Khomeini's Theory of Islamic State and the Making of the Iranian Revolution

57 Pages Posted: 19 Sep 2017 Last revised: 21 Sep 2017

See all articles by Mehdi Shadmehr

Mehdi Shadmehr

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Department of Public Policy

Date Written: September 16, 2017

Abstract

The Iranian Revolution is one of the most influential events of the late twentieth century, with far-reaching consequences that still echo through the rise of Islamic state. Drawing from both primary (interviews, autobiographies, documents, and data) and secondary sources, the paper shows that Khomeini's doctrine of the Guardianship of the Jurist played a decisive role in the making of the Iranian Revolution by changing the goals and strategies of the religious opposition from reforming government policies to establishing an Islamic state. Khomeini's doctrine was first published in 1970 in his treatise, Islamic State. The paper argues that Khomeini's ideological innovation can account for the sharp contrast between the outcomes of widespread protests in the early 1960s and the late 1970s: they both shook the Pahlavi regime, but the former protests dissipated, while the latter culminated in the Iranian Revolution. Expanding the scope beyond Iran and Islam, the paper explores the role of ideological innovations in the Russian and American Revolutions, and discusses the potentially critical role of ideological innovations in democracy movements in Islamic countries.

Keywords: Iran, Revolution, Khomeini, Pahlavi Regime, Shah, Islam, Islamic State, Ideology, Russian Revolution, American Revolution, Radicalism

Suggested Citation

Shadmehr, Mehdi, Khomeini's Theory of Islamic State and the Making of the Iranian Revolution (September 16, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3037793 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3037793

Mehdi Shadmehr (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Department of Public Policy ( email )

Abernathy Hall
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3435
United States

HOME PAGE: http://mehdishadmehr.com

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