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The Shah's system of thought could in no way be considered as philosophy, although he liked to see himself as 'a philosopher king'. It was based on a number of simple – not to say simplistic – assertions and offered a number of equally straightforward, though perhaps naive, promises. Iran had had a golden past and could aim at a golden future. Because Iran had once been a world power and a shaper of history there was no reason why she would not become a leading actor on the international scene again. Iran was one of the 15 largest countries in the world and situated in a region of great strategic importance. The fact that Iran enjoyed a high rate of population growth meant that she would become one of the world's 15 most populated countries within a decade or two. Iran's oil reserves, the third largest in the world, meant that the nation would continue to have a ready source of cash at least for another half century or so. The discovery of the world's second largest reserves of natural gas in Iran in the 1970s added to the country's importance as a source of energy for the industrialised nations. The road ahead, therefore, was clear: Iran had to use its income from energy exports to create industries whose future income would cover the loss of oil and gas revenues when those reserves became exhausted. In other words, Iran had to become an industrial power. (p. 194) (it) |
