Posted By IISS at 16/06/2009 16:39:19
With the future of the disputed results of Iran’s presidential election uncertain following the largest protests the country has seen in decades, the political situation in Iran is volatile and the outcome of the current crisis difficult to predict.
In his Adelphi Paper Iran Under Ahmadinejad: The Politics of Confrontation, Ali Ansari outlines how Ahmadinejad’s populism and his confrontational posture have represented an ad hoc and somewhat incoherent attempt to disguise the growing contradictions that afflict the Islamic Republic. The president’s approach, he argues, reflects the conservative vision of an unaccountable Islamic autocracy faced with growing dissatisfaction in the country it rules, especially among key sections of the elite.
Ali Ansari is Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of several books and articles on Iran, and has appeared on television and radio programmes to discuss Iranian issues, including the events of recent days.
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