POLI 342 Lecture Notes - Ulama, Superpower, Shia Islam
Document Summary
50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, iran maintained a desire to play a significant role in the region. What changed was iran"s ability to do that and the tools it had to play. Pre-79 era, able to play a more clear role on who was the leader on the waterway issues, who was controlling the water passages. Pre-1979: superpower tension dictated that iran choose a side, iran chose the us, 1953 coup: any semblance that iran might be adopting socialist policies was confronted by a direct militarized attack from the us- Us tried to dictate the nature of iranian fp and iranian domestic politics. 70s: us involved in vietnam, us occupied in se asia, retreated focus on the me and pursuing allies in the region, brits were also withdrawing from the region. Very important for iran to occupy the position of regional power, opportunity arose b/c of retreat in superpowers.