FOCUS 46 Iran is currently the country experienc- the goals and aims of the NEF, along with ing the largest loss of human resources in its characteristics and its beneficiaries, Nurturing Asia: at the end of the 1990s, economists addressing the question of whether the Intellectuals estimated Iranian brain drain to be at fif- Islamic republic successfully nurtures its teen percent (Carrington and Detragiache own intellectuals. in the Islamic 48). This emigration of highly skilled pro- fessionals and academics has become a Defining Elite Republic. vitally important issue for the leaders of the Modern elites can be divided in functional Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the past sev- sector elites and partial elites. Following The National eral years, active efforts have been made Gächter (7-8), one can also distinguish be- to deal with this challenge, which greatly tween different categories of elites, such Elites Foundation affects the Iranian economy, as well as as birth elites, value elites, functional elites, the country’s scientific and technological power elites, position elites, political elites, Julie S. Leube role in the region. One of the measures and counter-elites. In most classical cases, implemented is the establishment of the different forms are combined in a system, In the past decades, constant brain drain National Elites Foundation (Bonyad-e i.e. birth and power elites accompany a has become a serious challenge for the Melli-ye Nokhbegan, hereafter referred monarchy, power and position elites go Islamic Republic of Iran. Since the be- to as NEF) in 2005. Since most research with a totalitarian regime, while functional ginning of the 1990s, awareness of the on Iranian brain drain is based on data ac- elites may also demonstrate characteristics problem and hence measures to counter quired from outside of the country, exist- of performance elites. The constitution of this trend have increased. After some ef- ing research must be considered incom- and affiliation between elites in a particular forts to attract Iranian expatriates’ inter- plete and reflective of a highly external socio-political system is related to historical est in investment in—or even remigration view on the subject. Due to this deficit, the and social change (Gächter 8). to—Iran, in 2005 the National Elites Foun- present study aims to make a contribution Adapting and modifying Perthes’ model dation was established. The foundation through examining and evaluating for the on changing elites in the Middle East focuses on identification of highly gifted first time the statutes, documents, and (“Einleitung” 18) and Buchta’s model of individuals, and support and preserva- reports of the NEF, and the country’s ef- Iranian informal power structures (9), Re- tion of the domestic elites to which they forts to stop or even reverse further migra- iss-ner puts Iranian elites in three concen- belong. Both material and non-material tion of elites from Iran. The main question tric circles: (1) an inner-circle elite, which support are granted to select groups of raised in this article is: What is the Iranian consists of high-ranking clerics and reli- beneficiaries, thus reflecting the Islamic government’s perception of elite, and how gious laymen, with the latter having en- Republic’s attempts to support and care is this definition influenced by brain drain? tered this circle only since the election of for its citizens’ public and private lives.1 Furthermore, this article seeks to introduce President Ahmadinejad. The inner-circle Middle East – Topics & Arguments #01–2 013 FOCUS 47 elite determines the course of the Islamic of “decision-makers,” but rather incorpo- Iranian Brain Drain republic—but contrary to during the first rates “opinion-makers” as well (Rakel 16; What factors and conditions have influ- ten years after the revolution, no longer Perthes, Arab Elites 5). enced this definition of elite? The Islamic dominates discourse, rather only reacts The Iranian government and respective- Revolution of 1979 represented a major to it. (2) Members of the administrative ly the NEF defines elite in its Statute of turning point. Starting in the 1950s, Iran’s elite who participate and advise in the Recruitment and Preservation of Elites prospering economy, increasing oil rev- political decision-making process. They (“Āʾin-nameh-ye jazb va negahdari-ye enues, and a change in Iranian society are predominantly state employees who niru-ye ensani-ye nokhbeh”) as a group from traditionalism to modernism led an largely work in secular professions, and of persons intelligent, capable, creative, increasing number of upper- and middle- the group has greatly increased since the and endowed with a brilliant mind. They class families to send their children to revolution. (3) An outer circle consisting are said to contribute to the acceleration schools and universities abroad, mainly of the discourse elite is the most hetero- of the country’s growth and develop- in the US, Great Britain, West Germany, geneous group: its members participate