Colonialism? United States "Developmental" Influence in Mid-20th Century Iran

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 starkly reshaped the country, region, and its diplomatic relationship with the United States. The US-backed monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted, ending the Imperial State of Iran in favor of a theocratic Islamic Republic. Modern history posits that the United States, through its 40-year influential campaign in Iran, was contributory to the sociopolitical instability necessary for the Revolution. In this paper, I will discuss such US influence from 1947 to 1979 through the ideological frameworks of colonialism and "development." Through analysis of (i) declassified US government documents and (ii) Western historiographical and theoretical literature, I will argue that Iran was an intentional test case of how the "benefits" of extraction and political capital to the "colonizer" could be experienced without the "detriments" of revolution and negative public opinion. Based on my findings, I suggest improvements to the guiding principles of future American aid-based foreign influence efforts.