نشریه مطالعات روابط فرهنگی بین المللی
پیاپی 13 (زمستان 1398)

Asper the Anthropocene international system, man is considered to be a powerful actor in nature that has a great impact on the biological condition of the universe.Under such circumstances and keeping in view the increasing needs of the human race for natural resources and the estimates concerning the activitiesthat take place on Planet Earth, understanding and evaluating any positive and negative developments callsfor understanding the relationship between man and nature.In the current Anthropocene era and with the occurrence of various security crises, including human safety with regards tocontagious and pandemic diseases, it is important to pay sufficient attention to the interactions between humans and governments as determining actors in this area.In this regard and with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the globalization of this security crisis, cultural diplomacy can betaken into consideration in the existing complicated system of security interdependence - in the form of transnational interaction - for regulating relations between governmental and non-governmental actors and towards national goals and foreign policy with a focus on reciprocal interest.In this study,efforts are made to examine the requirements of cultural diplomacy within the context of Anthropocene system, the coronavirus crisis, and theopportunities that are provided to countries to assess their national interests. Using library and online data sources for the purpose of the intended research, it will also be explored whetherappropriate cultural diplomacy can provide the required opportunity for political units to create a framework for purposeful and focused interaction during the corona and post-corona eras andwhether it will allow them to play a role in global governance by creating a new style of behavioral model in the form of international standards while creating cognitive changes.

It was not long after the beginning of the year 2020 that a new concept called “post-corona” entered the political, economic, and social literature of the world. By invading almost all the countries of the world, the corona pandemic was able to dominate the human condition of the third millennium in such a way, in a matter of months, that it may not be called anything but an invisible enemy.Its surprising and overwhelming prevalence was like a leash on the body of the man of the age of communication that even made him helpless to think of a solution. However, what is to be noted is that human history has gone through a few of these crises and there was no cure for man except to struggle and survive. In most cases and from the perspective of most governments and nations the coronavirus is recognized as a transformative phenomenon in the human future. The fate of the economy followed by politics, society, and culturelieswithin the framework of this crisis. This is an issue the needs to be redefined in order to be able to face what has come to be commonly known as the post-coronavirus era. Within this context, cultural policies will not be an exception to this rule, which demandsthat policymakers should adapt their current methods to the global changes causedby this phenomenon, as in this perspective and in the international arena, this issue of transformation will be of much greater importance. Keeping in view the issues of globalization and the new world order with their special definitions and criteria in this area and in response to this global challenge,the cultural diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran requires anintuitive and creative strategy to turn this human threat into a desirable opportunity despite the possible negative economic and political effects. In this paper, an endeavor has been made to define and explain a few strategies and proposals by expressing several aspects of theories related to cultural diplomacy and the prevalence of the coronavirus.

The most important factor in strengthening and deepening the relations between any two nations and two countries in today’s world is culture, and this issue becomes of special and key importance when the two countries are geographical “neighbors”. It is an undeniable fact that there have been friendly relations between Iran and Armenia for a long time and all throughtheir history, which have been based on common civilizational and cultural elements. It goes without saying that any kind of activity between two countriescalls forhaving accurate knowledge about the values, interests and beliefs of one another.This is especially important when it comes to cultural diplomacy, which is the most important means- among other types of diplomacy- ofconveying the intended messageto the addressees;the reason being that culture is the by-product of the beliefs and values of every nation and it is these beliefs that form the source of cultural interactions between two nations. The author ofthis research paper intends to use the survey method to assess the views of the Armenian people about their values and beliefs, and,in this way, provide a more accurate interpretation of the views and knowledge of the Armenian people about their neighbors. In order to materialize this purpose, a form containing 15 questions was prepared and translated into the Armenian language and distributed among different strata of people in Yerevan. Keeping in view the knowledge of the Iranian people about the culture, art, and literature, as well as the widespread influence of such factorsas religion, politics, and economics in the Armenian society and the important role of family, music, and cyberspace in filling their leisure time, it was concluded that the use of active and dynamic cultural diplomacy in alignment with the speed and quality of today’s digital world can play an important role in deepening relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia in different areas.

In this paper, efforts have been made to examine and analyze the new public diplomacy of the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the importance of domestic and foreign public opinion, the dimensions of the impact of new public diplomacy, and finally the impact of these intertwined factors on the US-Iranian relations with regards to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Attempts have also been made to answer the question by using the explanatory research method and applying the approaches of public diplomacy, especially modern public diplomacy. The findings of this research work show the fact that the famous proposition “foreign policy is the continuation of domestic policy” is more true and stable today than at any other time.The nuclear treaty that was signed by five permanent members of the United Nation Security Council plus Germany, on one side, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other, under the title of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)marks a turning point in the history of modern public diplomacy. A treaty thathad a powerful impact on the global public opinion and diminished the importance of demarcating domestic and foreign public opinion and resulted in the use of new tools during the nuclear negotiations and the use of diplomatic opportunities.

The big powers have always been trying to pursue their own interests in the world by upgrading the components of their soft power. In this paper, an attempt has been made to provide an answer to the question that“what actions can be taken in the form of cultural diplomacy of sacrifice as a sub-branch of public diplomacy vis-à-vis the countries that are culturally, religiously, historically, etc. in close relations withIran so thatwhile maintaining the current situation, cultural relations with these countries could also be expanded.Generally speaking, the aim of this paper is to through light on the cultural discourse of Iran with regards to sacrifice.Library andinternet resources have been referred tofor the purpose of making this research authentic. As per the findings of the research, the answer to theabove question is that the cultural diplomacy of sacrifice, which has its roots in the national, indigenous, and historical culture of Iran, has been able to complement itself with Islamic teachings and culture. And it isfor this reason that it has been able to spread the spirit of open-mindedness and philanthropy to the nations of the region and the world. In general, with regards to the culture of sacrifice it must be noted that the Iranian cultural diplomacy has been formedunder the influence of the meaning and the foundations of the Islamic Revolution. This discourse seeks to consolidate the epistemological foundations of indigenous culture and to interact with other nations of the world on the basis of the values, knowledge, and attitudes that have been the by-products of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. In order to fulfill this end, resort is being made to soft diplomacy and the power of the discourse.

Human rights pressures on Saudi Arabia have been caused by two waves of protests against Saudi actions at national and international levels since the coming to power of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The first wave began with the Saudi coalition’s attacks on Yemen on March 25, 2015, and the second wave, albeit with greater intensity, began with the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. In this shocking wave, the escalation of human rights violations in Yemen and the crackdown on Saudi activists demanding “political reforms” resulted in unprecedented human rights pressures on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, instead of adopting structural and fundamental reforms, the Saudi government has tried to improve its image by resorting to certain human rights tools and instruments. The findings of this study indicate that the human rights tools and instruments used by Saudis during these years are multifaceted and include cultural-ideological dimensions, sending (economic) aids for some people in war-torn and poor countries, using the frameworks of international law, and the misuse of media and propaganda gears. After examining the most important developments in Saudi Arabia’s human rights approach, from the beginning of the Yemeni war until the end of 2019, this study proposes to make a review of the most important tools and measures resorted to by the Saudi authorities in the area of human rights.