Harvard Government 20 Week 7 Handout 2

Government 20, Week 7, Lecture 2: Third World Revolutions and the Case of Iran I. Third World Revolutions (Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua): A Challenge to Skocpol? II. Explaining Third World Revolutions A. Key Conditions 1. Broad multi-class opposition coalitions: the role of ideology 2. Weak states 3. Permissive International Context B. Why Sultanistic Regimes are Vulnerable to Revolution 1. Weak states 2. Hard to Reform 3. External dependence III. The Iranian Case A. The Rise of the Pahlavi Dynasty 1. Shah Reza (1925-41) 2. The 1953 Coup and the Dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza 3. 1960s-70s: relative stability and prosperity B. Why the Iranian Regime was Vulnerable to Revolution 1. External Dependence on U.S. 2. Sultanistic Regime 3. Sources of Opposition Strength a) Bazaars b) Clerics/Networks of Mosques c) Culture (Shia Islam)? d) Leadership (Khomeini)? C. The Triggers of Opposition Protest a) International Context: Carter and U.S. Human Rights Policy b) Economic downturn, 1976-78 c) Alienation of key societal groups D. The Revolutionary Overthrow a) Mass protest, 1977-78 b) The Shah’s departure and state collapse E. The Revolutionary Regime a) Khomeini and the fundamentalists win the power struggle b) The new constitution: a theocratic regime 1. Guardian Council 2. Faqih c) An Islamic state: legal and social changes d) Export of the revolution F. Regime Survival, 1980s-2007

Key Terms Shia Islam Sultanistic regimes Fulgencio Batista (Cuba) Rafael Trujillo (Dominican Republic) Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire) Francois (father) and Jean-Claude (son) Duvalier (Haiti) Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines) Shah Reza Khan (1925-1941) and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979) The National Front/Mohammad Mosaddeq SAVAK Imam Hussein/Yazid Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Mehdi Bazargan Revolutionary Guard Guardian Council Faqih Mohammad Khatami Mahmoud Ahmadinejad