Impartial and objective studies of history prove this assertion to be based on a number of prejudices and erroneous assumptions. Farhad Sepahbodi Farhad Sepahbodi is a former Iranian diplomat with a cross-cultural background. Educated in Iran, France and America he joined theMinistry of Foreign Affairs in 1955 and traveled extensively within his own country and throughout the world. He was Ambassador toMorocco when the revolution occurred. Presently he is a diplomatic correspondent for a French press agency.
Cynics call the internet a fad.
The fanatics call it a revolution. The internet can not he called a short-lived fad since it contributes tothe creation of new products and services which will change the lives of every one. There is a common belief among contemporary historians that the first serious efforts in Iran to establish contacts with the IndustrialWest occurred after Iran's defeat by Tsarist Russia in a series of ruinous wars at the beginning of the 19th century. The Iranian elite thought that imitating the West would save the country from backwardness and would cure many of its social and economic ills. The author, in part two of his article, studies the consequences of such an approach to Western society and its achievements.