نشریه مطالعات بین المللی
سال پانزدهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 60، بهار 1398)

This paper draws attention to some of the consequences of the decline and possible slump of the liberal world order, while focusing predominantly on factors that have divided the Western world, most notably the toxic rise of nationalism, nativism, populism, authoritarianism, anti-institutionalism, anti-immigrant, and anti-globalization sentiments.  We argue, that as the United States further embraces economic nationalism and protectionism under the Trump administration, the support for multilateral institutions, rooted in the liberal order, is likely to significantly retreat.  The dissolution of the liberal order will arguably pave the way for political disorder across the globe, while at the same time dividing the Western world at a time when an economically resurgent China, in a strategic alliance with a more assertive Russia under Putin, is likely to pose new challenges to the West.  Their rivalries notwithstanding, both Beijing and Moscow are likely to seek ways to improve their bilateral relations with Washington in order to curtail and better manage regional and global tensions.   It is worth noting that the risks of abandoning a liberal world order, which for more than seven decades has espoused relative prosperity, as well as a legal and institutional framework for conflict resolution, may prove to be enormously damaging and consequential.

The encounter of a publicist with language is not similar to a linguist, literate, philosopher and logician. Limitations and ambiguities of the natural language in formulation of legal concepts and explanation of realities and values of international law cause the publicist to exceed the real boundaries of law knowledge. Therefore, in a context of logics, linguistics, and linguistic analytic philosophy, the publicist presents concepts, propositions, texts, rationalism models, and legal theories and attempts to recognize nature, type, and rational implications of them. This means that legal language must have phenomenal expressiveness capacity, exploration of meaning and decoding of legal texts for the exact description of realities and facts of collective life and should also represent and codify legal necessities and values. Legal language that is a special type of natural languages, just like any other natural language and even more than others, does not have degrees of certainty, precision level, and transparency that is found in symbolic and formal languages that logicians have used it in order to explain relations in context of mathematics, logics, and modern physics based on formal rationalism. However, international law faces a more difficult test that recognizes dialogism, multiplicity of readings, and diversity of meanings, it gets degraded through the suppressive language of arrogant speakers

Human rights reflect a natural order from which fundamental freedoms flow. The exercise of human rights reflects this order and these freedoms.  These are the key principles which inspired the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. International practice, however, shows that, while the importance of human rights is almost universally recognized, in practice the exercise of individual rights is subjected to numerous constraints.  In spite of substantial amounts of legislation enacted around the world to promote and protect human rights, the rise of nationalism and the return of identity politics generate discrimination and hamper dialogue. Increasing constraints imposed by governments on the freedom of the media are an additional obstacle to the fight against injustice.  The international community, however, is not doing enough to tackle this fundamental problem.  The United Nations remain the bedrock of any effort to foster security, stability and prosperity with full respect for human dignity and human rights.  The principle of humanitarian intervention should be further explored with an open mind, since it may provide a key towards more effective policies aimed at addressing serious violations of international humanitarian laws, including genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.  Yet, the members of the United Nations are unable and unwilling to reform and modernize its institutions and procedures, beginning with the Security Council, an outdated symbol of power politics inherited from the last century.  Similarly, the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council should be enhanced. The issue of the presence within this Council of States whose democratic credentials are questionable and which appear openly disrespectful towards human rights should be better leveraged to promote human rights standards, to avoid weakening the credibility of the action of this institution.  As human rights cover the whole spectrum of human activities, a special thought should be given to women’s rights, which in many of our countries have been to varying degrees disregarded for centuries.  Important steps have taken place in recent years, especially following the adoption in 1979 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.  A stronger legal basis for all these steps, however, must be ensured to provide the international community with a more effective and efficient tool to address serious cases of discrimination and promote concrete steps toward a real recognition of the equal role that women do play in every aspect of everyday life.

This short intervention peruses new movements in the discipline of International Relations with a particular emphasis on the “post-western” turn in IR theory which promises to usher into better concepts for the analysis of world politics

Widespread and protracted Islamist violence in the Western Sahel raises questions regarding the history of the phenomenon.  This study compares and contrasts Islamic militancy under the leadership of Dan Fodio (Sokoto) and El Hajj Umar Tall (Tukolor) during the nineteenth century with Mohammed Yusuf’s Boko Haram since 2002. The research zone is confined to the states of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, and Senegal.  Demonstrating connections between two eras when the phenomenon has been most intense reveals key ideological and methodological patterns. Paying attention to motivation, method, and the ways in which earlier movements disbanded offers a template for effective counter-terrorism measures.

This article analyses the evolution of the Islamist political associations and groups, both Shiites and Sunnis since the independence of Kuwait in 1962 to the last legislative elections which was held in 2016. It tries to assess the roles which the Islamist groups played in a relatively open political environment established by the constitution and the popular support these groups obtained along the interrupted electoral history in which the country witnessed. It also assesses the transformations which the Sunni Islamist groups suffered from the institutionalized opposition role they played until the Arab Spring events to the more informal opposition style since then. The article concludes by stating that this transformation negatively affected the popular support granted to the Islamists and hindered their influence in the policy making process in Kuwait, losing the opportunity that the Arab Spring uprisings provided for them.

Science diplomacy is a concept that has attracted much attention in twenty-first century more than ever before and the need for understanding it is growing. Because of many factors, the South Caucasus is an important region for Iran, including its geographical proximity and historical ties. The region is located between Iran, Russia and Turkey and Iran is the only bordering country with this region that has official political relations with all South Caucasus countries, including Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, but this does not mean that relations between Iran and the above-mentioned countries are in a favorable position. Considering the capacities for using science diplomacy in relations between Iran and the South Caucasus countries, to achieve an assessment of Iran's performance in this field is essential. This paper mainly seeks to examine the opportunities and challenges of applying science diplomacy as a tool in Iran’s relations with the South Caucasus countries and also tries to examine the roles of other foreign players in the field of science diplomacy in the region.