Kian Tajbakhsh | Columbia DC | March 18, 2021
Iran at 1400: The case for a new century of hope
Prof. Kian Tajbakhsh, GSAPP’93, GSAS’93
Sr. Advisor to the EVP, Columbia Global Centers, Columbia University Office of the President
Prof. Djavad Salehi‐Isfahani, Harvard’74,’77
Professor of Economics, Virginia Tech, Sr. Fellow Brookings Institution
Host: Nazila Fathi
Author and Former NYT correspondent
Exactly a century ago in 1921, a coup d’état In Iran brought Reza Khan and eventually the Pahlavi dynasty into power. The ensuing century witnessed a dizzying interplay of nationalism, populism, and religion in what culminated in the Revolution of 1979 and ushered the new system of the government. Sizable Middleclass, strong national pride, and a reasonably good education system should have naturally instituted stronger bonds with western democracies, but the ancient world’s passions and prejudices authored a far less auspicious course of history. The short-sighted and transactional policies of the west particularly the US did not help either.
Now a new century is about to begin in Iran on Nowruz (Spring Vernal Equinox, March 20th, 2021) at 1400 Persian calendar year. And there is hope it could be a prosperous one.
Join our expert panel as they discuss Iran’s predominant subcultures and sentiments, social and civic development, geopolitical position, and economic outlook at the dawn of the new century.