فصلنامه سیاست
سال پنجاه و دوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 62، تابستان 1401)

The concept of power has been the focus of many studies in the social science in general, and in the political science in particular. This concept dates back to the creation of humankind because it is formed in the context of the interactions of human beings with the environment, including human and nonhuman communications. Because the concept of power is a contextual one, it has undergone significant changes throughout history. Power has evolved in line with technological changes, and additionally it has changed with the transformation of relations and social forms. Power has been explored in numerous studies in various fields of study. In the contemporary era, looking at the concept of power within the framework of postmodernism might enable the researchers to approach this abstract theoretical concept from a different but important angle. Accordingly, the main objective of this paper is to analyze the concept of power on the basis of the theory of complexity in the postmodern era. Thus, we examine the theoretical knowledge on the subject of power through understanding the concept power inpostmodern society within the framework of the theory of network complexity. Furthermore, the twin complementary goals are: a) understanding the evolution of power, and b) understanding the network complexity theory in quantum physics.The central research question and the two subsidiary ones are respectively as follows: 1. How should power be analyzed within the framework of the theory of complexity of postmodern society? 2. How has the concept of power evolved? What are the implications of the network complexity theory for understanding the concept of power in the postmodern society? This research topic is important in two ways: a) As a theoretical@ research, it is an attempt to understand the subject of complexity in postmodern society together with the concept analysis of power, on the basis of a dynamic process that might become the focus of various other studies. B) As an applied research, it can be the useful for actors who intend to formulate an operational plan to enhance their power. Given the changing nature of new societies, ignoring the evolution of the nature of power can weaken the indigenous approach to politics and the rule of non-indigenous theories.In the research hypothesis, it is claimed that power has become a contextual, fluid, and diffusing concept in the complex postmodern society that has changed the relevancy and the logic of applicability of this concept. With a descriptive-analytical approach, the method of comparative analysis of the previous research findings of quantum and complexity theorists has been used for hypothesis testing. The results indicate that based on the network complexity and quantum dimensions of social science in the postmodern era, the concept of power by coming out of vertical structures and going beyond the network status has changed into a fluid and complex concept, and for this reason its special functions have become meaningful in the context of network complexity. Moreover, it has greatly become highly dependent on data technologies and quantum gaming.In this process, governments inevitably face the prospect of role change, and if they fail to establish a proper place for themselves, they will be left out of the social cycle of transformation, and perhaps the complex elements within the network will perform government functions more effectively. The power play and data are important for governments to be used for governance. In the quantum world, the states must enter the quantum game with power in a complex postmodern arena and implement data-driven governance. In the game, the next moves of the actors are not necessarily clear; and each actor, based on his systemic learning, must be ready to face any new action even though he might not know when and how it would happen. It is obvious that the elaboration and explanation of the moral and philosophical principles of nature are of great importance for the logical confrontation with this new space. There are two considerations for different societies when they face this space: first, they should have the required knowledge, and second, they must design indigenous frameworks by referring to their value systems and semantic foundations.

Political conflict in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) should be viewed as a complex and destructive type of social conflicts, which are one of the strategic obstacles to political development.  Furthermore, these conflicts contribute to instability, reduce the threshold of tolerance of the political system, threaten national interests, and finally create systemic imbalance leading to the escalation of crises in the country. The research questions are as follows: 1. What are the effective mechanisms for resolving political conflicts? 2. How can the strategy of tolerance be effectively used to resolve political conflicts in order to develop and improve the capacity of the IRI’s political system? With the use of Sarantakos’s cyclical process of analysis and a qualitative approach, the authors try to find reasonable answers to these questions, and test a hypothesis in which it is postulated that the institutionalization of tolerance in Iranian society today can be effective in managing and resolving political conflicts, and consequently help the decision-makers to improve political capacity and efficiency of the IRI’s political system to confront social challenges.The authors argue that tolerance and forbearance can be traced back to different historical periods from the Achaemenid rule onwards, and were often used in connection with religion. The constructive approach to tolerance helped the Achaemenian Empire to become one of the greatest empires in the world. In the contemporary era, the Iranian constitution adopted after the Constitutional Revolution as a key legal instrument—in addition to the attitude of the legislators towards the West and human rights issues— influenced moderation and tolerance towards religious minorities. In the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Constitution and the Charter of Citizen Rights, there are no direct reference to tolerance, but there are certainl concepts, , which  are linked to tolerance. For instance, a number of articles specify the dynamic and extensive participation and involvement of all individuals in Iranian society in the process of development within the framework of national unity. The importance of tolerance in the political thoughts of the key leaders of the Islamic revolution are also examined. Since their viewpoints are based on Islam and religious theology, they largely advocate tolerance as long as it is not in conflict with the religious nature of Iran’s political system and national security. They have cautioned that this principle should not provide the basis for the intervention of the enemies and foreign domination. The most serious obstacles and challenges of institutionalizing the culture of tolerance in Iran as well as the role of  universities, laws, political parties, civil society, seminaries, and elite are also discussed. The findings of the research have been presented in the form of a proposed model that confirms the positive and effective role of the policy of tolerance as one of the principles of good governance in resolving political conflicts and dealing with the existing vulnerabilities in Iran’s political system.

