Iran and Russian Imperialism: The Ideal Anarchists, 1800-1914.

• Author: Shokoohi, Saeed
• Position: Book review

By Moritz Deutschmann

London and New York: Routledge, 2016, 221 pages, $85,00, ISBN: 9781138937017.

Reviewed by Saeed Shokoohi, Allameh Tabatab'i University, Tehran, Iran

Moritz Deutschmann in his book Iran and Russian Imperialism: the Ideal Anarchists, 1800-1914, seeks to depict a broad and comprehensive picture of Russia's policy towards Iran, as one of its most important neighbors in Asia. It covers a key and critical era in Iran's modern history. The Iran and Russia wars, the Turkmanchay and Gulistan treaties and the Constitutional Revolution in Iran are important events that took shape during this era, with long-lasting effects on every aspect of political life in Iran, even up to now.

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"Ideal anarchists," a term borrowed from Konstantin Smirnov, a Russian orientalist, denotes what the author calls "disorder," or "absence of political order in Iran" (p. 1, pp. 213-14). Deutschmann tries to analyze Russian goals and strategies in Iran during the years between 1800 and 1914. He believes that the inefficiency and weakness of the central government (failed state) in Iran provided maneuvering room for other non-state actors such as tribal groups and urban merchants. The interactions of these actors with each other and with foreign powers (the "great game," p. 4), created a situation which the author calls "the unruliness of Iranian society." He argues that this unruliness was the main variable that shaped Russian policy toward Iran (p. 214), and even paved the ground for or legitimized Russia's intervention in Iran (p. 213). According to Deutschmann, Russia's major goal in Iran was to bring political stability to Iran's monarchical system. Besides that major goal, Russia pursued some economic and colonial objectives; another main objective of Moscow was border settlement in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

After a brief history of Iran-Russia relations, the author describes the relations between Russia and Iranian merchants (pp. 40-57) and nomads (pp. 58-78). Russia's imperialistic objectives in Iran, specifically its interventions in Iran's domestic developments such as the Constitutional Revolution, the civil war in Tabriz, and the opportunities and challenges posed by tribes constitute the remaining chapters of the book. Deutschmann evaluates Russia's role in Iran's internal politics as positive and constructive, supportive of the transformation of the Qajar dynasty and instrumental in bringing political...