A Study of Explanations of Unpredictability of Islamic Revolution of Iran

All theorists and researchers on revolution are unanimously of the opinion that the occurrence of Islamic Revolution in Iran imposed heavy shock on all observers and analysts from the journalists and diplomats to Iranian thinkers and researchers of revolutions and social movements. On this basis, a question comes forth, i.e. how come the Islamic Revolution in Iran has immensely shocked and astonished all – including key players, expert regional observers, and revolution specialists in social and political sciences? In response to this question, some scientists of social and political sciences have made clarifications and presented explanations to say why the Islamic Revolution was unpredictable. In this study, authors have tried to explain about three major clarifications on unpredictability of the Islamic Revolution. Each of these clarifications has founded its reasoning chiefly on a key factor, and has accordingly presented a clarifying model for this astonishment: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification by Timur Kuran; Chaos in the Process of Revolution by Nikki Keddie; and The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran by Charles Kurzman. The quality of making each clarification has been reviewed in detail by each researcher.