Long one of the largest, most populated and most powerful states in the Middle East, Iran is a natural potential hegemon for the region, and indeed has enjoyed that title for centuries on end over its 2500-year-plus history.
Its most recent attempts have come under the revolutionary banner of the Islamic Republic, established in 1979. The theocratic regime has grown brittle over time, but retains every bit of the anti-American and anti-Western virulence upon which it was founded.
Prior to that, though, Iran was first a constitutional and then an absolute monarchy under the Pahlavi Dynasty. For about 25 years, with the Cold War in full swing, the Shah adopted a very aggressive and highly authoritarian pro-U.S. approach.
In some ways, then, the Shah and the Ayatollahs were two sides of the same coin, with their attitudes towards America being Iran’s fulcrum. How and why did the coin flip? And can it ever flip back again in the foreseeable future?
Thumbnail photo by Akbar Nemati on Unsplash
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