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This article examines SOCIO - cultural factors facilitating development in general and then deals with the obstacles to cultural development in Iran. The author takes "cultural development as the bases of any true development and adopts an endogenous approach to its study. The hypothesis of this research attempts to verify that cultural development is largely a domestic transformation and formation of internal coherence, i.e, if this
coherence is obtained, cultural development will follow". In other words, internal coherence, and, cultural development are the independent and dependent variables respectively. The author argues that lack of coherence in the structures of a political unit leads to underdevelopment and the existence of coherence means preparation for confronting external attack. The locus of this coherence, which is itself a consequence of intellectual coherence, is the elites. In their view of development, economic, political and intellectual elites should reach a kind of coherence, coordination and convergence in order to create a coherent society.
The author presents various ways for achieving this coherence. He examines the role of five other independent variables affecting


conflicts, functioning of social system and natural factors such as biological and racial elements.