The right to choose a lifestyle, which at the outset seems to be unrelated to political issues  and outside the institutional and formal structure of the state, may be regarded as a matter in the realm of politics. Hence, the possibility of the advancement of humankind is opened up— despite all the limitations and restrictions that have overshadowed his/her life— in order to devise other types of lifestyle.  The authors’ main objective is to examine the works of the post-revolution Iranian intellectuals with a modernist approach to "the political,” in which the choice of "lifestyle" is understood from a political perspective. This point of view as influenced by Heidegger's model considers the political at an existential or ontological level, and beyond the existing, objective, experimental, and institutional (ontic) ‘science of politics’.  This is a different theoretical framework and a new horizon related to an individual's lifestyle in which his/her political goals are constantly attempting to transform ‘self’ and self-realization processes— in a situation where official institutions and traditional authorities have no absolute role in providing standards and values of daily life. The authors intend to answer the following research question: How can the right to choose lifestyle be considered as the political stance in Iran’s intellectual current after the 1979 Islamic revolution? In the research hypothesis, it is argued that the cultural views of Iranian intellectuals can be used in challenging the dominant discourse in order to present another way of existence and a different understanding of oneself and the world that differs from the hegemonic discourse. We can evaluate this issue in the framework of discursive and political processes, because the discourses that make society and regulate our understanding of the world are in essence political  structures. Using the method of qualitative conceptual analysis of the principal works of several influential Iranian thinkers, we examine their viewpoints on this topic. Therefore, in this article, after presenting a theoretical basis for the relationship between the concept of the political and the choice of lifestyle, the views of Mojtahed Shabestari, Soroush, Malekian, Shaygan, and Doostdar are studied. Their viewpoints respectively, represent religious, spiritual, identity-minded, and secular intellectual discourses on the issue of choosing a way of life. Each of them tried to critique the dominance of the ruling discourse using their own different perspectives (e.g., leftist, Westernist, modernist, nationalist, indigenous, and religious standpoints). Religion has generally been an essential element in articulating and shaping the semantic system of intellectual discourses in Iran in the years before and after the Islamic Revolution. In line with the function of intellectual emancipation, some intellectuals consider religion as a factor in returning to self and liberation from tyranny, exploitation, and colonization. In contrast, others consider religion itself as a tool in the service of the rejection of thought, monopoly, violence, and subjugation of humankind. 
These Iranian intellectuals introduced and explained the meanings of various concepts and issues such as religiosity, religious reading, religious reconstruction and reform, religious pluralism, traditional values ​​and patterns, individualism, self-realization, self-transformation, regeneration, the spiritual humankind, the original life, the transcultural state, the multiplicity of levels of consciousness, the experience of multiple modes of existence, the networked and rhizome-like existence, the mobile migratory subject, everyday life, selfishness, self-normality, and so on. We concluded that the culturalist approach of Iranian intellectuals in promoting and recognizing the right to choose lifestyle can be considered as a political issue (a political antithesis) in the post-revolutionary intellectual movement, since it contradicts the dominant models and values which are expanded and supported by the predominant discourse in society.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the distribution of power in the international system changed from bipolar—based on the principle of power balance between two poles— to unipolar. Since then, one of the most important questions raised by the main international relations theorists, particularly realist theorists, is why in this type of order, there is no effective military balance against the sole pole of the system (i.e., the U.S.), according to the balance of power theory. In response to this question, optimists and pessimists have expressed different opinions regarding the occurrence of equilibrium in the unipolar system. This article presents a conceptual model with a different and expanded view of the concept of balance of power by considering the balancing to be a state behavior and not a mechanical process and the result of international politics. Based on this notion and on the conceptual model presented in this article, we conclude that in the unipolar system, we can witness the balancing behavior of secondary powers, middle powers, and even small states. Therefore, the main questions of this research are as follows: 1. Why do states turn to balancing strategies in the unipolar system? 2. What are the different types of these strategies? 3. How do states resort to balancing strategies in this type of international system? 4. When do they do so? A qualitative approach is used in this research, and the method of conceptual analysis of different viewpoints of the prominent international relations theorists is selected for qualitative data collection and hypothesis testing.
