The Iranian Revolution directed by Ayatollah Khomeini presented a fundamental challenge to the existing world order. The movements called for a return to a golden past age, and were directed against Western-backed governments. Khomeini claimed divine inspiration and sought to establish a state based on Islamic precepts. Each wanted to spread his movement to wider regions. Khomeini succeeded because of circumstances unique to Iran, a nation not formally colonized, but divided into British and Russian spheres of interest. Iran thus lacked colonial bureaucratic and communications infrastructures as well as a large Western-educated middle class. Modernization policies, supported by Iran’s oil wealth, were imposed by the regime of the Pahlavi shahs. Advances resulted, but the majority of Iranians were alienated. The shah’s authoritarian rule offended the middle class; his ignoring of Islamic conventions roused religious leaders influential with the mass of the people. Favoritism to foreign investors and a few Iranian entrepreneurs angered bazaar merchants. Landholders were affronted by incomplete land reform schemes that did not much benefit the rural poor. Urban workers at first secured benefits, but then suffered from an economic slump. The military were neglected. When revolution came in 1978, the shah was without support and left Iran. Khomeini then carried through radical reform. Religious figures took over leadership and suppressed all opposition. Strict implementation of Islamic law began and women’s opportunities were restricted.

In this SLP, we will examine the rise of Islamic fundamentalism using Iran as a case study.

Read the information in the background material, look for more information, and then write a 2 to 3 pages paper answering the following question:

Why was the Iranian Islamic Revolution a reaction to Western values and influence?

SLP Assignment Expectations
In Module 5 SLP Assignment, you are expected to:

Describe the purpose of the paper and conclusion.
Answer the case assignment questions clearly and provide necessary details.
Provide a quality argument; that is, no poor sentence structure, no spelling and grammar mistakes or run-on sentences.
Provide citations to support your argument and references on a separate page. Please use APA format to provide citations and references [http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ ; http://support.trident.edu/files/Well-Written-Paper.pdf].
Answer all the case assignment questions in an essay format instead of point format. Please do not type questions in the paper.
Type and double space the paper.

SLP Reading

Northern Virginia Community College. The Iranian Revolution. http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/Events/Iran79.htm

Frank E. Smith. The Iranian Revolution. http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html

Class Analysis of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 by Satya J. Gabriel https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/iran.htm

Satya Gabriel. Class Analysis of the Iranian Revolution of 1979. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/iran.htm

Additional Reading

Decolonization: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook51.html