2010) and Pahlavi (Kalhorian, 2011). In present research, authors have attempted to study the reasons
of Iranian reign collapses in light of analyzing administrative and decision-making structures by
emphasizing the intelligence level of state and nation. The results of previous researches were
formulation of a model on Iranian historical collapses called intelligent state model (Pourezzat, 2003;
Pourezzat &Taheri Attar, 2009) According to this model, when the level of systematic action is
sufficient, technical mechanisms of decision-making are favorable, state's tendency to justice,
responsiveness and accountability is high, and state avoids despotism and narcissism, then an
intelligent state will be established. Such state is established by a wise nation whose contribution
makes state responsible to responsiveness, accountability, democratic and regulated behavior (figure
1).
Figure 1: Intelligent State Model
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 205
As it is observed, in the end corners of the graph, sketches of intelligent state, unwise state,
reform-oriented entities and collapse-oriented entities are formed.
The main argument of the model is that merely equipping governance system with the high
levels of administrative technology cannot establish an intelligent state and cannot develop a wise
nation; rather, sociological, psychological and even linguistic requirements are needed to achieve the
sketches of a wise nation and an intelligent state in real world (Pourezzat, 2003).
Intelligence is a situation referred to entities possessing systematized behavior and capability of
realizing their potentials, due to the ability to appropriately respond to their environment. On this basis,
intelligent state is a state which relies upon the public and paves the way for emergence of the talents
of all individuals. The social structure of such administration is inevitably based on justice,
responsiveness, strengthening national identity, denying despotism and narcissism (Pourezzat & Taheri
Attar, 2009). In fact, ensuring the equity of the public and requiring the governing board to respond to
all of them is the secret of intelligence of any state and social system (Jhunjhunwala, 2004; Kliksberg,
2001). In the meantime, forming and developing intelligence capability in any system owes to the
diversity, plurality, and clarity of feedback chains which system receives from its activities. Thus,
developing efficient feedback circles for evaluating the final outcomes of government activities
provides the necessary facilities for forming an intelligent state. In this respect, it can be assumed that a
completely intelligent system is the one which develops the possibility of receiving feedback from all
its constituents through processing various and numerous feedback chains at the surface and depth of
its "target society". Although receiving clear and prompt feedbacks from society involves many
difficulties for the governing board, it can provide a valuable capacity to develop learning chains and to
evolve public organizations. In this way, continuation of receiving information resulting from
intelligence and increasing sensitivity, help to developing and excellence oriented governance.
It is noteworthy that this valuable capacity is usable and renewable only when people are
concerned about the health of administrative system. Obviously, people will become sensitive to
society's managerial system when they feel it is possible to achieve their rights and justice during their
social life. Therefore, active processes of responsiveness and accountability of governing body should
be clear and transparent to the extent that it causes the elimination of incompetent elements from the
composition of governing board (Pourezzat, 2003).
Below, the five aspects of intelligent state model are expounded:
a) Justice vs. Injustice and oppression: justice is one of the remarkable and, of course,
conflicting concepts among all people and political-philosophical schools throughout the
history (Sterba, 1999). Justice refers to the observation of rights and truth. Accordingly, the
requirement of justice is not the negation and negligence of the differences; rather, it is to
respect the rights. Respecting justice in the view of noble men are considered as one of the most
important issues so that a human can hardly doubt and deny it though he is oppressive.
Individuals' interest in justice originates from human's normal and fundamental need to social
life; individuals have varied social and personal needs that are typically met by interactions
with others. Such needs are in a continuum of economic needs (e.g. money and material
facilities) to social and emotional needs (attention and self-respect). Each concept of justice
provides people with a set of measures and indicators to judge whether in their interactions with
others, in the often complex social environments, such needs are met or not (Folger &
Cropanzano, 1998). The concept of justice can be divided into distributive, procedural and
interactional justice regarding the benchmark of distribution, implementation method and the
nature of social interactions (Krietner & Kinicki, 2001, 243). On this basis, one can consider
justice about distribution of any social product such as freedom, rights, power, wealth,
opportunity, etc. (Heywood, 2000, 135). In continuation of discussion on justice, the concepts
of information, emotional, observational, and lingual justice are considered (Pourezzat, 2009).