Based on the conceptual model and considering the types of "positive and negative balancing", we are trying to reach a broader understanding of the concept of balance, in the sense that we assume the states balancing behaviors towards a unipole include different behavioral actions which are not be limited to strictly military balance emphasized by realist and neorealist theorists. "Negative balancing" refers to the attempts to undermine the relative power of the rival (unipole); while "positive balancing" involves the efforts to increase a state's own power. Each of these two strategies includes military and nonmilitary aspects. For example, military and nonmilitary positive balancing includes two types of “internal and external balancing”. Negative and positive military balancing also have different strategies such as buck passing, proxy balance, creation of hybrid threats, obliging, use of intertwined diplomacy, and so forth. Furthermore, the question of what type of balancing strategies each state considers in facing unipole is influenced by various variables, which encompass the following: the level and intensity of the threat of the unipolar state, the objective or subjective nature of the unipolar threat, "balance effectiveness" and "balance cost", the degree of economic interdependence between the unipolar state and other powers, the path to power of unipole and the nature of aims of the revisionist states.
The findings are that balancing is a completely voluntary behavior based on completely different strategies ranging from "positive balancing" to "non-military negative balancing". The decision about which types of balancing strategy a government in any given point in time adopts in order to deal with the issue of unipolarity, is influenced by various factors that are discussed in this research. Moreover, it is indicated that there are balancing behaviors of the non-unipolar states in the unipolar international system, in addition to such behaviors of the unipole. In general, the primary strategy of the unipole in the unipolar system is to manage the internal balancing through efforts aimed at increasing its military power (positive military balancing) as well as its economic and technological power (positive nonmilitary balancing) to confront security threats and safeguard its superior position. Furthermore, its secondary strategy is to maintain the external balancing (i.e., positive military balancing and positive nonmilitary balancing) through the formation of alliances and coalitions with allies to deal with rising powers or lesser powers that are revisionist states.

Control of order seeks to organize the relationships and behavioral patterns of actors in the international system to reach the desired status. By changing the order, the patterns of control of order change as a consequence. The purpose of this study is to present a new framework to study an innovative model of control of order, especially in West Asia. An examination of the historical evolution of control of order in this strategic region over the past two centuries shows that the control patterns during this time period  often had central-linear forms. Notably, Iran's regional network in West Asia has experienced the most changes, crises, rise and fall of power, and diversity in patterns of order, particularly in the last two decades. The dynamics of the global and regional power structure and the simultaneity of these dynamics have greatly affected the West Asian region and created a network of complex relationships.The main research questions are as follows: 1. Given the complexity of order in regional networks, what rules do they follow? 2. What systems do prominent regional actors use for the control of order? 3. How does Iran control order in the West Asian network? It is evident that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s control of order in the regional network in West Asia has been affected by new realities and the complexity of international order. In this regard, new developments in the global order as well as in the regional order have led to changes in the patterns of control of order, rules of control, objectives of control, actions of the key players and environmental situation. Thus, the application of the decentralized network control model is appropriate in the current situation in West Asia. We consider decentralization as the main and logical model of controlling the evolving order in West Asia. Decentralized network control model algorithms include decentralization in the system through diversity of rules, lack of full access to information, multiple solutions, increased adaptability, flexibility, creativity and innovation. This model leads to the formation of more independent actions and the creation of local controllers that manage the system by self-organization, and thus affect the control of order in the Iranian network.In order to answer the research questions, the authors present the complex networks as a theoretical framework of the order control model in Iran’s network. The theoretical framework is built around the complex networks theory which is based on a set of rules of complexity and network theory. The most important rules that shape network control are power in the form of relationships, and nonlinearity. The combination of the rules of these two theories will make it possible to study dynamic processes and evolving topologies simultaneously. The authors try to find the answers to the emerging realities in the control of the West Asian order on the assumption that the existing studies on this topic are incapable of reasonably addressing them. The method used starts from a set of accepted facts and provides the most likely, or the best explanations. The developments at the international system in the time period under investigation (i.e., the end of the Cold War to 2010) show a complex set of events arising from the evolving situations in the system which would bring important changes to the control of order. The key evolving trends in the world and West Asia include simultaneous emergence of the new global and regional actors, the occurrence of new crises, simultaneous divergence and convergence of internal elements of order control, and divergence at the level of external elements of order control in the region.By studying global and regional complexities simultaneously, it can be seen that order in West Asia has become networked. Networking has changed the order of the linear control model to the decentralized network control model. Notably, in a decentralized network model, the most important principle in network control is decentralization. In order to implement the decentralized network control model in Iran’s network of influence in West Asia, the following strategies were recommended: Generating diversity in value-driven advocacy networks, developing issue-driven advocacy networks, and finally creating substitution networks, hedging networks, and mediation networks

Income inequality has attracted a lot of serious attention of policymakers, ruling elites, and scholars. Each of these three groups has tried to identify the causes of occurrence and continuity of this type of inequality from their own perspectives, and provide solutions to mitigate it. The beginning of the third millennium was accompanied by an intensification of inter-country, and intra-country income inequalities to such an extent that the efforts of the international community —which had previously been able to reduce poverty and absolute hunger in the framework of documents such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—have failed to alleviate them. Despite the economic progress of the last three decades, the persistence of income inequality in the Indian community has raised a big question about its underlying causes in the minds of some researchers. A careful literature review shows that experts regard government’s policy priorities and choices, unequal social system, and global environment as factors leading to the persistence of inequality. Identifying the causes of the emergence and perpetuation of income inequality in different economies is crucial. In fact, the threats posed by this type of inequality are considered as serious as the risks of terrorism as specified in key documents such as the Global Threat Report.
