نشریه مطالعات روابط فرهنگی بین المللی
پیاپی 10 (بهار 1398)

Diplomacy has undergone a lot of expansion and divergence in today’s world and is, thus, referred to by different names such as public diplomacy, media diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, etc. diplomacy is the executive arm of a government’s foreign policy. The collection of sciences, arts, technics and methodologies that a player at the international level or a diplomat resorts to with regards to interaction with other international players and with the objective of ensuring his national interests is called diplomacy. The pivot of cultural diplomacy is culture and its objectives are followed by resorting to it as an instrument. By making use of the meta-study approach, the authors of this paper have endeavored to make a review of the models of cultural diplomacy adopted by a number of selected countries of the world. These models have been categorized into three areas: Western countries, Islamic countries, and major Asian powers. Western countries include the United States of America and France, Islamic countries include Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and the major Asian powers comprise Japan and India. Finally, the present study has resulted in designing such conceptual structures that can form the foreground for any typology for cultural diplomacy patterns. These conceptual structures include models of aggressive and non-aggressive cultural diplomacy, models of cultural diplomacy focused on academic elites, and cultural diplomacy focused on popular culture.

The existing Iranophobia and Shia-phobia are the two uncalled for challenges of today’s world that need to be dealt with appropriately at the second step of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The present paper proposes to examine the emergence of Iranophobia at the regional level, Shia-phobia at the trans-regional level and Islamophobia at the global level and the various methodologies that can be resorted to for neutralizing them. It goes without saying that in the absence of a consolidated policy and appropriate cultural measures, confronting these phenomena can result in the emergence of challenges in conserving national and regional stability as well as the unity in the world of Islam. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the various forms of Iranophobia as well as the causes of the emergence of Shia-phobia in the countries of the region and propose certain cultural strategies for confronting the existing trends and neutralizing these uncalled for phobias. According to the findings of this research the most important strategic programs that should be seriously taken into consideration by the Shiite scholars and thinkers include: increasing legitimacy of the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, influencing the public opinion and diplomatic relations with the countries of the world, pathology of the cultural activities abroad, paying special attention to the considerations and concerns in setting up cultural policies, emphasis on Islamic human rights and condemnation of anti-human activities of the West and the correct introduction of Islam to the world.

The aim of this paper is to make a review of the role of the pilgrimage diplomacy in confronting the Takfiri Salafi trends that have caused extensive challenges in the geopolitically important region of the Middle East and the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thus, the main question raised in the paper is that how a pilgrimage diplomacy can neutralize the existing Takfiri Salafi trends? The first and foremost answer provided to this question is that “owing to its influential identity and strategic geographical location the Islamic Republic of Iran can, by adopting a pilgrimage diplomacy, cause some sort of solidarity among the Shiites of the world for confronting the Takfiri Salafi movements”. In spite of the weakening of the position of certain groups - such as the ISIS - promoting Takfiri thoughts, it should be kept in mind that owing to the political, economic and cultural support they enjoy in certain countries of the region including some neighboring countries of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the interference of some regional and trans-regional powers, the Takfiri Salafi trends have the potential of being revived and pose identity and security threats to Islamic countries, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran. By adopting a descriptive-analytical methodology this paper proposes to examine some of the possible new approaches for confronting this trend.

The values and concepts promoted by the Islamic Revolution and its lofty ideals have given rise to an innovative notion that has played an effective role in international relations and developments. The semantic commonalities and close religious and historical background have made this role of considerably more effects in the Muslim world. Public diplomacy seeks to shape public opinion and serve national interests. keeping this in view, the Islamic Republic of Iran, too, has paid substantial importance to the role of public diplomacy with regards to the implementation of its foreign policy and conveying the message of the Islamic Revolution. The present research work, which has been drafted in a descriptive-analytical methodology by resorting to library text including books, papers, documents, and speeches seeks to examine the public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis-à-vis the Islamic world and within the framework of soft power. By the same token the objective is to discuss the adopted strategies and to assess their functionality. The question that the present study intends to answer is: what are the challenges of the public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis-à-vis the Islamic world. In order to answer this question, attempts have been made to categorize and analyze the challenges of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s public diplomacy with regards to the Islamic world both internally and externally. The hypothesis is that non-prioritization of goals, neglect of research work, existence of parallel institutions, insufficient use of cyberspace and soft power in the area of information, use of mechanical and mass media, insufficient allocation of budget, unqualified of manpower and weaknesses of mass pose major challenges in this area. As regards the foreign relations aspect, mention may be made of political and economic pressures and sanctions, enmity of certain religious inclinations and false foreign propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran with the objective of destroying its image at the international level.

The present study proposes to examine the factors that influence the formation of Iranophobia in Afghanistan and ways and means of dealing with it as well as to seek the answer to the key question: What are the most important factors influencing the formation of Iranophobia in Afghanistan after the US invasion? The hypothesis raised in response to the above question is that: Anti-Iranian policies of the transnational (mainly US) and regional (mainly Saudi Arabia) countries are the main cause of the formation and spread of Iranophobia in Afghanistan. On the other hand, Iran’s cohesive and sometimes inaccurate policies towards Afghan refugees have also been cited as facilitating Iran’s fear in Afghanistan. Using the content of four newspapers published in Afghanistan in 1986 and 1977, we discuss some of Iranophobia. We shall, then, proceed to examine the most important factors affecting it and in the end, we will present some solutions to counter the existing atmosphere of Iranophobia in Afghanistan.

Cyberspace is like a double-edged sword, which, on the one hand, threatens the cultural, social and security structures of nations, and, on the other hand, provides valuable opportunities for presenting the capabilities of a nation. The identity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with its many capabilities - influenced by the Islamic Revolution - and with its distinctive and prominent features, has placed this system at the forefront of any kind of security. Emphasizing the cultural thought of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, which is based on the divine foundations of Islamic Republic in this age of widespread insecurity, the authors have endeavored to throw light on the ontological essence of cyberspace security by adopting a descriptive and analytical approach. In this regard, while presenting the concept of cyberspace security with the aim of recognizing the concepts, components, and priorities that are effective in creating, consolidating and enhancing cyberspace security, efforts are made to provide answer to the question: how does the Supreme Leader’s cultural approach affect cyberspace security both internally and externally? Our hypothesis is that, keeping in view the cultural essence of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and its potential capacity in the field of soft power and given guidelines provided by the Leader, it is possible to promote social security of the Iranian society through cyberspace and such measures as building trust, strengthening social capital, partnership, creating awareness, cultural diplomacy, social insight and the use of art. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the ways and means of enhancing cyberspace security within the cultural approach of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.