Iranian Studies and the Iranian Revolution
In: World politics: a quarterly journal of international relations, Volume 35, Issue 4, p. 607-630
ISSN: 1086-3338
The major cause of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 was the government's inability to satisfy the rising expectations of the Iranian people—especially following the sudden enormous increase in the price of oil in 1973. This cause fits in with the theoretical discussions of revolution by, among others, James Davies, Crane Brinton, Samuel Huntington, and David Apter. Among other contributing factors was the human rights policy of President Carter, which promoted a good deal of confusion and disharmony in U.S. policy toward Iran, encouraged the opposition, and helped to disorient the Shah. The Shah's confusion was aggravated by the shock he suffered when he first realized the extent of the opposition to his regime, and by the state of his health. The outcome of the revolution was also influenced by the Western media.