Wang Jisi, Boya Chair Professor of Peking University, Founding President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University, Affiliated Expert at iGCU, argued that Iran’s recurring turmoil cannot be understood solely through immediate military developments. Instead, its current instability is embedded in a century-long political trajectory shaped by foreign interventions, contested modernization processes, and revolutionary transformations.
He traced Iran’s post-World War II alignment with the United States, the 1953 coup that reinstated the Shah, and the ambitious yet destabilizing “White Revolution,” which fused rapid modernization with authoritarian consolidation. According to Prof. Wang, these reforms deepened social divisions and eroded the regime’s legitimacy.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, marked a structural rupture. Prof. Wang emphasized that the Islamic Republic constructed a dual system of legitimacy—rooted both in Shiite religious authority and electoral mechanisms—creating a unique political order that defies simple democratic–authoritarian binaries.
He concluded that Iran’s current behavior reflects this hybrid structure and enduring revolutionary identity, rather than short-term contingency alone.
Full article available at:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/apl53pEU4zXKI-gIroIP_A
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