This book provides a new interpretation of modern Iranian history, focusing in particular how international relations have played a central role in the development of society and in the Iranian revolution.Arguing that this international dimension is manifest in the hybrid patterns of development, involving traditional and modern forms, whose tensions ultimately fuelled the socio-political dynamic of the revolution, the author shows that the role of international relations in the revolution was far more salient than the explicit record of Iran's foreign relations would suggest. Crucially, the book challenges orthodox academic explanations of the Iranian revolution as being either a deviation from the normal path to modernity or a counter movement against modernity.Successfully combining the academic disciplines of International Relations and social theory, this book will be of interest to academics and researchers interested in the Iranian revolution, modern Iran and political Islam working in the fields of Middle East and Islamic Studies, history, political science, political sociology, comparative politics, area studies and IR.