Leaders of this world shape the happenings of their country's existence. They can destine the road the nation takes thereby determining the future of its everyday citizens. If a nation is set towards disaster, a leader and his platform can rescue it. If a nation is set towards prosperity, a leader and his party can destroy it. Leaders can contribute to the making or breaking of the global village. Iran is such a nation on this globe, laced with rich culture, traditions and a long history. The Iranian population has seen much from the great Persian Empire founded by the Greeks in 550 B.C. to several monarch dynasties conquering each other. Recently, however, for more than 65,000,000 Iranians located in the South West of Asia the Islamic revolution has surpassed it all. The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pehalvi carried out an autocratic rule from the late 40's up to 1979. His government was known for its loyalty towards the United States that supported it to exploit oil wealth from Iran. Efforts were made to Americanize the Iranian society. The regime's strategies increased inflation, distance between the castes, corruption and tyranny - much to the people's dismay. By 1977, unrest at the

Shah's rule was widespread, demonstrations and strikes were common, and the exiled Ruhollah Mussavi Khomeini took the stage to guide an upheaval. Khomeini emerged as one of the most important revolutionary leader the world has known in the twentieth century. He was proclaimed Time Magazine's 'Man of the Year' in 1979 (www.time.com), with an insistence that he was a repressive, Islamic extremist, to which most of the Western world concurs. Yet, he not only established one of the only working democracies in the Muslim world he was also well liked by much of the Iranian population. Ayatollah Khomeini was a maker of the twentieth century global village because of his extraordinary efforts as a spirited individual, a revolutionary and the Iranian leader from 1979 to 1989.

Subsequently, the triumphant Khomeini became the leader of Iran that did much for the reeling country with consensus and reform. A shift of power always brings chaos and devastating economic effects. Khomeini set up the Foundation for the Disinherited to take assets of the Pahlavi Foundation and assist low-income groups. Similarly, the Jihad for Reconstruction recruited young people for the construction of clinics, local roads, schools and similar facilities in villages and rural areas. Large scale agricultural landholdings were set to be redistributed among peasants. Khomeini and his provisional government rapidly created criminal codes and attempted to restore law and order to a people ensued by disorder from the massive labour strikes, demonstrations and fatalities. A referendum was held to let the Iranian nation decide between the monarchy and the Islamic republic. On August 3rd 1979, an Assembly of Experts was elected by the people that formed the new constitution which was later ratified by another election. This constitution, installed two factions, the Council of Guardians (a group of clerics) under a supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and a presidential parliament. The presence of a presidential parliament compared to the totalitarian rule under the Shah, provided new opportunities for people to be represented in the government. Furthermore, Khomeini's role in providing justice was clear. Even though, frictions between the Council of Guardians and the heads of state, Bazargan and Bani Sadr were common, Khomeini commented on it as little as possible, always hoping for a compromise (Algar). His step to impeach Bani Sadr was carefully done after a three man commission was installed to investigate the problems. Then, Khomeini gave the Council of Guardians power over the presidential parliament and assigned the Assembly for the Determination of Interest o

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Approximate Word count = 1783
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)