So, the more obligations to justice in a society, the higher the level of social cohesion and
206 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
integration, and the more equitable the individuals' share in advantages resulting from social
life, the more attention is paid to common fate.
b) Democracy vs. Despotism: a despotic system is the one that makes decisions merely based on
its opinions and wants and avoids advisory or contribution in decision-making. Despotic reigns
are entirety-seeking ones which are deprived from the opinions and thoughts of social
components. The more despotic a system, the less it is consulted by public and people have less
tendency to provide it with their feedbacks. Thus, despotic systems go far from intelligence, are
less interested and respected by people and fall in a wise-averse process sooner.
c) Responsiveness vs. Unaccountability: accountability refers to the task of governing board for
explaining their behavior and welcoming others' critics. It requires the tasks, powers and
performances of governing body to be precisely defined and effectively assessed and monitored
(Heywood, 2002, 393). Accountability should be effective to lead to mistake mitigation and
preventing abuse of administrating system. The most important function of accountability is to
facilitate democratic control (Bovens, 2005, 14). By democratic control, public sector power is
controlled and public authority abuses are prevented. Therefore, governmental systems should
be designed so that, in the empowerment chain, the agents would be accountable and power
utilization would be controlled (Przeworski et al., 1999, 33). However, democratic control
should be flexible and integrated since excessive and inflexible democratic control reduces
administrators' creativity and entrepreneurial level and converts public organizations into
obsessive ones which change conservative employees into timid individuals and courageous
employees into outlaws due to their obsession in executing law (Behn, 2001, 30). Efficiency of
responsiveness system increases the power of public and decreases the maneuver of despotic
managers in order to make them responsive even for the weakest group of the society (Nahjul
Balagha, 53rd
letter). Although such responsiveness may be difficult, it is the trivial cost paid by
governing body to ensure their long term survival. The decline and decadence trend of the reign
is intensified when responsiveness system is weakened.
d) Self-actualization vs. Narcissism: narcissism refer to degrees of false self-belief and group
thinking which convinces the members of a social unit of their extraordinary capabilities and
advantages as well as others' weaknesses and disabilities. At the individual level, narcissism
means self-conceit and self-superiority. The ethnology of this concept in anthropology refers to
old Greek legend of the narcissist young and to Freud's works on id in psychology. Narcissist
individuals highly tend to achieve power and domination over others. Selfishness and pride are
the inseparable parts of their personality. Usually, they lack some ethical values such as self-
possession, dignity and self-respect (Ang & Yusof, 2005). Narcissist people and groups
typically do not welcome criticisms and respond harshly to any criticism. They never admire
anyone and attribute all successes and credits to themselves. It is imaginable that increase in the
narcissism of governing body would increase internal plots to overthrow them and various
kinds of terrors and chaos would emerge in the country (Maccoby, 2000) while governing body
will remain in the conditions of negligence and surprise.
e) Public participation vs. Weakness of Public contribution: people's participation is an
important factor to preserve any reign. Whenever the level of contribution of various groups of
the society is high, the possibility of collapse decreases. In development process, enforcing
public participation and nation building is possible through various ways:
• Considering the views of other groups and attempting to understand the reasons of their
possible objections, identifying internal/external problems and barriers of national unity,
and trying to overcome such factors;
• Developing democracy and distributing contribution, as well as preparing the grounds to
develop a multi-voice ambience and freedom of expression;
• Providing the possibility of exchange of ideas in a wide range and attempting to prepare
the ground to achieve consensus using media to develop social unity (cf. Hippel, 2000).
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 207
Additionally, one can point other factors such as lack of development of citizens' rights, lack of
independent media, lack of legal independence and etc. In contrast, it is emphasized that the most
important factor for achieving intelligence and sustainability of reigns and civilizations is the active
participation of their nations. A wise nation is an aware and smart one who is sensitive to its fate and
directs its attention to collective vision by ongoing development of participation culture. Informed
attendance of such nation in arenas like politics, economy and culture is a serious barrier against the
collapse of reigns and social systems. Therefore, a civilization is less possible to be exposed by
collapse if it can raise a wise nation.
3. Future-Oriented Historical Researches It seems that studying the history and historical phenomena increases the possibility of anticipating the
trend of social changes and understanding their procedure. Questions on these social changes are
among the deepest and the most fundamental items in human knowledge. In historical researches, it is
attempted to answer such questions by studying the emergence of societies, their trends and their
possible future.
In the present research, such Futurological capacities of historical researches are considered. In
this approach, history is a trend initiated in the past, having an intangible stop in the present, and being
continuously reflected in creating the future. Therefore, if the civilization of a country is studied in its
collapse courses, it can be an introduction for research which monitors possibility of collapse in the
future. Thus, history can be useful for people's life and can protect them from social damages in
political, economic and cultural arenas of the society.
4. Six Collapse Periods of Iranian Reigns Throughout history, Iran has been exposed by various attacks and has been led into the edge of
destruction and decadence for times. However, it has been able to recover its identity due to varied
reasons and has found its way of reconstruction. The most serious collapse periods in Iran include:
final periods of Achaemenian dynasty, Sassanian dynasty, Khwarezmian dynasty, Safavid dynasty,
partial collapse in Qajar dynasty, and soft collapse in Pahlavi dynasty.
The main purpose of the researchers is to seek and identify the reasons of past collapses for
admonition and using it to reach a better future. Therefore, it is tried to analyze each period through the
dimensions of intelligent state models separately.
a) Collapse of Achaemenian by Alexander: Achaemenian civilization and empire has been one
of the most influential human civilizations that was expired by a young and inexperienced
commander despite of a 230-year record (Briant, 2002). Achaemenian Empire was established
following the victories of Cyrus (530 – 559 BC) and Cambyses (522 – 530 BC). Founding this
empire which involved varied ethnic groups, languages and cultures was a great revolution in
global governance since as the first time, the world observed the establishment of a united and
centralized state not seen before and even after 230 years, only Roman Empire could contend it.
