Iran: Dictatorship and Development

Despite her many problems, Iran is often regarded as one of the rising industrial capitalist nations whose prospects seem bright. But is her future assured and stable? For instance, by 2000 Iran will no longer have the oil to export — or to bargain with. Fred Halliday, whose punchy, informative and critical book constitutes a timely addition to the debate on Iran, proffers some surprising conclusions. Bringing together social, political and economic factors, he provides for the layman a rigorous and readable analysis of this harsh and divided country—the State today; its historical origins; its economic policies; its instruments of repression; the opposition; and the future of the régime. One thing is certain, says the author; ‘If Iran remains in political and cultural terms anything like what it was in the 1970s then it will remain a brutal, philistine society, marked by extreme inequalities. Such a society will have nothing great and little civilized about it.’