Iran and Impact of Modernization

Iran: A Nation Threatened at the Seams

In attempting to understand the twentieth century history of Iran, Amin Babani's The Modernization of Iran 1921-1941 (1961) and Donald N. Wilber's Riza Shah Pahlavi: The Resurrection and Reconsideration of Iran (1975) offer excellent guide posts. Babani offers a more comprehensive account of how Iran struggled to cast off its lingering vestiges of nineteenth century values and traditions within the early decades of the twentieth century. Babani's goal is more restricted than Wilber's. Babani is interested in charting the approach and effects of modernization upon Iran. In contrast, Wilber chooses to focus upon an historical figure, Riza Shah Pahlavi, as an entry point for analyzing how Iran entered into becoming a more dominant presence in twentieth century international politics. Conjointly, Banani and Wilber offer an historical framework which helps the Westerner to understand Iran from the inside-out rather than from the biases and limitations of the prejudiced outsider position.

Banani's gift as a cultural historian is that he painstakingly discusses the variant influences which both shaped and distorted the formation of Iran. One of his major premises is that the modernization of Iran depends upon "the interaction of cultures" (Banani 1). By this, he means to suggest that Iran has been influenced by its volatile and often resistant mixing of Eastern and Western traditions. In offering a brief overview of the cyclical

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evastated that the country which he has tried so vigorously to rule for several decades is being handed over to the Russians and the British for occupational rule. Yet when he arrives in Isfahan, he tells his new host specifically "Don't fret, for worry and grief can break a person down" (Wilber 215). It is as if Wilber is indicating that Iran must follow its pseudo-disposed ruler's lead, adopting a stance of stoicism and hope for the future rather than being engulfed in the current despair over foreign occupation and rule. In Riza Shah Pahlavi Wilber charts the early life of Riza Shah Pahlavi, then sets the scene for the military and political shifts occurring within the Iranian milieu. In discussing how he approached the throne, Wilber indicates how Riza Khand's decision to resign led to Pahlavi's enthronement (Wilber 81-7). Although his military-political practices began in good faith in an attempt to maintain Iran's unity, eventually they become outrageously corrupt. After his daring act of self-crowning, Pahlavi attempted to unite Iranians by asking them to commit to "work" as a payment toward their country's future progress (Wilber 153). Yet eventually this toiling with little reward grew too taxing for the vast majo

Category: Foreign - I