So it can be claimed that Achaemenian dynasty was the inventor of empires. Hegel considered
Persian Empire as a modern government and compared it with German and French empires at
time of Napoleon, for Iranian empire consisted of some states that had kept their individuality,
tradition and rules while being interdependent. He believed Persian people to be the first
historic nations and Persian Empire to be the first passed away empire (Hegel, 2001). During
the 230-year-old reign of Achaemenian, twelve kings came to the rule. The reign of some did
not last for more than some months but others ruled for several decades and each king
experienced various rises and falls such as wars, revolts, victories or failures (Olmsted, 1995).
According to historians, the governance periods of the first three Achaemenian kings namely
Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius were the age of honor and glory of Achaemenian dynasty: in this
208 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
age, a relative order, peace and security dominated this broad territory and each king expanded
it through his victories. The dynasty of Xerxes is regarded as the starting point of decadence
and collapse of Achaemenian dynasty. Although this trend started gradually, it intensified
sometimes and then was mitigated in other periods. The highest degree of infirmity and
disorder during Achaemenian dynasty is attributed to the reign of Darius III which led to the
collapse of the dynasty. One cannot issue a general verdict on the existence or nonexistence of
justice in the age of each Achaemenian king; a verdict which introduces one king as the symbol
of justice and kindliness and the other as an absolute despot. However, the obvious point is that
in the age of some Achaemenian kings such as Cyrus and Darius I, signs and indicators of
justice and relative respect to human rights and freedom are reported (Cylinder of Cyrus, 538
BC); but in the ages of other Achaemenian kings, cruelty and exploitation of people to meet the
needs of the kings and their family were too common. Also, there is no record of public protest
against this injustice and oppression. It seems that despotism and dictatorship was the common
and inseparable feature of most Achaemenian kings and even in some cases, Pars and Medes
rules prepared the ground for their excessive despotism and dictatorship. Courtly training of the
kings, despite many advantages, resulted in excessive narcissism and self-conceit since princess
were excessively respected by other courtiers. In the meantime, courtiers and some opportunists
intensified such characteristics in kings to meet their needs and to acquire power. Increase in
self-conceit in Darius III and military commanders was a major factor which caused him not to
develop a proper defensive strategy against Alexander and gave in; thus, self-conceit, self-
superiority and false self-belief of Darius III and his courtiers as well as underestimating the
enemy were among the most important reasons of their frequent failures and their final
collapse. Besides, false self-belief, narcissism and despotism among Achaemenian kings led to
their non-responsiveness. They were never responsive and accountable to people for their acts.
Generally, in Achaemenian age, there was only one kind of official accountability through
which the accountability of army commanders against king is reported and there is no sign of
accountability of rulers to the public. In this way, injustice, despotism and lack of
responsiveness of Achaemenian caused a distance between nation and the government; and a
condition dominated in which public participation and attention to the public ideas had no place
(Pourezzat & Taheri Attar, 2009).
b) Sassanian collapse by Arabs Muslims: Sassanian governed Iran for over 400 years (651 – 224
AC). This kingdom was established by Ardashir and dominated a wide area in western Asia.
So, Iran was reintegrated after Achaemenian and Parthian feudal dynasties and came under the
umbrella of a united administration. This dynasty is named after Sasan, ancestor of Ardashir,
and also Darius III is considered as one of his ancestor. So, it is claimed that Sassanian kings
were the offspring of Parthian. After Achaemenian, Seleucid could not establish an integrated
nation in Iran and the country was divided into many districts. Gradually, they were replaced by
Arcadians. Then Ardashir overcame Arcadians and a united reign was reshaped in Iranian
territory (Daryaee, 2009; Rawlinson, 2007).
During 427-year-old Sassanian governance, 39 kings came to power: some with several years
and others with some months of governance. According to historians, death of Khosro Parviz
was the start of Sassanian decadence and collapse, since his death and subsequently the
suspicious death of Ghobad II (who had killed many of his brothers) in less than six months led
to a fatal cycle of revengefulness, over ambition and vengeance and ended in the collapse of
Sassanian dynasty. Most important army people were killed and, in the absence of royal men,
Khosro Parviz's daughters, Purandokht and Azarmidokht, came to power. With successive
selections and appointment of more than ten kings in a 4-year period, finally Yazdegerd III was
selected as king by rulers of Istakhr. Since he was not a close relative of the king (Zarinkoob,
2005), he acquired no popularity. The age of Yazdegerd III was the peak of weakness,
disharmony and decadence of Sassanian Empire; so that in 637 AC, Iranian capital, Ctesiphon
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 209
was overthrown by Arabs and Yazdegerd III escaped toward an unclear fate. By death of
Yazdegerd III in 651, Sassanian dynasty came to an end even though the survivors of this
family made great attempt for its renewal.
