فصلنامه سیاست خارجی
سال سی و چهارم شماره 3 (پیاپی 135، پاییز 1399)

The Taliban discourse is not a monolith but is rooted in historical discourses throughout the history of Afghanistan. These roots are divisible into two major religious and social groups that hold commonalities and differences. These features and internal discursive conflicts subsequently lead the group to sometimes-controversial behavior. The present paper has tried to identify and analyze these discursive roots using Laclau and Mufe's discourse analysis to subsequently identify the implications of these features on the discursive cohesion of the Taliban.  It becomes clear at the end that these roots have contributed to two distinct identities inside the group that one identity may prevail over the other if its supporters take control. The balance between these two identities is embedded in the articulation of the signifiers. Accordingly, the discourse of the Taliban is so disintegrated that every articulation is depends on the background of the people taking control as local commanders who may further contribute to the emergence of signified notions.

After experiencing the critical era of the 1990s,the Russian Federation as the main heir to the former Soviet Union is now trying to restore its place in the international system as a normalized great power in a bid to restore the previous status of the USSR in the Middle East. Following a totally pragmatic and flexible policy, Russia attempts to obtain the maximum benefits in its relations with other regional actors. Although the Jihadi groups are non-state actors, they are perceived to play a prominent role in the Middle East.  Therefore, Russia is obliged to inevitably adjust its relations with these groups to influence this strategic region. The Current research is aimed at finding the reasons behind the Russiaian policies toward Jihadi groups, specifically Hezbollah in West Asia . Accordingly, the international and regional foreign policy of Russia as well as its strategic culture and social affairs are investigated. With a thorough understanding of Russia’s international place, mindset, and policy toward each group and their corresponding bases are investigated.

Iran and Iraq, two neighboring countries with many commonalities, have had ups and downs, and even experienced a period of war in the history of their relations. After the fall of the Ba'athist regime in 2003 and the presence of Shiites and Kurds in the Iraqi power structures, with the highlighting of the role of the two countries commonalities, a new chapter was started in the relations between Iran and Iraq, especially in terms of economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector. Therefore, this article will examine the economic convergence of the two countries in the field of energy. And it seeks to answer the question of what role religious, cultural, economic, political and security commonalities between Iran and Iraq have played in shaping the economic integration of the two countries in the field of energy? To answer this question, while using statistics and documented data, a descriptive and analytical method has been used and the aim is to examine the various dimensions of the formation of economic integration between Iran and Iraq. The overall conclusion of the article also shows that the religious, cultural, economic, political and security commonalities between Iran and Iraq have brought the views of the leaders of the two countries closer together to align the interests and to form and continue the economic integration of the two countries in various fields, including energy.

The strategic environment and the nature of security equations are a priority in determining the national security goals of any country. Therefore, Iran's national interests and security threats are always defined in the security environment of West Asia. Due to the discourse of the Shiite revolution and its confrontation with the Sunni discourse of the regional governments and the intervention of the great powers of the national security groups of Iran, it has always faced challenges. The Iran-Iraq war, the numerous security problems in the Persian Gulf, terrorism and extremism are examples of these challenges.  Iran, as a regional power, cannot be indifferent to such crises in its vital territory.Therefore, removing dangers from its borders and maintaining security, responsibility in managing, managing and resolving regional crises, are included in Iran's foreign policy. ISIL had succeeded to capture parts of northern Syria and almost the entire province of Raqqa. They then invaded Iraq at the same time as taking military action in Syria and succeeded in gaining control of Ramadi and Fallujah in Iraq. In 2014, ISIL expanded its military operations to capture Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and take control of large parts of Iraqi territory, including Tikrit. The military progress of ISIL toward near Baghdad is one of the strategic wonders. Although ISIL's involvement in Syria that is a strategic ally of Iran has been a major concern for the Islamic Republic, ISIL's entry into Iraq in 2014 has been seen as entering Iran's vital identity, raising concerns about the group's threat against the country. The main question of the research is: what was the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards ISIS in the West Asian region? And the hypothesis of the research is that the ISIS movement was a Salafi-Takfiri movement based on violence and opposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, in this article, we try to study and analyze the strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the challenges in the West Asian region, especially the ISIL crisis, in the framework of defensive realism with a descriptive-analytical method and using library resources.

Iranophobia is a strategic project that poses Iran as a major threat to the region as well as a threat to world peace and security, and is portrayed as an intrusive variable and a disruptive actor in the international system. This strategy has been pursued by the United States for many years and has been stated for a number of purposes, such as "marginalizing Iran, disrupting its regional and international interactions, and justifying forming a coalition to exert maximum pressure on Iran. The theory of threat balance, which refers to the collective reaction to the threat of a common enemy, has been considered in this study." This descriptive-analytical study, in particular, seeks to express the United States' intent to implement this strategy in the interests of its regional strategic ally, Israel, and to answer the question: " What is the United States' goal in pursuing this policy to serve Israel's interests?" We have responded that "The United States, by magnifying Iran's threat in the eyes of the regional countries and recognizing this threat to all regional actors, while establishing a comprehensive regional coalition against Iran, has made this common threat the basis for Israel's regional presence and legitimacy."

The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the unilateral US sanctions, especially the new sanctions bill called "Caesar" against the Syrian government and citizens. Therefore, the questions that can be raised and evaluated in this regard are that: What are the possible scenarios for Caesar's unilateral sanctions on the Syrian government and citizens? Among the proposed scenarios, which one is more likely to be realized and objectified? There are two scenarios for the Caesar sanctions bill; First, there is the possibility of widespread public dissatisfaction among Assad's supporters, and therefore the fall of the government, or at least a change in its foreign policy behavior, is predictable. The second scenario is that the Caesar sanctions bill not only has no effect on the Syrian political system and foreign policy, but it is the Syrian people and citizens who are most affected by the Caesar sanctions bill. The likelihood of a change in foreign policy behavior and the overthrow of the Assad regime is much lower, and unilateral US sanctions will have the greatest impact on vulnerable groups and civilians, and their rights will be enshrined in international human rights instruments such as the Right to Life, the Right to Food. It poses a serious threat to health, the right to work and the right to education. In fact, given the outbreak of the coronavirus in Syria and the historical experience of unilateral US sanctions, the second scenario is more likely to occur and become more serious, especially for the health of Syrian citizens. The research method is based on scenario writing and, for collecting the required information, the Caesar bill, human rights documents, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on enjoying Human rights have been used.

Latin America’s political economy has always drawn the attention of development researchers, since the vast relations with US, interaction with the world economy and active participation in the global trade created the expectation that the region would soon overcome its development challenges and join the club of the developed countries. Although the region has Brazil, Mexico and Argentina amongst the G-20 top world economies, the three have an accumulated debt of more than one trillion dollars, and repaying the foreign debts will overshadow all economic development strategies. This article intends to respond to the question that “why a region with considerable amount of means to develop, and enjoying relative democratic institutions and friendly relations with superpowers is still coping with the primary challenges of development and suffering from issues like populism, corruption, non-transparency, drug trafficking and social rifts. The article departs from the hypothesis that the concentration of political power and economic resources in the hands of Latin American oligarchy have institutionalized structural weaknesses, distancing in this way countries from their development objectives. Despite considerable progresses in the fields of industry, services and intellectual properties, Latin American countries have not been able to diversify their economies in an efficient manner and continue being agricultural exporters, lagging behind the globalization process regardless of their integration to the global economy.