Ramin Jahanbegloo is an Iranian-Canadian political philosopher. He is currently the Executive Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the Vice-Dean of the School of Law at Jindal Global University - Delhi - India. 2001. Widely celebrated and published internationally, in 2006 Dr Jahanbegloo was arrested at Tehran Airport and served four months in solitary confinement, charged with preparing a velvet revolution in Iran. He is the winner of the Peace Prize from the United Nations Association in Spain (2009), and more recently the winner of the Josep Palau i Fabre International Essay Prize. He is also the founder of the movement ‘Non-violence Without Borders’.Mohammad Ali Foroughi (1877–1942), was an Iranian politician and diplomat, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Iran. A prolific writer and a translator of Descartes in Persian, Foroughi could be considered as a chief architect of the Iranian Enlightenment.

Jahanbegloo’s essay searches for a new ideology to replace the tired old dogmas.

• Prologue: The Land of Hidden Politics 1I. ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’ 11II. Mapping Persianism 19III. The Changing Concept of the Intellectual in Iran 29IV. Muhammad Ali Foroughi: Enlightening the Ideaof Persia 43V. Do Iranians Dream of Democracy? 55VI. Is Nonviolence Possible in Iran? 73Epilogue: Thinking and Acting without Heroes and Saints 93Bibliography 101Appendix I: ‘Why should one love Iran?’by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 105Appendix II: ‘Rights in Iran’ by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 113Index 132Acknowledgements 134

Ramin Jahanbegloo is an Iranian-Canadian political philosopher. He is currently the Executive Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the Vice-Dean of the School of Law at Jindal Global University - Delhi - India. 2001. Widely celebrated and published internationally, in 2006 Dr Jahanbegloo was arrested at Tehran Airport and served four months in solitary confinement, charged with preparing a velvet revolution in Iran. He is the winner of the Peace Prize from the United Nations Association in Spain (2009), and more recently the winner of the Josep Palau i Fabre International Essay Prize. He is also the founder of the movement ‘Non-violence Without Borders’.Mohammad Ali Foroughi (1877–1942), was an Iranian politician and diplomat, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Iran. A prolific writer and a translator of Descartes in Persian, Foroughi could be considered as a chief architect of the Iranian Enlightenment.

Jahanbegloo’s essay searches for a new ideology to replace the tired old dogmas.

• Prologue: The Land of Hidden Politics 1I. ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’ 11II. Mapping Persianism 19III. The Changing Concept of the Intellectual in Iran 29IV. Muhammad Ali Foroughi: Enlightening the Ideaof Persia 43V. Do Iranians Dream of Democracy? 55VI. Is Nonviolence Possible in Iran? 73Epilogue: Thinking and Acting without Heroes and Saints 93Bibliography 101Appendix I: ‘Why should one love Iran?’by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 105Appendix II: ‘Rights in Iran’ by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 113Index 132Acknowledgements 134

Ramin Jahanbegloo is an Iranian-Canadian political philosopher. He is currently the Executive Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the Vice-Dean of the School of Law at Jindal Global University - Delhi - India. 2001. Widely celebrated and published internationally, in 2006 Dr Jahanbegloo was arrested at Tehran Airport and served four months in solitary confinement, charged with preparing a velvet revolution in Iran. He is the winner of the Peace Prize from the United Nations Association in Spain (2009), and more recently the winner of the Josep Palau i Fabre International Essay Prize. He is also the founder of the movement ‘Non-violence Without Borders’.Mohammad Ali Foroughi (1877–1942), was an Iranian politician and diplomat, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Iran. A prolific writer and a translator of Descartes in Persian, Foroughi could be considered as a chief architect of the Iranian Enlightenment.

Jahanbegloo’s essay searches for a new ideology to replace the tired old dogmas.

• Prologue: The Land of Hidden Politics 1I. ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’ 11II. Mapping Persianism 19III. The Changing Concept of the Intellectual in Iran 29IV. Muhammad Ali Foroughi: Enlightening the Ideaof Persia 43V. Do Iranians Dream of Democracy? 55VI. Is Nonviolence Possible in Iran? 73Epilogue: Thinking and Acting without Heroes and Saints 93Bibliography 101Appendix I: ‘Why should one love Iran?’by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 105Appendix II: ‘Rights in Iran’ by Muhammad Ali Foroughi 113Index 132Acknowledgements 134