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    The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History (PDFDrive)

    Uploaded by

    Olivia Polianskih

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History (PDFDrive)

    Uploaded by

    Olivia Polianskih
    332 views426 pages

    Original Title

    The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History ( PDFDrive )

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Copyright:

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    332 views426 pages

    The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History (PDFDrive)

    Uploaded by

    Olivia Polianskih

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 426

    EDIT ED BY

    T O U R AJ
    DAR Y AEE

    T h e O xford H andbook of
    386 T H E OX FOR D H A N DB O OK OF I R A N I A N H I S T ORY

    40 percent of the voters stayed home. The second factor, directly contributing to low
    voter turnout, was dissatisfaction with Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad’s rival in the
    second round of elections. Here, a popular belief that associated Rafsanjani with the
    established order and all its shortcomings discouraged many potential voters from
    going to the polls and persuaded others to vote for the relatively unknown
    Ahmadinejad.
    President Ahmadinejad’s tenure may be viewed in terms of his domestic and
    foreign policy. Domestically, in attempting to keep his campaign slogan of combat-
    ing nepotism and corruption he showed a degree of disregard for the expertise and
    experience of state managers and even university faculty. Under him, many experi-
    enced state managers were replaced with relatively inexperienced, but well-con-
    nected, new managers. This type of neo-nepotism soon proved disastrous, as new
    managers proved their inadequacy in dealing with, national problems. The net
    result of this policy in the economic sphere was a sharp rise in unemployment and
    inflation. His freespending policy soon sharply reduced the “oil dividend” (money
    accumulated as a result of high oil prices) and added to the country’s economic
    woes. The president’s purge of state officials was extended to universities, where
    faculty and students deemed sympathetic to the reform movement were retired or
    asked to leave. Repressive policies against independent associations., the press, and
    civil society in general were also increased. With the reform movement in disarray
    and reduced to a minority in the parliament, the new administration used less
    restraint in implementing its socially conservative politics, especially when it came
    to women and youth. In this area, the state began to use its power to implement
    moral codes without much restraint either in the parliament or by the opposition.
    In terms of foreign policy, while the office of the president in the Islamic republic
    does not have the authority to make decisions on key strategic issues, it does repre-
    sent the country in the international arena. President Khatami had used the limited
    power of his office to establish better relations with the international community,
    particularly the European Union. With no real strategic ally, Islamic Iran had
    always felt the weight of its international isolation, a problem the Khatami presiden-
    cy had tried to address. President Ahmadinejad took the opposite direction. His
    denial of the Holocaust and other activities added to Iran’s isolation. A more isolated
    Iran soon found it more difficult to deal with the United Nation’s Security Council
    regarding its position on Iran’s civilian nuclear program. The country’s isolation also
    created problems in trying to find allies in dealing with an aggressive, and at times
    threatening, Bush administration. In short, President Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy
    proved as problematic as his domestic policy, with very few achievements to point
    at. Many experts believe that had it not been for the total failure of the Bush admin-
    istration’s strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran would have been in mortal danger
    of an American attack during this period.
    As Iran approached the June 2009 presidential election, a sense of frustration
    returned to the country, and a national debate commenced over which direction to
    take. In an age identified with a new African American U.S. president who proposed
    a new domestic and foreign policy direction, finding a new direction for Iran

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