ment with their intellectual activities and France, Austria, and Italy. With the Islamic in discourse on political, economic, and creations (Āʾin-nameh-ye jazb va negah- Revolution, and closure of Iranian Universi- socio-cultural issues. Along with journal- dari), while having a noticeable influence ties in 1980 that was to last for three years, ists, academics, and writers, members of on the output and spread of science, art, a mass emigration of Iranian professionals this circle may come from the previous technology, culture, and administration of began. The new government considered two circles, and it could be considered the country (Āshnayi ba zavabet 12). Re- Western-educated professors and schol- an intellectual elite (191-99). In addition, ferring to the categorization presented ars gharbzadeh, which can be translated Rakel—based on Perthes—argues that the by Gächter (8), these state-defined elites as “indoctrinated by the West” or “wes- politically relevant elite not only distin- can be classified as “performance elites” toxicated,” and did not mind them leaving. guishes itself through positions in state who are distinguished by above-average This attitude towards the emigrated elites institutions, decision-making on domestic achievements in their respective profes- remained predominant until the end of the and foreign policy, or active involvement sional fields. In the current power system Iran-Iraq War and the start of a new agen- in policy formulation—but also through its of the Islamic Republic, according to the da of economic policies under President participation in defining norms and val- models offered by Perthes and Reissner, Rafsandjani in 1989. In order to rebuild the ues. From this perspective, the definition such elites are part of the third and outer- war-torn country and its economy, the gov- of elite is hence much wider, including most circle. They therefore belong to the ernment called for Iranian specialists and politicians of the opposition, journalists, intellectual-discourse elite as “opinion- professionals to return home to Iran. How- high bureaucrats, leading economists, makers” in the Iranian socio-political field ever, until 1993, only 2,600 highly skilled members of the security agencies, intel- of discourse. professionals and scientists answered this lectuals, etc. Therefore, the politically rele- call. In light of an estimated diaspora of vant elite in Iran is not made up exclusively one to four million people of Iranian origin Middle East – Topics & Arguments #01–2 013 FOCUS 48 worldwide, including relatively high edu- social insecurity, limited freedom of the Purpose and Practices of the cational qualifications among this group, press, and living conditions in a political Foundation the efforts of the Iranian government until and social system saturated by religious- The foundation regards its own task as the then must be seen as highly unsuccessful moralistic rules set the stage for a further identification, guidance, and financial and (Torbat 276, 280; Hakimzadeh). outflow of know-how. The Iranian Ministry spiritual support of elites with the purpose The term brain drain (farar-e maghz-ha) of Science, Research and Technology as- of accelerating scientific and technologi- did not emerge in the official rhetoric of sessed the financial loss caused by brain cal productivity and the country’s develop- the Islamic Republic of Iran until the late drain at about 38 billion US dollars each ment. With the foundation, an advanced 1990s. Awareness of not only a lack, but year. In past years, four out of five Iranian scientific, technological, and economic even a constant loss of know-how in the winners of international science Olympi- position in the Middle East is to be at- country emerged only during this decade. ads have chosen to leave the country for tained. These defined goals lie within the One of its consequences was the demand better opportunities abroad (Hakimza- framework of a perspective paper issued for more academic freedom in 1997 by deh).2 by the Expediency Discernment Council Mostafa Mo’in, then-President Khatami’s In 2004, the Iranian government initiated a (Majmaʿ-e Tashkhis-e Maslahat-e Nezam), education minister. President Khatami’s new approach to safeguard the country’s which came into effect in 2005. The paper visit to the Unites States in 2000, during human resources: the focus shifted from outlines a distinct development of the which he attended the UN Millennium recruitment of highly qualified specialists country in the fields of economy, science, Summit and expressed his concern over abroad, to the identification and support politics, culture, and society in four five- Iranian brain drain, along with an interest of professionals and experts already in the year plans until 2025, and shows that the in attracting wealthy Iranians to invest in country. In September 2004, the council Iranian government is well aware of the their home country, can be considered of ministers (heyʾat-e vaziran) passed the significance of highly qualified profes- another landmark.