Exploration of the Reasons for the Collapse of Pahlavi II Government (1320-1357 SH): An Analysis from the Perspective of the Destabilizing State Theory

The present study aims to explore and explain the collapse of Pahlavi II using the destabilizing state theory. The reasons for the collapse of the said government have been analyzed based on historical documents and the destabilizing state theory. The paper portrays the subject by scrutinizing historical reasons and evidence found in credible sources. The fundamental issue is the identification of factors and explaining their role in the collapse. The indicators of the destabilizing state theory have been used to examine and explain various historical data. This research, based on library sources, memoirs, documents, and newspapers, and a descriptive-analytical qualitative method, aims to answer the question of ‘Which variables involved in the collapse of the Pahlavi II government are based on the destabilizing state theory and why did the Pahlavi government collapse?’ The results indicated that the variables involved in the collapse of the Pahlavi regime include: Legitimacy crisis, inefficiency in providing public services, law evasion accompanied by violence, coercion and suppression, infiltration of the SAVAK security forces, foreign interventions, especially by the United States, demographic pressure, migration from villages to cities and particularly to Tehran, superiority and decisiveness of revolutionary forces, undeveloped economic structure, rapid and erratic economic growth, and financial corruption.