Some accounts are recorded on the justice and responsiveness of some kings of this dynasty,
while there are other records against them. Overall, historical events during Sassanian dynasty
are indicators of the prevalence of injustice, narcissism and non-responsiveness of the kings,
and these factors are introduced as the most important reasons of its gradual decadence and
collapse (Mirzamani, 2007).
c) Collapse of Khwarezmian by Mongols- after Sassanian dynasty, Arabs governed Iran for a
long time until influential Iranians entered into caliphate system and established local
governments in some parts of Iran and Khwarezmian came to power in a wide region of Iran.
The great progenitor of Khwarezmian was a slave from Georgia who was purchased by the
general commander of Khorasan Army during Samanids dynasty. During Seljuk dynasty, the
slave rapidly improved due to his talent and competency and achieved high ranks such as the
emirate of Kwarezm state. He had 9 sons the eldest one was Qutb-ed-Din Mohammad who was
assigned as the governor of Khwarezm on behalf of Barkiaragh. Later, Sultan Sanjar reinstated
him in the same position. Thus, a new state was established which was the protégé of Seljuks
and Qutb-ed-Din Mohammad governed for 30 years under the auspice of Seljuks. After him,
three Khwarezmian kings came to power, until, in 1200 AC, Mohammad Khwarezmian came
to the reign. From the outset, he found himself deprived from the supports of clergymen of the
districts. Therefore, he had to rely upon a clan of Turks who were his mother's relatives. In this
way, by giving ground to these cruel and undisciplined soldiers who were considered as aliens
by Khwarezm people, he caused people hate Khwarezmian dynasty. So, Khwarezmian dynasty
took 130 years in which 8 kings came to reign. Narcissism and a false image of power, an
undisciplined army, injustice, despotism and cruelty of government-dependent groups paved
the way for internal collapse of Khwarezmian. Khwarezmian dynasty was not supported by
people and was quickly collapsed by Genghis Khan's attack (Namdar Qashqai, 2009).
d) Safavid collapse against Afghans: Khans of Mongol were gradually influenced by Iranian
civilization. Finally, By QizilBashs' (Red Heads') attempts, a single government was
reestablished in Iran and Safavid dynasty was shaped. Safavid dynasty is considered as one of
the most important and influential historical periods in Iran, since by the establishment of
Safavid dynasty, after 900 years from Sassanian collapse, a centralized and powerful
government was established in Iran again (Newman, 2006). The kings of Safavid dynasty were
Iranian, and for the first time in Iranian history, they introduced Shiite as the official religion
and the symbol of Iranian unity. According to some historians, the periods of Shah Ismail I,
Shah Tahmasb I and Shah Abbas are the periods of Safavid dynasty's power, dignity and
victories. During 50 years of kingdom, Shah Abbas I is undoubtedly one of the greatest Shahs
of Iran after Islam due to the wide victories and constructions (Abisaab, 2004). However, his
cruel behaviors with his sons and successors caused Safavid dynasty to lack a deserving
successor after his death. In the meantime, mistreatment of princes made most Safavid kings
weak and dictator persons. Contrary to Iranian ancient traditions, Safavid princes were educated
and trained by women and harem masters, the result of which being war-averse and coward
Shahs. So, after the death of Shah Abbas and government of Shah Safi, decadence and decline
of Safavid dynasty started. During Shah Sultan Hossien kingdom, interferences of courtiers and
incompetent individuals, Shah's disability to run the affairs, selfishness, despotism and lack of
prudence in selecting the governor of Qandahar paved the way for the revolt of Afghans and,
finally, after two centuries, Safavid dynasty was collapsed by the rivals headed by Mahmoud
Afghan and again a strong Iranian state was collapsed (Frye, 2000). Based on intelligent state
model, it can be claimed that justice in Safavid Shahs had experienced many falls and rises so
that one cannot insist on any general verdict. Despotism and dictatorship were the
210 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
characteristics of most Safavid Shahs; especially, the training of princes after Shah Abbas had
institutionalized despotism and narcissism in them. According to historical accounts, it seems
hard to find any evidence on responsiveness of one of Safavid Shahs to people. Probably, like
Achaemenian, there was only one type of responsiveness in the form of official hierarchy. It
seems that Safavid centralization and despotism had caused a threatening and strangulating
climate in which there was no opportunity for public contribution and the relationship between
state and nation. In Safavid dynasty, the symbols of general decline and decadence emerged in
various aspects of social life. For instance, considerable de-epopee can be seen in Persian
literature.
