Vali Nasr’s The Shia Revival was first published in 2006 and now in 2016 with an update. In view of the ongoing struggle in the Middle East between Sunni elements in Saudi Arabia and the Shia renewal in Iran/Iraq, the book is timely. The US disengagement in the region has only enhanced the importance of this struggle.
Nasr has laid out the political changes occurring in the Gulf. For centuries Sunnis have lorded it over the Shia, but the power vacuum in the Gulf and the untapped strength of Iran are altering the calculus. The quiet distrust of Khomeini’s cult of the personality is now more evident among Shia intellectuals in the area, and other thinkers have displaced the philosophical ideas promulgated by Khomeini. It has not been possible for the Iranian religious leaders to fend off the wonderful diversity among the people of Iran. Nasr calls the government of Iran “a tired dictatorship.” He notes that Persian is now the third most popular language on the Internet after English and Mandarin.
The Saudis fear a democratic Iran more than they fear a theocratic Iran, and the changes in the direction of democracy persist, though still relatively silent, in today’s Iran. The only force that might disrupt this trend is unwise US intervention.
I recommend Nasr’s thoughtful and beautifully written book to those who want to understand what’s really happening in Iran/Iraq. Daily news on the networks doesn’t help.
