A Comparison of Saadi’ s Political Thought with International ‌Relations Theories

One of the most important issues that has attracted the attentions of scholars, cultural and educational policy-makers, and as well as the Iranian top officials in recent years is to create the indigenous knowledge. Knowledge of International Relations has not been separated from this concern, and there has always been a debate about how much indigenous knowledge has been generated in this field? One of the fundamentals of native theories of international relations is the consideration of intellectual traditions throughout a nation›s history. Saadi is an Iranian poet who paid attention to politics and governance in his works. Accordingly, the main question of this research is whether Saadi›s approach to the world and relations with other nations is consistent with what theoretical tradition? For this purpose, a descriptive-analytic method has been used. Findings of the research show that among the theories of International Relations in the twentieth century, two traditions of Realism and Idealism can be found well in Sadi›s works. What distinguishes Saa›di in this regard is the evolution of his thought of pure Realism or Idealism towards the pragmatism that is seen in few thinker and theorist