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Begin New Search Political Geography Iran Content Type Journal Article

281. Ontological Security and the Foreign Policy Analysis of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Author:
Seyed Jalal Dehghani Firoozabadi
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the past three decades has witnessed a variety of developments and trends. This, in a way that even within the framework of basic and fixed fundamentals and principles, Iranian foreign policy has shown different behaviors. On the other hand, despite the changes and developments in the domestic and international arenas, some behaviors on the part of Iran have remained unchanged. Thus, there has always been a fundamental question: what is the main motive and reason for the behavior of Iran via its foreign policy? In response to this question, the theories analyzing foreign policy and international relations explain the motives for Iran's behavior on the basis of the concept of physical security. However in this article, the behavioral motive and reasoning behind Iranian foreign policy are analyzed based on the ontological security theory. Through this prism, the most important behavioral motives of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during conflicts are to consistently seek and ensure ontological security. Meaning, Iran, in its foreign policy, is more concerned about preserving its own identity as an Islamic state and gives preference and priority to ensuring ontological security which translates into preserving and sustaining Iran's Islamic identity.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Iran

282. The Myth of Iranian–Arab Enmity: A Deconstructive Approach

Author:
Kourosh Ahmadi
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The paper aims to critically consider the proposition maintaining that the contemporary state of affairs between Iran and the Arab world results from an endemic, deep-rooted enmity between these two peoples with roots in the annals of history. To elucidate its argument, the paper offers a brief review of the major ups and downs in the historical relationship between Iranians and Arabs to see whether animosity or good-neighbourliness has mainly prevailed. Then, seeking to pinpoint the causes of uneasiness in the Iranian-Arab relationship since the 1950s, the focus of the paper turns to the formation of pan-Arab ideology and its strong anti-Iranian elements. Major differences in outlooks, coupled with territorial and diplomatic disagreements, had Nasserite Egypt and especially Ba'athist Iraq embrace these elements and begin implementing them to their full and extreme extent at a time when a monarchical West-leaning regime was in power in Iran. The paper concludes that the uneasiness in Iran-Arab relations during the past five to six decades has been situational and a modern phenomenon, chiefly stemming from specific political circumstances with certain roots in nation-building activities in the concerned countries. Hence, historical and ethno-religious or civilizational roots of this strained relationship are either non-existent or insignificant.
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, Middle East, Arabia, and Egypt

283. Iran Russia: From Balance of Power to Identity Analysis

Author:
Mahmood Shoori
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Various theoretical approaches in the field of international relations offer different answers to the existing ambiguities and questions about why Russian-Iranian ties have expanded in the post-USSR era. While realist approaches try to define the growth in Russian-Iranian cooperation within the framework of ties between major powers and their continuous efforts to establish balance of power, liberal approaches relate states' motives and aims of establishing such levels of relations to economic and material interests. Here, a subject being somehow ignored by the two approaches is that both Iran and Russia, as far as identity developments are concerned, have passed through a situation in which they felt a need to reconstruct their identities after the demise of the USSR. This article argues that during the aforementioned period, Iran and Russia, apart from meeting each other's security needs or rare material interests -reliable foreign exchange for Russia and embargoed technologies for Iran- they were also a source for meeting their identity needs. The post-USSR era, and especially under Vladimir Putin, Iran has served as the most important arena providing Russia with the possibility of acting like a major world power. Russia's behavior has been one of the major challenges to the international isolation of Iran in recent years.
Political Geography:
Russia and Iran

284. The Dynamism of Iran-India Relations: 1979-2009

Author:
Mandana Tishehyar
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Relations between Iran and India, two ancient civilizations, go far back in history. However, the contemporary politico-economic relations between these two major Asian powers, especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, are affected by various different domestic, regional and international elements. The main objective of this research is to analyze the dominant foreign policy trends in Iran-India relations during the last three decades. A historical review of the evolution of transitional trends in Iran and India's foreign policy approaches, especially during the Post-Cold War era, with an emphasis on the role of different internal, regional and international elements in shaping these approaches, would bring new light on the study of relations between these two countries. The effects of these different approaches on Indo-Iranian relations and the future perspective of these policies will be analyzed in this paper.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, India, and Asia

285. Taliban's Factor in U.S.-Iran Relations: 2001-2009

Author:
Majid Behestani and Mahdi Hedayati Shahidani
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the state of interaction between Tehran and Washington has seen considerable ups and downs. Conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran's national interests and those of the United States gave rise to the dominance of strategic confrontation between the two states, though some cooperative actions have been witnessed between the two sides. The last example refers to some collaboration between Iran and the United States concerning the question of Afghanistan. In this article, we seek to analyze the trend governing the two actors' behavior in the region between 2001 and 2009, using a historical approach and considering the Taliban's agency.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iran, Washington, Tehran, and Taliban

286. Oil and Iranian Foreign Policy (Book Review)

Author:
Seyed Shamseddin Sadeghi
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Possessing the world's third largest oil reserves and the second largest natural gas reserves - as well as being located at the center of the strategic energy ellipse - Iran has always played a strategic role in the realm of the political economy of oil in the world. On the other hand, during the past 150 years, energy, and most notably oil and gas, have enjoyed a significant place in the formation of Iran's political economy as well as national interests and it can continue to play a crucial role in the promotion of Iran's regional and international status.
Political Geography:
Iran

287. Soft Power and the Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Book Review)

Author:
Samaneh Farazi
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Power is the key parameter determining countries' status and their ties in the realm of international relations. Developments in the global political economy, through changes in the nature and forms of power, have decreased the significance of soft power sources over hard power in the process of foreign policy-making in various countries in order to attain national interests and goals. The main objective of this book is to provide an understanding of soft power and its application in foreign policy, within the framework of developments related to the global political economy.
Political Geography:
Iran

288. Turkey: New Policies in the Middle East

Author:
A. Lukmanov
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
IN THE 15TH CENTURY, Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin driven by business interests traveled to the arab east, Iran and India, a highly risky enterprise at that time. he went to “bring goods to the Russian land” but after three years of wandering had to admit with a great deal of bitterness: “There is no way from the hormuz to horasan; no way to Chagatai; no way to baghdad; no way to bahrain, no way to yezd, no way to arabia – everywhere the princes are fighting.” This was written five centuries ago; the intrepid traveler is nearly forgotten, probably because of continued instability and the consistently failing attempts to bring peace to the region (instability was responsible for the failure of the first Russian commercial project in the near and Middle east).
Political Geography:
Russia, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, India, and Baghdad

289. Doubling Down on Iran

Author:
Ray Takeyh and Kenneth M. Pollack
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
It is natural for monumental events to drown out all other issues, and what has transpired in the Middle East these past months has been nothing short of stunning. The region's dramatic, wonderful, dangerous upheaval has fixed the attention of the world. As such, it is easy to have missed the recent developments both in Iran as well as between Iran and the international community. Although far less dramatic and far less hopeful they have the potential to be no less meaningful for the Middle East and the United States.
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and Middle East

290. American and European Responses to the Arab Spring: What's the Big Idea?

Author:
Michele Dunne and Uri Dadush
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The Arab countries straddle the lifelines of world trade. They link Europe to Asia and, with Iran, surround the Persian Gulf home to some 54 percent of global oil reserves. The region's many international and domestic disputes, as well as restraints on political expression and human rights, have spawned extremism. In turn, the region's endemic instability or perceived risk of instability has provided cover for some of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes. Until the turn of this year, the Arab countries had almost uniformly resisted the process of democratization that swept up other regions in recent decade.
Political Geography:
America, Europe, Iran, Asia, and Arabia