Iran is constantly pulled in opposite directions—i.e., between religion and nationalism, or populism and autocratism. In a way, this dialectic has led Iran to create a laboratory to test issues of Islam and governance.

With that broad overview of both the Islamic influence on Iran and Iran's specific experience, the question then becomes: How do you locate Iran in its regional and international setting? In trying to answer that question, you confront a bewildering array of contradictions. These contradictions make Iran a very interesting, but very frustrating country to study.