پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل
سال ششم شماره 2 (پیاپی 12، بهار و تابستان 1397)

Foreign policy refers to adopting a thought-out procedure in relation to other international actors. Only powerful countries conduct foreign policy. The powerful Sassanid Empire had a style of thought and action in foreign relations during the ancient period. This thesis aims to study Iranian foreign policy using Holsti’s theoretical framework. This research attempts to study some of the most important issues in the Sassanid foreign policy, including competition with the Roman Empire and China, relations with the Armenians, recognition of the Christianity religion in Rome, and the expansion of the Roman Empire in the Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula. In this research, approaches, tools, actions, and techniques of Sassanid’s foreign policy are analyzed. This research argues that the foreign policy pattern of Sassanid dynasty was based on Iranshahr pattern. Sassanid’s foreign policy history in relation to Arabs, Turks, Chinese, and Romans has been analyzed to support this argument. Iranshahr pattern of Sassanid dynasty was based on maintaining Zoroastrianism and the national identity of Iranshahr. Iranshahr also emerged after the rise of Islam in the Safavid and Islamic revolution.

According to Halford Mackinder’s theory of the Heartland, dominating of the Eastern Europe is key to dominate the Heartland, and dominating of the Heartland is key to dominate the world. Ukraine is one of the main components of the so-called Heartland. The recent Ukraine crisis is an important US-Russian geopolitical confrontation followed by various international disputes. This competition reminds expert the Cold War. This study is conducted using the descriptive-analytical method. Data are gathered from library sources. This research investigates the geopolitical importance of Ukraine for Russia and the US. The results show that the main reason for the conflict in Ukraine is the US-Russian geopolitical competition.

In 2006, when the Harper conservative government took office, the Canadian foreign policy changed its path and was less frequently appeared in the international arena as a peace keeper. Also Canadian has been keen to protect Israel. This article tries to find out the influential sources in the Canadian foreign policy. To this aim,  using James Rosenau Continuity Model, the sources and influential factors affecting the change in Harper’s conservative government foreign policy orientation will be investigated. By using the 5 sources of Rosenau pre-theory, this article concludes that the element of Individual has the most important effect on the Canadian foreign policy making.

The main body of academic literature on Historical Sociology of International Relations (HSIR) is divided into two parts. The first part is produced by the scholars who are trying to enrich this theory as an eclectic approach. The second part relies on the researchers who are seeking to provide a meaningful interpretation of political incidents by connecting the interior and exterior levels of analysis and making the role of international setting inflated. The international system as a phenomenon that stems from the social relations, in this context, is affected by the striking variables that are based on both internal and international milieus. This research paper intends to go beyond the mainstream approach in IR which relies on level of analyses such as power, security, economics, identity, and so forth by drafting an especial theoretical approach in order to explain the international system in the HSIR context. The authors, furthermore, believe that the international system is a social phenomenon that includes a wide variety of relations from the sub-national level to the international tendencies.         

Foreign policy of the modern Turkey was established on a western orientation signified in its NATO membership. However, the end of the Cold War drastically changed Turkey's security dependencies. Zero problems with neighbors and Strategic Depth policies of Justice and Development Party since its ascent to power were the reactions to these changes. Meanwhile, the security dynamics following the Arab spring and the civil wars in Syria and Iraq drastically changed the security priorities and dependencies of Turkey. In this regard, the present paper explores how the new security dynamics in Middle East, especially civil wars in Syria and Iraq, have affected Turkey's security priorities and dependencies.The findings of the paper illustrate that the new security dynamics have convinced Turkey to shift from Balkan-Turkey security complex to the Middle East security complex. This transition has been formed in two periods. In the first period, new dynamics created many opportunities to increase Turkey's regional role in competition with other regional players, especially Iran. In the second period, the expansion of civil wars in Syria and Iraq increased the dependences of Turkish national security to the Middle East security complex. The Kurdish problem and Islamic fundamentalism arose from the power vacuum in Syria and Iraq have been the most important threats linking Turkey to the security complex of the Middle East. The methodology of the present paper is descriptive-analytical, and the data collection method is based on the library and internet sources.

The study of decision-making in foreign policy is the first step to understnding the meaning and complexity of the actions in the international system. The discussion of what the rational and irrational decisions are, have so far raused numerous intellectual debates in the international relations. Some scholars focus and insist on the definition of rational decisions while others list what irrational decison are. Regardless of the above debate, this study aims to address the constraints and obstacles of the realization of the ideal type of rational decision-making in foreign policy. The research question is about the assumptions of rational model decision-making in foreign policy methodologicaly in practice. In response to the above question, relying on the documentary method of collecting data and applying analytical method, the author believes that the rational model in the the methodological aspect has three kinds of constraints including environmental barriers, cognitive, and emotional and Nervous ones.

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the great powers have tried to play a role in it. Since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has been a strategic ally of Syria. Iran has openly supported Bashar al-Assad government through financial and military aid. By the way, the political developments in Syria and its country matters to the French government. France was the first country to recognize the coalition of Syrian opposition forces as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. However, the 2015 Paris terrorist attack by ISIS convinced the French to alter their policy. Accordingly, France foreign policy towards Syria changed. This paper aims to study the foreign policy of Iran and France towards the Syrian crisis. The paper argues that Iranian foreign policy towards Syria is based on maintaining the status quo (the survival of Bashar al-Assad). Yet, France foreign policy towards these developments is a conservative offensive one in the form of convergence with the US.