نشریه جستارهای سیاسی معاصر
سال پنجم شماره 1 (پیاپی 11، بهار 1393)

The so-called “Islamic Awakening«developments in the new millennium could be considered as the most eminent and dominant changes in political structures of the countries in the region in recent years. These revolutions، firstly originated in Tunisia through demonstrations against the autocratic regimes، were aimed at reaching democracy and negating domination. They then spread rapidly throughout the region، namely in Egypt، Libya، Yemen، Bahrain، and Syria. Consequently، they have led to the downfall of the regimes of Bin Ali and Hosni Mubarek in Tunisia and Egypt. Amidst these political upheavals، the regional and ultra-regional powers have tried to gain advantage. Turkey، to give an example، under the leadership of The Justice and Development Party، which has been considered as one of the West allies، has tried to exert power in line with its own national interest. The aim of this article is to study the foreign policy standpoints of Turkey by emphasizing the reformations within Egypt and Tunisia. Therefore، the Offensive Realism Approach has been used to support the underlying hypothesis of the research. The hypothesis reads as the following: Turkey''s current foreign policy، concerning recent reformations in Egypt and Tunisia، has proven to be in pursuit of more power and influence in the region by gaining political and economic superiority and controlling powerful countries as Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Reviewing the literature on the state building in Iran and Europe is indicative of the role of army in this process. However، the question of whether this role has been exercised in the same way or not، has been overlooked. The current paper tries to indicate that despite of the significant role of the army in state building in both Iran and Europe، the ways by which army has affected state building are completely different. Army had internal functions in Iran، while in Europe it had both internal and external functions. Upon analysis، it has become apparent that these different functions were because of different internal and external contexts in which the army has been involved in. Therefore، different internal and external contexts dictated different roles for the army and consequently have caused multiple and diverse ways of state building in Iran and Europe. Generally، this diversity shows that the emergence of the modern state has been affected by the requirements of a society. Moreover، it shows that we should not anticipate the future developments of a country entirely based on the developments of European countries.

Reviewing the literature on the state building in Iran and Europe is indicative of the role of army in this process. However، the question of whether this role has been exercised in the same way or not، has been overlooked. The current paper tries to indicate that despite of the significant role of the army in state building in both Iran and Europe، the ways by which army has affected state building are completely different. Army had internal functions in Iran، while in Europe it had both internal and external functions. Upon analysis، it has become apparent that these different functions were because of different internal and external contexts in which the army has been involved in. Therefore، different internal and external contexts dictated different roles for the army and consequently have caused multiple and diverse ways of state building in Iran and Europe. Generally، this diversity shows that the emergence of the modern state has been affected by the requirements of a society. Moreover، it shows that we should not anticipate the future developments of a country entirely based on the developments of European countries.

Nationalism and citizenship have been studied in recent years in the light of abstract sociopolitical contexts and they have affected each other in a way that nationalism will face serious problems unless citizenship is realized. Any attempts to define or explore the concept of nationalism will directly affect citizenship. If we try to provide a culture based definition، it will lead to a limited abstract version of the concept of citizenship. However، on the other hand، a politico-historical definition may extend the dimensions of nation-making processes and facilitate the democratic developments. The implementation of cultural nationalism policy in the first Pahlavi era is a good example of military confrontation with ethnic groups in an attempt to eliminate subcultures. The current study tries to analyze the relation between nationalism and citizenship in the light of aforementioned concepts.

Applying hard and soft power from the beginning of Iraq occupation in 2003 was the US main agenda in Iraq. Cultural interventions as the main tool of exerting soft power became official after the 2008 Strategic Agreement between the two states. This paper is going to answer the following question: what are the US main purposes in pursuing cultural diplomacy as one of the enforcing tools of soft power in Iraq? The analysis of these programs would be demonstrative of America’s main objectives. The study is designed in a descriptive-analytic manner and upon analysis، it became apparent that their main goal is to change the views of common Iraqi people about west and promote liberal western culture instead of Islamic culture.

Applying hard and soft power from the beginning of Iraq occupation in 2003 was the US main agenda in Iraq. Cultural interventions as the main tool of exerting soft power became official after the 2008 Strategic Agreement between the two states. This paper is going to answer the following question: what are the US main purposes in pursuing cultural diplomacy as one of the enforcing tools of soft power in Iraq? The analysis of these programs would be demonstrative of America’s main objectives. The study is designed in a descriptive-analytic manner and upon analysis، it became apparent that their main goal is to change the views of common Iraqi people about west and promote liberal western culture instead of Islamic culture.