Finally, in the latest periods of Safavid dynasty, ongoing pride, despotism and dictatorship
enhanced Shahs' weaknesses and gradually eliminated their goodness. Eventually, the weak and
sanctimonious Shah Sultan Hossein destroyed Safavid dynasty faced with Afghan undisciplined
groups (Hadi Shayesteh, 2009).
e) Iranian relative collapse in Qajar dynasty: Afghans governed Iran for a while. Afterwards,
they lost their power by the prudence of Nader Shah. After Nader Shah's death and the fall of
Afsharid dynasty, Zand dynasty came to power. Zand dynasty did not survive for a long time
and was collapsed by Agha Mohammad Khan which led to the establishment of Qajar Dynasty.
The kingdom of the two first Shahs (Agha Mohammad Khan and Fath Ali Shah) were
accompanied by one of the most important periods in global history, namely, French
Revolution, Napoleon's emergence and special attention of some European states to Iran.
During the reign of Fath Ali Shah, expansive areas of Iranian territory were attached by Russia
through wars between Iran and Czarian Russia. During the reign of the next Qajar Shahs, Iran
experienced many ups and downs. The wars between Iran and Russia, leading to the imposition
of two Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties to Iranian nation, can be regarded as the peak of
decadence and decline of Iran in the contemporary world (Bosworth & Hillenbrand, 1992).
Qajar dynasty was accompanied by factors contributing to decline and collapse from the very
beginning. It can be claimed that the special structure of Qajar dynasty had a hidden self-
reducing discipline. The political power structure in Qajar dynasty consisted of a main locus
(Shah) and princes who were the governors of major parts of the country, senior courtiers and
bureaucrats like the head of clans and Khans and governors of smaller states. According to their
far or close relation to power source, their authorities differed. In such a structure,
incompetency and corruption of Shahs' courtiers were distributed to all domestic affairs and the
extent of this influence varied according to their power (Keddie, 1999). In the Qajar dynasty,
justice and responsiveness were two neglected values in all governing aspects. This order
caused the distribution of utilitarianism, despotism, vitiation and narcissism of Shahs and
governors so that, sometimes, domestic affairs were sacrificed by Shah's personal wants,
meeting his needs and satisfying his power-seeking sense. In this age, interventions by foreign
countries and reign's disability against them weakened domestic integrity. Of course, many
public movements were shaped to renew national and historical identity on the part of nation,
some of which was oppressed and some, like Constitutional Revolution, flourished. Despite
such efforts, the weakness and incapability of the last Qajar Shah (Ahmad Shah), and prevalent
vitiation in Qajar court led to its collapse and the power was transferred to Pahlavi. Therefore, it
can be claimed that the fate of Qajar dynasty started by cruel anger and violence and ended with
corruption, incompetency, despotism, utilitarianism, and narcissism. When Qajar dynasty
delivered the country to Reza Khan, considerable parts of lands and population of the Greater
Iran were assigned to foreigners (Madmoli, 2010).
f) Soft collapse of Iran faced with the west during Pahlavi dynasty: in chaotic circumstances
of 1920, Reza Khan with collaboration of Seyed Zia'eddin Tabatabai planned a coup-d'état and
dominated the capital. He was assigned as the commander of Persian Cossack Brigade by the
title of "Sardar-e-Sepah" (Army Commander). Through his influence among militaries and
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 211
diplomats, Reza Khan was gradually assigned as the Minister of War and then head of
Ministers and prepared the ground for his governance. By the approval of Parliament, the
government of Reza Shah was officially recognized in 1925 and Qajar dynasty ended. Reza
Shah governed for 16 years and after country's occupation by the Allies in 1941, he had to
resign and leave the country. In 1944, He passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa. After his
resignation, his son Mohammad Reza came to reign in 16 September 1941. At the outset of his
kingdom, the attendance of Russian, UK and USA military forces put the country in great
troubles and Iran passed a turbulent age. After the egression of foreign forces, Iran was
apparently released but western cultural domination yet threatened national dignity and identity
of the country. It put the country in the route of a kind of soft and gradual collapse. So it led to
the collapse of Pahlavi dynasty in 11 February 1979 and Iranian new political life commenced.
During Pahlavi dynasty, responsiveness and accountability had no meaning, social
discrimination had increased and injustice was common (Fardust, 1999). The peak of soft
collapse of Iran against west is observed in the Capitulation Bill through which the legal
competency of Iran was doubted and its political stability was crushed (Kalhorian, 2011).
Referring to the opinions of elites and connoisseurs of the knowledge of administration and
history of Iran, intelligent state model is relatively efficient and admonitory in analyzing the reasons of
collapses of the mentioned dynasties. Accordingly, table 1 is achieved through repeated and
independent researches on Iran collapse periods (Taheri Attar, 2006; Mirzamani, 2007; Namdar
Qashghayi, 2008; Hadi Shayesteh, 2009; Madmoli, 2010; Kalhorian, 2011).
