Conclusion

Abstract

The Conclusion answers questions first posed in the Introduction pertaining to the drivers shaping Iran’s national security thinking and policies, including its nuclear and missile programs, support for armed militias and terrorist groups, and regional interventions. It argues that the elements of continuity described throughout the book demonstrate that the core assumption held in the scholarship on revolutions—according to which revolutions necessarily mark a total departure from the part—may not capture the complexity of countries’ national security thinking. And Conclusion also discusses the policy implications of this finding and warns that a different regime in Iran may not act fundamentally differently from the current one as many may hope.