CONTENTS Features

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini greets supporters in Tehran in February 1979 after his return to Iran following the departure of the last shah. In this issue, on the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, two historians explore its long-term aftermath

16 THE BIG QUESTION

What makes for a good peace? J

A century after postwar reconstruction and reconciliation got underway in Europe, six historians debate the conditions that contribute to lasting, meaningful peace 24 The thin white line: America’s war on drugs J

BY BENJAMIN T SMITH Modern global approaches to narcotics trafficking and addiction owe much to one dogged, draconian US official 44 How the last shah lost Iran J

BY ALI ANSARI Forty years on, we examine the causes and consequences of the Iranian Revolution Plus The team behind a new BBC series discuss the challenges of dramatising history

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52 The unlikely a erlife of Cyrus the Great J

BY LLOYD LLEWELLYN-JONES How an ancient Persian conqueror was adopted as an icon by Iran’s disaffected youth 63 THE LONG READ

A history of weakness J

BY JONATHAN HOLSLAG Why fragility, not strength, powers change 70 Two worlds collide J

BY CAROLINE DODDS PENNOCK Revisit the pivotal encounter between Spanish conquistadors and the Aztecs 78 The horror of war BY AÏCHA MEHREZ The brutality and bleakness of conflict, as captured by photographer Don McCullin

J On the cover

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY DAVIDE BONAZZI

I M A G E S

G E T T Y