Should the United States succeed in toppling the existing Iranian regime, an increasingly likely outcome as it intensifies both economic pressure and gunboat diplomacy, the man most mentioned as a leader-in-waiting is Reza Pahlavi. Long exiled in Washington, he is the son of the late Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, shah of shahs, king of kings, himself deposed by Islamists in a year-long revolution that began in 1978 and ended early the next year with the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from his own Paris exile. The revolution and the brutal theocracy that followed were not spontaneous events. Since 1967, when the king of kings was himself crowned in a lavish ceremony that at the time was rumored to have cost a billion dollars, Iran’s merchants, rural residents, Islamic clergy, and even its growing middle class had grown restive. Many believed the new and mostly secular Iran had sold out to the west, the U.S. in particular. The shah proclaimed himself a devoted capitalist and anti-communist, a stance that enticed Western support. But as doubt and income disparity grew, he responded in much the same way as the Islamists who would replace him, encouraging a secret police known as SAVAK to arrest and detain at will. Many were tortured, some killed, and others simply vanished. In September 1978 came a massive earthquake: 25,000 died, and the slow, seemingly uncaring government response incited the whirlwind of dissent and fury that would ultimately force the monarch to flee. When Khomeini made his stern-faced return from Paris, millions thronged the streets to welcome him. Finally, the tyrant shah was gone. It is now 50 years later, and all seems set to swivel again. This is called history, and because of its fickleness, it is constantly teaching paradoxical lessons. Best to sit down, pocket your smartphone, pay attention, and take smart notes, lest it surprise you again.