This book (in progress) examines the parallel nationalization and internationalization of the Iranian economy under Reza Shah (1921–1941). It argues that while Reza Shah’s recruitment of foreign expertise and capital established Iran as a minor node in the world economy, his developmental project institutionalized practices of corruption and patterns of wealth concentration that limited its progress from the outset. It also asks how Reza Shah’s unequal, impositional model was adapted by the governments of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah (1941–1979) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979–present).