Iran has rarely been out of the headlines. Yet media interest and extensive coverage has tended to hinder rather than help our understanding of Iran as an idea, an identity, and a people, leading to a superficial understanding of what is a complex and nuanced political culture and civilization. This[...]
For millennia, the sages of the past have claimed that the world is maya or 'illusion'. Neo-Sufi philosophy discusses the precise set of mechanisms through which the artefact of the separate self arises and is perpetuated. It shows that there are two outstanding paths within Sufism - the path of sel[...]
The first full-length study of Iranian nationalism in nearly five decades, this sophisticated and challenging book by the distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. It does so by considering the broader developments in national ideologies t[...]
Distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores ideas about nationalism and how they apply to twentieth-century Iran.[...]
From the Sasanian to the Safavid Empire, and from Qajar Iran to the current Islamic Republic, the history of Iran is one which has been colored by a rich tradition of myths and narratives and shaped by its wealth of philosophers, cultural theorists and political thinkers. Perceptions of Iran dissect[...]