Book Review: Homa Omid, Islam and the Post-Revolutionary State in Iran (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1994, 263 pp., £45.00 hbk.)
| Date | 01 July 1995 |
| Published date | 01 July 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/030582989502400228 |
| Author | Khalil Dokhanchi |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
344
A
recurring
theme
in
these
essays
is
the
relationship
between
minority
protection
and
European
integration.
Historically,
attempts
to
establish effective
transnational
minority
protection
have
usually
foundered
on
the
rock of
state
sovereignty.
The
doctrine
that
states
should
have
supreme
authority
in
their
own
territory
has
frustrated
efforts
to
establish
international
monitoring
of
the
treatment
of
minorities,
and
continues
to
temper
the
enthusiasm
of
the
international
community
for
external
intervention
to
enforce
minority
rights.
Several
of
the
authors
speculate
that,
as
European
integration
proceeds,
this
problem
may
recede:
in
a
Europe
of
the
regions,
minorities
may
be
able
to
achieve
greater
autonomy
without
destabilising
or
threatening
the
territorial
order.
It
is
by
no
means
certain,
however,
that
minority
protection
and
European
integration
will
prove
to
be
so
compatible.
For
example,
accommodation
in
the
South
Tyrol
has
been
achieved
through
an
entrenchment
of
minority
privileges
(in
terms
of
employment
and
the
status
of
the
German
language)
that
is
almost
certainly
incompatible
with
the
principle
of
freedom
of
movement
enshrined
in
the
European
Single
Market.
Moreover,
the
scenario
outlined
above
not
only
assumes
the
smooth
continuation
of
the
Maastricht
process,
but
would
also
do
little
for
minorities
in
European
countries
that
are
unlikely
to
join
the
EU
for
some
time.
The
example
of
EU
policy
towards
the
former
Yugoslavia,
and,
in
particular,
the
alacrity
with
which
it
accepted
the
idea
of
the
cantonisation
of
Bosnia
along
ethnic
lines,
should
scarcely
make
us
sanguine
about
its
commitment
to
maintaining
ethnic
pluralism
and
protecting
minorities
outside
its
own
borders.
In
a
judicious
conclusion,
Hugh
Miall
attempts
to
point
the
way
forward.
The
current
regime
is
clearly
unsatisfactory,
he
argues,
because
the
adequate
rights
accorded
to
minorities
in
theory
are
not
implemented
in
practice.
In
the
long
term,
the
enlargement
of
European
institutions
can
be
expected
to
help,
but
in
t4
meantime,
states
must
be
encouraged
to
follow
good
practice
through
increased
transnational
measures,
such
as
the
imposition
of
conditions
before
new
states
are
admitted
to
international
organisations.
In
extreme
cases,
where
minority
rights
are
flagrantly
being
abused,
military
intervention
or
sanctions
should
be
considered,
even
though
such
steps
are
fraught
with
peril
and
could
be
counter-productive.
The
development
of
the
existing
regime
will
not
be
easy,
but
it
is
imperative
given
the
deterioration
in
the
position
of
many
minorities
in
recent
years.
Ultimately,
however,
as
Miall
recognises,
the
problem
of
minority
protection
cannot
be
divorced
from
the
much
greater
problem
of
consolidating
democracy
and
respect
for
human
rights
in
the
new
Europe.
Books
like
this
necessarily
date
quickly,
but
for
the
time
being,
Minority
Rights
in
Europe
constitutes
an
excellent
introduction
to
an
intractable
subject.
It
is
a
timely
contribution
when,
as
Miall
points
out,
’the
present
situation
of
minorities
in
many
parts
of
Europe
is
bleak’
(p.
119).
PATRICK
FINNEY
Patrick
Finney,
is
Lecturer
in
History
at
the
University
of
Wales,
Lampeter
Homa
Omid,
Islam
and
the
Post-Revolutionary
State
in
Iran
(New
York,
NY:
St.
Martin’s
Press,
1994,
263
pp.,
£45.00
hbk.).
This
book
examines
the
evolution
of
the
Iranian
state
during
the
nineteenth
and
twentieth
centuries,
with
particular
attention
to
the
years
following
the
1979
Islamic
Revolution.
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