From opposition to revolution: The dynamics of change in Iran and Afghanistan

As the theories of revolution have been incapable of explaining the revolution in Iran in 1979 and a revolutionary movement which succeeded in toppling the communist regime in Afghanistan in 1992, a new model has been developed in this study in order to explain revolution and revolutionary process in these two nations. The four significant components of this model are nationalism, religion, expectations of legal and political settings, and the role of socio-political movements and strategy in the course of revolutionary changes in these two nations.; The values activated under nationalism in these two nations generated a desire for an independent national government. Nationalism and its espoused values paved the way for a clash between the values advocated by the political regimes and those upheld and cherished by the majority of the people in these two nations. These two values which were diametrically opposed contributed to the regime's loss of support among both the intelligentsia and the masses in Iran. In Afghanistan, nationalism and its espoused values did not let the communist government gain any support among the masses. This clash of values became partially responsible for the surge of revolutionary upheaval and change in these two nations.; Religion and the values it activated and advocated in the realm of reconstruction of a just and moral society generated a new fervor for change. These values which were rediscovered and introduced under the guise of the Islamic resurgence, effectively challenged the dominant values espoused by the governments in these two nations. As these governments could not fulfill the requirements of these new values and could not satisfy the new emerging expectations, the Iranian government lost support and the communist regime in Afghanistan could gain no preliminary support, thus preparing the ground for revolutionary change.; Molded under nationalism and Islam, expectations of legal and political settings challenged the norms and values advocated by both regimes in governmental and political systems of these two countries. As the people in these Iran began to actively demand democratic institutions and participatory politics and the Pahlavi regime became more incapable of meeting these demands, the governments lost support and the path was paved for revolutionary change. In Afghanistan, the communist regime which was totalitarian in nature dominated the politics of the country. Consequently, it aroused opposition which paved the way for a broad revolutionary movement in this country.; Finally, the socio-political movements, which did not have the rigid organizational structures, gave content to the discrepancies created in these two societies and challenged effectively the dominant hegemonical ideology of the political regimes, while offering alternative values in government and society. These socio-political movements, alongside with revolutionary strategies made a revolution in Iran and a revolutionary process in Afghanistan possible.