Table 1: The collapse of Iranian historical reigns based on intelligent state Model
6 Periods of
Collapse
Intensity of
Collapse
Level of
Social
Justice
Level of
Despotism
Level of
Accountability
Level of
Narcissism
Level of
Public
Participation
Achaemenian Complete
Collapse Low High Low High Very Low
Sassanian Complete
Collapse Low Very High Very Low Very High Very Low
Khwarezmian Complete
Collapse Very low Very High Very Low High Very Low
Safavid Complete
Collapse Low High Very Low High Very Low
Qajar Partial Collapse Very Low High Very Low High Very Low
Pahlavi
Soft Collapse
(Identity
Transformation)
Low High Very Low Very High Low
5. General Trends in Iranian History and Future Crisis During its history, Iran has been repeatedly attacked by foreigners and exposed to varied internal and
external plots. It seems that its geographical situation is an important reason for such attacks. Frequent
wars and invasions from west, east, north and south had sometimes led to occasional victories and
failures and sometimes the full, relative or soft collapse of a civilization. It is noteworthy that Iranian
current geographical situation have been the most stable areas of Iran in most years of its life and in
each period, some parts are added to or diminished from it.
Studying the reasons of such civilizational collapses reveals that the most important factors
conducive to the collapses include prevalence of injustice, non-responsiveness and lack of
accountability mechanisms, despotism, narcissism and lack of general participation. These are all
factors affecting the process of establishing an intelligent state.
Research findings show that prevalence of injustice, non-responsiveness and the lack of
accountability system, despotism, the lack of public participation and narcissism among governors
212 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
especially in the last years of Achaemenian, Khwarezmian, Sassanian and Safavid dynasties are among
the most important reasons of their collapses. However, during Qajar and Pahlavi, new complexities
were appeared in the collapse trend of Iran in addition to above-mentioned factors. Although there
were some brave commanders and some reforms were made by visionary ministers in some periods
which moved the country toward progress, overall inadequacy and incompetency of leaders led to the
separation of many important sections in eastern, northern and northwestern regions. The separated
sections were exposed to cultural attacks of the occupiers and experienced a kind of cultural
transformation, and in many cases they lost their national identity and even Persian language. Also in
Pahlavi dynasty, Iranian decadence factors were appeared in another form so that the country
experienced a cultural decadence and highly affected by the west without its military attack.
By Islamic revolution, Iranian nation demanded justice, responsiveness and accountability,
denied despotism and narcissism and wanted participation in determining their fate through
establishing an independent, justice-oriented and servant government. These were demands which were
intelligently drawn up by a united nation for its future. However, historical admonitions shows that
Iran may be again exposed to more serious collapses in future if these factors are not carefully
addressed and realized. The summary of these wants can be found in the concept of Truth-oriented
justice. According to this concept, the society enjoys full security, relative welfare and adequate
awareness (Pourezzat, 2008, 2010) for any social participation. Now, after 30 years of establishment of
the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although most of these demands have been relatively
met, there is a long route toward the realization of society enjoying from justice, security, and
awareness. According to many authors like Oswald Spengler (1880 – 1936) and Ibn-Khaldun (1332-
1406), the life period of civilizations is cyclic and periodical. Thus, an end is imaginable for any
civilization which will come sooner or later. Such viewpoints are based on the assumption that, similar
to living beings, one can consider the young and old ages for civilizations. Such attitudes are in
contrast to the opinions of thinkers like Arnold Toynbee (1889 – 1975) and the observations on
European civilization history. That is to say, it seems that decadence or collapse is not a destined issue.
According Toynbee, although sustainable patterns are identifiable in the history, such rules do not
negate human free will and right of choice. He believes that civilizations die via committing a suicide
not a murder and what guarantees their life and dynamism is their capability to resolve new problems
(Toynbee, 1954). The present paper emphasizing the importance of human free wills and right of
choice, attempts to analyze the sustainability of current and future governments at the highest level of
performance and quality through identifying the factors contributing to the decline of Iranian past
reigns. Now, Iranian government is faced with complicated and hard problems which need special
consideration of the governors to be resolved. An important point is that the seventh collapse may not
be limited to a reign collapse; rather, it may destroy Iranian civilization since international relations
and the interests of global and regional powers, tendency of Iranian clans and states toward
decentralization, as well as economic, political and social crises can threat Iranian society in its path
toward renewing its identity, efficient existence and excellence-seeking path. Hence, it is necessary to
make further effort on theorizing on how to prevent future collapses. Undoubtedly, the results of the
collapse of Iranian current state will not be limited to Iran, but it will have broad international
consequences. Internally, Iran will be divided into some countries with many disorders. The outcomes
would be civil wars, racial and ethnic conflicts, religious clashes, expansion of poverty, loss of
security, and prevalence of social disorder. Externally, it is too likely to disturb the order of the Middle
East and balance of power and even enhancing religious excessive and radical movements as well as
international cultural and economic crises. So, collapse of Iran means the collapse of one of the most
important cultural poles of the world and one of oldest and broadest human civilizations. As seen in
table 1, learning cycles in the structure of Iranian government has been always relative throughout
history so that many mistakes of antecedents have been repeated. Below, the trends of social justice,
despotism, accountability, narcissism and public participation through the history of Iran are analyzed:
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 213
1. Justice in Iranian history: despite the extraordinary propensity of Iranian people to the
