'A valuable contribution to the debate on a subject of enormous importance to our times. Abdolmohammadi and Cama have produced a thought-provoking analysis of a State that continues to frustrate and fascinate the international community in equal measure. -- Ali Ansari, Professor in Modern History, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK 'It is an insightful book challenging the main-stream thoughts on the Islamic Republic's complex political system. -- Vincenzo Nigro, la Repubblica 'A forensic and fascinating study of Iran under the Ayatollahs, unpicking its constituent parts of their rule layer by layer. Pejman Abdolmohammadi and Giampiero Cama uncover the secret of the Islamic Republics durability. They reveal the hybridity of its political system - a mishmash of theocracy and democracy - which has given it the flexibility to survive into its fifth decade. -- Nicolas Pelham, The Economist This book is a comprehensive analysis of the domestic and foreign politics of Iran, focusing on its complex nature from political, social and cultural perspectives. It has adopted a multidisciplinary approach, combining comparative politics and intellectual and modern history with international relations. It analyses the institutional structure of the Islamic Republic, the main political and social actors and alliances, as well as Iranian opposition forces both inside and outside the country. The book tries to simplify the seemingly intractable complexity of the Islamic Republic by demystifying it and using political science methods to prove that it is a peculiar hybrid regime. Pejman Abdolmohammadi is a Senior Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of International Studies, University of Trento, Italy. He was a Resident Research Fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK from 2015 to 2018. Giampiero Cama is a Full Professor of Comparative Politics and International Relations in the Department of Political Sci ence at the University of Genova, Italy.

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Contemporary Iran: The confrontation between modernity and tradition -- Chapter 3. The institutional structure of the Islamic Republic: A peculiar hybrid regime -- Chapter 4. The main institutional and social players in Iran -- Chapter 5. The dynamics of politics in the Islamic Republic and the challenge of the opposition -- Chapter 6. Irans role in regional and global politics -- Chapter 7. Conclusions.