking Isma'ili communities they all have to learn English, because it is the international business and scientific language of the day.

BIBN) you have contributed a great deal to Isma'ili history. Why do you think no one else had done this before?

FD) I think its because this has always been a very select field where not too many people have active. In fact modern scholarship in this filed only really started in the 1930s with studies of Russian orientalists, especially Vladinir Ivanow, and then after him Henry Corbin, a French scholar. In more recent times we have had wilferd Madelung of Oxford University and so on, but in general, unfortunately, the Isma'ilis themselves have not been very active in this field. Only now, perhaps because of the activities of our Institute, the younger generation of Isma'ili scholars are beginning to appear, one of the reasons, perhaps, is that one has to understand Arabic, Persian and at least one or two European languages. The skills required have been difficult and the rewards have not perhaps been proportional to the effort.

BIBN) In order to become a successful scholar, would you suggest that one should find a subject that has not been studied before?

FD) Exactly. In fact, for that reason the field of Isma'ili studies does represent a very fertile ground for research. There are many obscure periods and issues that need to be clarified and there is enough material for many more scholars to make original contributions here.

BIBN) what other similar fields do you think there are that scholars could perhaps look towards?

FD) another important area is the area of esoteric traditions in Islam and inters relations between various groups who adhere to esotericism. This includes the various Shia communities as well as the various Sufi communities, in particular, the inner-relations between Sufi teachings and Isma'ili traditions.