The Iranian Revolution: Its Global Impact

by John L. Esposito (Editor)

"A wonderfully concise yet complete survey of the background and status of Islamic revivalism in all of its various forms in each region."—SAIS Review
"A rich and thoughtful study of one of the most significant events of recent times."—School of Oriental and African Studies BulletinMarking the tenth anniversary of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s triumphant return to the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1989 proved a benchmark year in Iran’s history, with the condemnation of author Salman Rushdie to execution, the denunciation or Iranian liberals and the West, the removal of Khomeini’s chosen successor, and the death of Khomeini himself.



John L. Esposito introduces The Iranian Revolution with an explanation of why the present is a turning point for Iran. He isolates the export of Islamic revolution as central to the Republic’s character. A concise description of the complexities of that issue is followed by a discussion of its effects within and outside Iran, with the majority of the collection then devoted to insightful analyses of the Republic’s impact throughout the Islamic world.



International experts from Iran, Europe, Africa, and the United States assess worldwide impact of the Iranian Revolution on other Muslim societies and give us a remarkable analysis of the status of Islamic revivalism in a far-flung array of Islamic statues and societies—Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, Turkey, the USSR, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Iraq.



The book owes its quality not only to the currency of its subject matter but also to its distinguished contributors, who address such issues as the failure of the Iranian revolution to replicate itself in other countries and the extent to which Iran’s experience has shaped the politics, economics, and cultures of other countries.



Sponsors of the book and of the 1989 conference that inspired it are the Middle East Institute, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Royal Institute of International Affairs.



This objective and thought-provoking assessment of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s success to date in implementing its objectives, as well as its prospects for the future, makes timely reading for anyone seeking an understanding of the revolution’s impact.Contents
Part I. Iran
1. Introduction, by John L. Esposito and James P. Piscatori
2. The Iranian A Ten-Year Perspective, by John L. Esposito
3. Iran’s Export of the Politics, Ends, and Means, by R. K. Ramazani
4. Iranian Ideology and The Cultural Export of Revolution, by Farhang Rajaee
Part II. The Middle East
5. Revolutionary Threats and Regime Responses, by Philip Robins
6. The Impact of the Iranian Revolution on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States, by David E. Long
7. The Internal Conflict and the Iranian Connection, by Augustus Richard Norton
8. The Impact of the Iranian Revolution on Egypt, by Shahrough Akhavi
9. Tunisia and Responses to the Islamic Impulse, by Lisa Anderson
Part III. Southwest Asia and Central Asia
10. The Mujahidin and the Future of Afghanistan, by Olivier Roy
11. Soviet Central Does Moscow Fear Iranian Influence? by Martha Brill Olcott
Part Southeast Asia
12. Malaysian and Indonesian Islamic Movements and the Iranian Connection, by Fred R. von der Mehden
13. The Iranian Revolution and the Muslims in the Philippines, by Cesar Adib Majul
Part V. Africa
14. Islamization in the Sudan and the Iranian Revolution, by John O. Voll
15. Islamic Revivalism in Homegrown or Externally Induced? by Ibrahim A. Gambari
16. The Global Impact of the Iranian A Policy Perspective, by John L. Esposito and James P. PiscatoriJohn L. Esposito is director of the Center for International Studies and professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross.

Genres: Middle East

354 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

About the author

He is a professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is also the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal center for Muslim-Christian understanding at Georgetown University.

Esposito was raised a Roman Catholic in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, and spent a decade in a Catholic monastery. After taking his first degree he worked as a management consultant and high-school teacher. He then studied and received a masters in theology at St. John's University. He earned a PhD at Temple University, Pennsylvania in 1974, studying Islam and held post doc appointments at Harvard and Oxford. He is well-known as a promoter of strong ties between Muslims and Christians and has challenged the Vatican to make greater efforts to encourage such ties.

A specialist in Islam, political Islam, and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia, Dr. Esposito serves as a consultant to the Department of State as well as multinational corporations, governments, universities, and the media worldwide. In 2005, Professor Esposito won the American Academy of Religion's prestigious Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. This award honors a scholar who has been exemplary in promoting the public understanding of religion. A prolific writer, Professor Esposito is the author of over 25 books, including What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, and Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, and The Oxford Dictionary of Islam.