Winds of Change: The Future of Democracy in Iran

Winds of Change, by Prince Reza Pahlavi, was published by Regnery in Washington in 2002 and is a political manifesto for a peaceful transition to democracy in Iran. Its Persian edition followed two years later under the title "The Future of Democracy in Iran." Short but pointed, the book sets out the Prince's strategy for ending the Islamic Republic and building a free Iran.

In it, Prince Reza Pahlavi stresses non-violent struggle, civil disobedience, and the will of the people as the engine of change. He invokes the model of the "velvet revolutions" — including Serbia's — and rejects any return to iron-fisted rule; he places the future in the nation's hands and insists on a referendum and the citizens' right to determine their own destiny.

For diaspora readers, Winds of Change is clear evidence that the leadership of Iran's democracy movement argued for peaceful transition and secular democracy years before the recent uprisings — a book that still frames the debate over Iran's tomorrow.