requirements of justice in the society and its manifestations in their national and religious
symbols and myths, history witnesses that the country has been always dominated by the
oppression of domestic and foreign Shahs and aristocrats. This trend of injustice has been
intensified in some historical periods. Particularly, it seems that whenever an increase in
injustice has been accompanied by the increase in the level of literacy and public awareness,
tendency toward revolution and internal transformation has also been surged. This is while,
whenever increase in injustice has been accompanied by the prevalence of illiteracy and general
poverty, it has been conducive to Iran's external collapse or occupancy. It is worth mentioning
that the first modern revolution in Iran happened in such circumstances. One of the main
reasons of Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1905 – 1911) was an increase in the level of
injustice compared to previous periods along with the rise of the number of educated people
and the emergence of high educational and scientific institutes and centers. By increase in
literacy, educated people resort to legends even without any historical evidences to find the
nostalgia of propensity to justice in myths. Perhaps, this is the reason of nostalgic exaggerations
of intellectuals like Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadeh (1812 – 1878), the novelist and thinker at the
time of Qajar Dynasty, especially when he wrote: "Pars sultans were famous in the world and
their justice was in a manner that the justice of Fereydun and Anushiravan has become proverb
in the globe" (Mohammad Zadeh, 1978). He made this claim without any external evidence. As
if he had read ancient myths in Shahnameh, believed them fully and had added his ideals. The
second evidence is the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In this period, by development of
universities and seminaries, Iranian people were internally prepared to change current order and
establish a new order to achieve a just society. Therefore, the cruelty of kings along with
relative increase in public literacy level resulted in an internal revolution and civilization
growth and led to external collapse. In graph 1, the situation of justice throughout the history of
Iran is presented. Curve a shows the level of justice in Iranian reigns. It should be noted that
equilibrium line should be assumed relatively with regard to improvement in life style in the
world (ß line) in order to depict a more realistic picture on peoples’ conceptions about injustice.
Graph 1: The trend of social justice in the collapse periods of six Iranian reigns
214 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
2. Despotism in Iranian history: According to graph 2, the trend of despotism throughout the
history of Iranian reigns has started severely, and after a mild mitigation, has become stable at
the severe level. By establishing Imperial Government System in Iran by Cyrus during
Achaemenian dynasty, a kind of hierarchical system was emerged: full authority and power was
belonged to the Divinity who assigned a governor and the governor led the people on behalf of
the Divinity (Garthwith, 2005). Since the Great Cyrus (558 – 530 BC) to Pahlavi dynasty (1925
– 1979), Iran's political culture was defined hierarchically in Zoroaster and then Islamic culture
(Garthwith, 2005). In such a political regime, Shah was considered as the representative of God
on the earth and was the owner of life, asset and honor of peasantries. Regarding political,
economic and social arenas, Iranian political system has been always absolute and the Shah was
considered as God's shadow on the earth. With more than 2500 years of sustainability, Iranian
Imperial system started with very high levels of despotism and went to history by high
despotism.
Graph 2: The trend of despotism in the collapse periods of six Iranian reigns
In graph 2, curve a shows the level of despotism in Iranian reigns. Line ß indicates a relatively
more rational level of despotism to guarantee good governance. As it is seen, the level of despotism in
Iran has been always more than functional despotism. It caused that reigns not to hear the voice of
public and become deprived of public participation and votes to compensate the entropy and gradual
decadence.
3. Responsiveness and Accountability in Iranian history: according to graph 3, the trend of
Iranian governors' responsiveness has been low or very low. Iranian Shahs have rarely enforced
to be responsive for their acts and they have usually considered their verdict over any law and
their will over people's will. Perhaps, this is the main reason of devising no cohesive rule in
Iran before Constitutional Revolution. Constitution means to condition Shah's authorities to law
and, subsequently, Shah becomes responsive for his deeds. In spite of highly precious efforts of
Iranians to establish a new legal system during Constitutional Revolution, the next governors
did not pay attention to nation's will and prepared the ground for their own complete overthrow
in 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In graph 3, curve a shows reigns'
accountability in various periods and line ß indicates the ideal level. Although the level of
responsiveness was higher during Achaemenian dynasty, it was only an administrative
responsiveness and because of Shah's dignity, it was less seen in front of the public.
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 215
Graph 3: The trend of accountability in the collapse periods of six Iranian reigns
4. Governors' narcissism in Iranian history: according to graph 4, Iranian governors' narcissism
has always been high or very high. Based on the available documents, in periods closer to
collapse, governors' narcissism has been in the highest level. It seems that the level of
narcissism in the last periods of Sassanian and Pahlavi dynasties was higher than other
dynasties. It may be the reason of heavier collapses. In Sassanian age, widespread illiteracy of
public caused external collapse which led to huge changes in Iranian social, political and
economic structure and it was so sharp that no widespread reign as Achaemenian and Sassanian
was established in Iran nine centuries after Arabs' attack. This nine-century period is considered
as Islamic period of Iranian history and its Iranian elements are more dispersed and less
efficient than pre periods. In Pahlavi dynasty, Imperial system, with more than 2500 years
record, was overthrown by people and the first republic government was established; so,
Iranian history was divided into two Imperial and Republic periods. It should be noted that in
Constitutional and Islamic Republic ages, the development of universities and scientific centers
led to internal modification.
