The Comparison of the Russian and the Iranian Revolutions in the Writings of Two Contemporary Iranian Authors

Article describes the books of two authors, who try to compare Russian and Iranian revolutions and political development generally. Whereas Ghoncheh Tazmini uses Hegelian structuralist approach, that sees these revolutions as an inevitable result of modernization from above, another Iranian political scientist Zhand Shakibi puts stress on the role of human actor pre- revolutionary monarch and his (miss) management of the situation in explaining the origins of revolution. Shakibi applies the human agency perspective to the analysis of the character of pre-revolutionary monarch and his modus operandi. According to Shakibi the structural variables did not by themselves cause the revolution, they create only potential for revolution. The revolutions must be explained by describing complex interactions between structural variables and modus operandi of the monarchs.