پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل
سال سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 5، پاییز و زمستان 1393)

Soft Power is one of the most important aspects of China’s foreign strategy in the new century. The Chinese soft power is seen as mainly a tool for defensive, rather than offensive, goals. Chinese goals are: establishing stability and peace with all countries, cultivating a better image of China, correcting foreign states’ misperceptions of the country and refuting the “China threat” thesis, securing energy supply for the continuation of economic development targeting more cooperation with developing countries, building a network of allies and making attempts for competition based on soft power vis-à-vis great powers in the long run. In the present paper, assessing China`s soft power sources and tools, authors come to the conclusion that sources of China`s soft power are based on three elements including culture, political values and the nature and style of foreign policy, as they are defined by Joseph Nye. However, China`s soft power approach is considerably different from what is defined by Nye. China`s view on soft power is based on Chinese traditional culture, while Nye`s account ofUS soft power expresses the American contemporary culture.Nye emphasisesthe attraction of American political values and institutions such as democracy and human right, whereas Chinese political values are found in all of the three categories of Chinese soft power sources, including culture, economy and politic. Chinese political values cannot be isolated from its culture and economy.Confucianistvalues such as the “harmonisedworld”, the attraction of Chinese economic development model (the Beijing Consensus), and goodneighbor policy are respectively underlined in Chinese realms of culture, economy and politics.

The post-colonialism approach in international relations is one of the most recent trends in the discipline. This approach focuses on non-Western and underdeveloped countries, and tries to expose and change the complex power/knowledge relations that define the current world order. Post-colonialism has a different definition for the past, present and future of international relations, and presents a different view on interpreting world affairs, highlighting undiscovered aspects of international relations. Theoretically, post-colonialism is charged with the task of shedding light on those aspects of the international relations field which other approaches leave untouched. The theory plays two roles with regard to the other theories in the discipline: objecting main stream theories and complementing the critical international relations theory. The present study focuses on the complementary role of the post-colonialism and critical international relations theory, analyzing its research capabilities.

War crimes occur in the context of both international and non-international conflicts.Though the two are similar in essence, war crimes in the context of international conflicts are criminalized, andare addressedby the International Criminal Court, whereas this is not the case withinternal war crimes. In this paper, the author reviews some examples of war crimes, and examinescertain pertaining international documents such as theRome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998. More importantly, the distinction between international and internal war crimes is discussed by considering the negotiations leading to the approval of the statute and the stances of the states involved. International war crimes include: unlawfullysending to exile or imprisoning people under occupation, attacking civilians and civilian places, starving people, harming the environment, using unconventional arms, forcing people to serve the enemy, killing the disabled, annulling the rights of civilians and using them as human shield. The two main reasons for the distinction between international and internal war crimesare: first, the impact of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and second, the political viewpoint of the statesto keep their sovereignty untouched by restricting the authority of the Criminal Court.

All economists regard investment as the driving force of economic growth, and consider foreign direct investment as a growth and development factor, which brings about update technology and improves the employment level, management capabilities, trade balances and competitiveness. Thus, today the majority of countries try to attract foreign capital. However, before any investment, multinational companies usually assess the situation in the host country, including its political system, which determines how investing companies are dealt with in that country. More importantly, such companies are interested in investment in politically stable conditions. In this paper, political risks hindering foreign investment are explored. It is argued that political risk is a dissuasive factor for foreign direct investment, particularly in the third world countries. In such circumstances, “political risk insurance” can be helpful for attracting foreign capital to developing countries.

This paper explores Iran-Russia relations under Ahmadinejad. In that era, Russian-Iranian relationship was under the shadow of the Iran nuclear file. Hence, the question is to what extent this relationship was based on strategic considerations. Investigating bilateral relations between Iran and Russia indicates that the relationship has been mainly influenced by Russian interests and desires, rather than the common interests of both countries. By adopting a pragmatic approach based on a strategic opportunism in the framework of its approach toworld politics, Russians pursued three major goals in bilateral relations with Iran: 1-being recognised as a power world, 2-gaining economic benefits and interests, and 3- increasing the effectiveness of its geopolitical and strategic influence. Thisagenda can clearlybeidentified inRussia’s relationship with Iranin thedifferentareas and subjects during Ahmadinejad’s presidency.

Afghanistan as the largest producer of drug in the world, after the events of September 11, 2001, and occupation by international forces following the UN Resolution, has been increasingly important in international politics. The extent of the impact of illegal drug production and trade on Afghanistan and the countries on the way of trafficking drug to the target market has attracted the attention scholars in security studies. The question in this research is how can the relationship between producing and trading drugs and security in Afghanistan be analyzed? Authors argue that drug production and trade has had a negative impact on Afghanistan security. The production and trade of drug directly decreases the productivity of labor force in Afghanistan, because of deterioration of health and social problems caused by an increase in addiction and its related diseases. Also, this trade by empowering ethnic and religious groups and providing them with financial independence from the central government indirectly damages the process of forming sustainable relationships among groups and subsequently the formation of national identity in this country. The research method in this paper is descriptive and analytical.