Graph 4: The trend of narcissism in the collapse periods of six Iranian reigns
Accountability and Responsiveness
216 Ali Asghar Pourezzat, Ghazaleh Taheri Attar and Nader Seyed Kalali
As graph 4 indicates, curve α shows the Iranian governors and Shahs' narcissism in various
periods. As it is observed, distance between actual and ideal situation in ß is remarkable.
5. The level of public participation in Iranian history: as it is seen in graph 5, public
participation of Iranian citizens has been always trivial over the history. Of course, among other
elements of intelligent state model, Iranians succeeded to pass a growing trend and to enhance
the level of public participation. Perhaps due to dependence upon top hierarchy of power in
other elements of the model, the nation has not been able to play an important role in improving
other elements. Iranian nation has tried to increase its participation in running the country;
especially considering current developments in IT and communication technology, it seems that
this participation is going to be directed toward more development. This can mitigate the
possibility of next collapses if governors pay due attention to it.
Graph 5: The trend of public participation in the collapse periods of six Iranian reigns
1
6. Conclusion and Discussion Historical analysis of six Iranian reigns collapses shows that Iranian previous reigns have not learned
anything from the history. The trend of social justice, despotism, narcissism and public participation in
Iranian previous reigns shown in table 1 indicates that Iranian governors never learned from the
history, as Hegel put is: what experience and history teach is that people and reigns never learn any
lesson from history or do not act based on its deducted fundamental principles (Hegel, 2001).
Past collapses have led to a type of butterfly effect throughout history so that it causes an
ongoing flow of progresses and decadences and makes it hard and even impossible to analyze events
periodically and predict them independently. In current conditions, Iranian government should try
intelligently to exit the road of decadence and draw a desirable future through adopting a proactive
approach to future (Pourezzat et al., 2008). Although, Islamic Republic of Iran has taken some
progressive steps toward development and has increased the level of public participation in terms of
intelligent state model; however, today's global problems require stronger and longer steps. A question
which must be considered by current officials is that how they can prevent seventh collapse in Iran?
It seems that some strategies are recommendable in this regard. First of all, the role of justice
and fairness in attracting the support of most people must be pointed out. People would increase their
1 As it is observed in the above graph, the distance is generally reducing between curve α and curve ß, that is, participation
levels increase step by step.
Avoidance of Future Collapse In Light of the Historical Analysis of Past Iranian Reigns 217
motivation to maintain social cohesion and to support the government if state’s efforts seriously focus
on removing class distinctions and equal income distribution.
Government should avoid dogmatic policies and attempt at making the policies intelligent and
consider feedbacks from society seriously. There is some mechanism which helps the organization of
political system in Iran (Iran’s Constitutional Law, Article 110). Using the flexible capacity of Iran’s
Constitutional Law to reform the regulations (Iran’s Constitutional Law, Article 177) is also a strategy
to decrease system’s mechanical behaviors.
One of the odds in Iranian political history is full negligence of the governors from clarifying
uncertain and rumored political ambience in Iran so that the threat of disclosure is still a major practice
by political groups to acquire power. Disclosure is welcomed by ordinary people when there is no
transparency. Hence, it is emphasized that Iranian government should seriously try to clarify and to
lead political atmosphere toward more equilibrium. People’s tendency to participation will be
increased by the development of Internet and mass communication tools. Therefore, the government
should enhance this trend. Iranian political geography is highly critical and is cause of many regional
conflicts and disputes. So, Iranian government has to achieve nations’ support to face with crises and to
develop public participation.
However, historical admonitions are not only applicable to a single country or civilization. Any
country desiring a sustainable and intelligent nation can learn a lesson from such events. Civilization
collapse does not happen at once; rather, it commences when people stay quiet against the first social
oppression (Sahifeye Sajjadieh, Nyaesh 38,191). Besides, the first time that the government refuses
responsiveness, despotism is imposed to society. A nation can keep its sustainability in the condition
only when weakest social groups can acquire their rights from the strongest groups (Nahjul Balagha,
53rd
letter). Finally, it is recommended that in future researches, other factors that possibly affect on the
collapse of Iranian past reigns to be addressed. Additionally, the relations between such factors and
their mutual effects should be studied.
References [1] Abisaab, Rula Jurdi (2004). Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire
(International Library of Iranian Studies). I. B. Tauris
[2] Ang, Rebecca & Noradlin Yusof (2005). “The Relationship between Aggression, Narcissism,
and Self-Esteem in Asian Children and Adolescents. Current Psychology: Development,
