فصلنامه مطالعات آسیای مرکزی و قفقاز
پیاپی 119 (پاییز 1401)

In 1379, North-South Corridor, consisting of eastern wing (Central Asia), middle wing (Caspian Sea), and western wing (Caucasus), form the side of the Caspian Sea, has been implemented by Russia, India, and Iran. Until 1399, the western wing, which passes Azerbaijan territory as the main route, has been affected by security issues between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR. The main question of the present paper is: how do the tensions between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran affect the western wing of the North-South Corridor from the side of the Caspian Sea? The findings of the research that has been concluded on the basis of the Copenhagen Regional Security theory, geoeconomic theory, and document-and-library-based studies, indicate that security issues (Karabakh crisis) and the tensions between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran have put excessive costs on the western wing of the North-South Corridor which has been replaced with the Eastern wing affected by Russia-Ukraine war.

Using diplomacy has been always of great significance for great and regional powers in order to affect other countries. Meanwhile, public diplomacy is considered as one of the most practical types of diplomacy due to its dynamic and transforming nature. In the last decade, the Republic of Turkey has entered into the sphere and tried, on the basis of his capabilities, to promote its influence in peripheral areas. The main purpose of the present paper is to address this question: “what are the means and basis of Turkey’s public diplomacy in the peripheral areas?” The hypothesis of the research states that Turkey, especially from 2010 inwards, has used a variety of its public diplomacy tools with regards to short, medium, and long term priorities. This country has exploited its media and cyber capacities for short-term, its public relations, companies, NGOs and diaspora for medium-term, and its cultural and branding diplomacy for long-term priorities. It should be mentioned that this findings have been concluded through library resources for describing and analyzing this phenomenon.

In recent two decades, Turkey has consolidated its presence in Central Asian countries and played an active role in political and cultural spheres in this region. Through cultural and ethnic ties and also reconstructing their economies structurally, Turkey has been able to extend its influence in Central Asian countries. The main question of the research addresses the purposes and implications of Turkey’s presence in Central Asia and for answering the main question, this hypothesis has been tested that Turkey is trying to create the organization of Turkish speaking countries in order to promote its political, security, and cultural influence and avoid lagging behind Iran and Russia. Data gathering method has been document-based, research strategy has been deductive, and research methodology has been based on process detection inspired by economic diplomacy literature within the realist theory. The findings of the research indicate that the main purposes of Turkey for promoting economic diplomacy in Central Asia are as follows: rivalry with Iran and Russia, establishing the council of Turkish-speaking countries, changing its geopolitical position, diversification of its energy resources, military cooperation, security issues, and etc.

In the new era of international relations, great powers try to realize their foreign policy interests and purposes resorting to the components of smart power. The 2022 Russian war against Ukraine and EU’s challenges in fulfilling the security of its citizens and repelling the threats from neighboring countries have shown that sole focus on soft powers strategies or relying on foreign military power (NATO) has turned European Union into a dependent political entity which is affected by US decisions. Today, European leaders have realized that EU should adopt an optimal and smart combination of soft and hard power against Kremlin especially in Eastern Europe through a unified and coordinated policy. By resorting to new and different realistic interpretation of smart power concept, adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, and using library and electronic resources, the present research has tried to answer this main question that how smart power can secure EU’s interests against Russia; the findings of the research indicate that EU has recently codified new strategic documents regarding developing rapid reaction military forces, energy security, comprehensive sanctions and confronting Russian news agencies in order to take serious measures in reducing its security dependence, endogenous security, maximizing and balancing its power against coming threats and intends to play an active security role in the future of international system.

Although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is mostly interpreted based on geopolitical propositions such as NATO’s expansion towards the Eastern Europe, the cultural identity and the inference of the political elites in both countries also play a significant role in escalating this battle. In some cases, the way of interpreting identities, which are defined on the basis of a sense of individual affection to the society or a specific group according to a set of cultural and social features such as religion and language, has been influential in creating friction in human societies. In addition to expansion of “self and the other” in the mental situation of the citizens, this interpretation has a great impact on the perception of politicians about their ego and its function in relation to other countries. Meanwhile, the conceptual dimensions of this research have been based on cultural revanchism and radicalism. In order to answer the main question of the research, a descriptive-analytical method has been used and the data has been gathered through library and statistical resources. The findings of the present research indicate that reactional policies of both parties regarding one another and in ties with past humiliations and present threats have roots in “contradictory and converging” Russian and Ukrainian cultural identities. These roots, within the framework of historical, ethnic, lingual and religious perceptions, pave the way for escalating the current conflict between the two countries.

The crisis can destroy both the lives of people and the legitimacy of governments that provide security and prosperity; challenged and cost a lot. Natural crises that occur all over the world; In some regions, such as Central Asia, it is more extensive and numerous.  Using the experiences of other countries has a significant effect in reducing its destructive effects. For this purpose, this research aims to identify the crisis management and benefit from the common learnings of the three countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and has done a comparative study and intends to answer the question of what are the differences and similarities in the type, history, structure and laws of crisis management in Do these countries exist? The study method is qualitative and the data collected from the crisis management documents of the selected countries have been analyzed using Max QDA software. The findings show that these countries, while having relative similarities in the type of crisis, although they differ slightly in terms of history and management structure; However, a comparative study of prevention, preparedness and facing crisis laws shows the difference in legislation, which has also led to different results in practice.