This paper is about the revolution of 1979 in Iran and the effect it has had throughout the world. Protests that began in the fall of 1977 under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomaini eventually overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy that had been in power for fifty years. The uprising itself took just two days. The effects of the revolution, which replaced a modern, Western-friendly government with a fundamentalist Islamic government, continue to have a powerful impact on the politics of the region. Not only did it transform the nation, it also has had an ongoing influence on international relations across the globe. Iran's geographic position, as well as the shift from a government friendly to the United States to one suspicious of and opposed to Westernization, has helped make an often unstable region even more explosive.
Shaul Bakhash writes, "The Iranian Revolution in 1979 astonished the world because an opposition armed only with slogans and leaflets overthrew a ruler with formidable assets at his disposal" (9). The Pahlavi dynasty, established in 1925, ruled the country with a tight fist, a large army, and a powerful secret police. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran at the time, was focused both on taking his country boldly into the twentieth century and solidifying his grip on his people. As Bakhash observes, "Between 1963 and 1977, even as he carried out reforms, the Shah steadily reinforced the foundations of a royal autocracy" (10). However, the roots of the monarchy were not long or especially deep; the Shah had very nearly been deposed several times before, and he had only managed to keep the throne in 1953 with the help of the CIA.
Ten years later, riots threatened the dynasty. Though they did not bring the government down at the time, this was the beginning of the influence of a religious leader, an ayatollah named Ruhollah Khomaini. Although the Shah had improved the economic situation for...