 Gonzalez perceives Iran's modern popular movements, including the 1978-1979 Revolution, as part of a two-pronged trend toward independence from foreign intervention on the one hand, and "independence from unjust rulers" on the other.According to Gonzalez, the phenomenon comprises "roughly the last one and a half centuries of Iranian modern history.This trajectory has led Iran to violently release itself from the shackles of foreign intervention, and has put Iran closer to homegrown democracy than any nation in the neighboring Arab world."