Modernization, Foreign Relations Approach and Economic Development in the Islamic Republic of Iran

During the 20th century, different countries adopted various strategies to achieve economic development, including development strategies such as modernization, independence, import substitution, and export promotion. Development planning was also one of the emerging trends in the political economy of the world, which was carried out in the form of these strategies with the aim of achieving faster economic development. The approach of foreign relations of many countries was also influenced by the pursuit of development goals, and therefore it was considered as one of the factors influencing the economic development of countries. The Islamic Republic of Iran has also had many experiences in pursuing economic development strategies, including modernization, and has pursued various plans in this regard. The basic question of this article is about the evaluation of the defense modernization strategy and its foreign relations approach on economic development in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In order to answer this question, the initial period of the modernization strategy after the eight-year war with Iraq and especially the first and second development programs were investigated as a case study, with a descriptive analytical method, and it was concluded that during the implementation period of the modernization strategy, although limited successes were achieved in some areas such as agriculture, but failed in major sectors including foreign trade, reducing dependence on oil revenues, economic growth, production, industrial growth, service sector, social justice and inflation.