Authors: Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Shah of Iran adorned with diamond-encrusted regalia for his coronation. (Photo by James L. Stanfield/National Geographic/Getty Images)
Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader Of Iran, 1978. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Libyan leader Muammar Kadaffi salutes his soldiers during a five-hour military parade in Tripoli to mark the 30th anniversary of the Libyan Revolution that brought him to power. September 7, 1999. (MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images
Aung San Suu Kiy after her victory in the Parliamentary Election In Yangon, Myanmar. April 2012. (Photo by Amandine Roche/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)