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For whoever succeeds the Ayatullah, many fruits of the revolution will remain bitter. Unbending militance has turned Iran into an international pariah, and most Muslims have resisted Khomeini's call for the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. It is possible, though, to compare his role with that of the 20th century's other great revolutionaries. Like the Soviet Union's Vladimir Lenin, he fomented a revolution from distant exile, then returned to try to bend it to his will. Like India's Mohandas Gandhi, he mobilized spiritual forces for political ends. Like China's Mao Zedong, he attempted to push beyond nationalism to ideological and cultural revolution, believing that by destroying the old order, he could create the conditions for the emergence of a utopia. As it turned out, however, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini could destroy but he could not build, and his legacy is a country in chaos.