The main objective of this study is to examine the causes of continuing income inequality in India, which has lately recorded a remarkable economic growth rate. Indeed, India has consistently experienced high growth rates over the past few years. This country which is often called the world's largest democracy, is trying to be recognized as one of the top three economies in the world. Its other ambitious goal is to become a permanent member of the Security Council. Economic and scientific development of India have attracted universal attention these days, in spite of the fact that its name was associated with widespread poverty in the past. Exports of Indian goods to the international markets have sharply increased. It has been argued that a set of factors including social system deficiencies, unbalanced eeconomic growth, and globalization through such policies as privatization and trade liberalization have contributed to the persistence of inequality in Indian society. It@seems that  different political leaders and decision-makers who have formed governments in India in the past few years have given priority to rapid economic growth instead of reducing income inequality. The continuity of this trend will be problematic because the issue of rising income inequality within and between countries has been a cause for concern in other societies, which have succeeded in achieving high rates of economic growth and even reducing absolute poverty and hunger. The key research question is: How has economic growth and development led to the rising of income inequality in India? In the hypothesis, it is argued that the most important factors affecting income inequality in India are the governmental emphasis on economic growth and insufficient attention to programs aimed at reducing inequalities. A single-case study method was used to analyze the various dimensions of India's income inequality using data collected by the various researchers and presented in the World Bank reports, in addition to the analysis of historical evidence and documents.
The findings of the article show that India’s unprecedented income inequality is because of three types of causes: 1) The socio-cultural causes of which the caste system of India is the most important one; 2) The political causes which include public policies formulated and implemented by the government such as economic development programs and land reform; and 3) The global causes like those associated with the process of globalization and its instruments (i.e., privatization, trade liberalization, and foreign investment). It is clear that India's caste system (old system of social hierarchy) and the serious determination of the Indian government to take advantage of globalization to achieve higher economic growth remain the main obstacles to the reduction of income inequality in this country which has largely been preoccupied with rapid economic growth at the expense of lessening the growing inequalities. As long as the Indian government emphasizes economic growth and development through globalization, it will not be possible to reduce its income inequalities in the near future.

Undoubtedly, the intellectuals and thinkers of any society constitute an important and fundamental aspect of the material and spiritual life of that society. It would not be an exaggeration to equate the relationship between intellectuals-thinkers and society to the complicated link between the brain and the body. Life in society is not devoid of normative and cultural aspects, and in fact, it is subjected to spiritual and cultural values. Intellectuals and thinkers are concerned with, and influenced by, a multitude of questions including the following ones: What are these spiritual and cultural values? How can they be obtained? What are  the conditions for obtaining these values? How are they related to the current situation? How should the real situation be analyzed? What are its crises, and ups and downs?It is obvious that key political achievements such as the 1911 Constitutional Revolution and the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran would not have been possible without the roles played by Iranian intellectuals and thinkers. Accordingly, it is necessary to study the roles of intellectuals-scholars and to investigate the way they think for the purpose of better understanding a society. Seyyed Javad Tabatabai is one of the contemporary Iranian political thinkers who has influenced the mainstream intellectual and academic settings for nearly four decades. The analysis of political thought in modern Iran and particularly in the post-Islamic revolution era is an important topic for those scholars who intend to understand the Iranian history and society. What seems interesting in Tabatabai's thought and activities is his constant confrontation with other Iranian intellectuals and thinkers, who have attempted to open the door to the careful analysis of the work of other scholars, albeit with harsh but fundamental criticisms.The main research question is: How have Seyed Javad Tabatabai's intellectual and methodological aspects of thought affected his understanding of the theory of the decline of political thought in Iran, and the way out of this situation? In the research hypothesis, it is argued that Tabatabai's methodology and analytical model in his studies enabled him to show the historical decline of political thought in Iran, and to discover the factors which have impacts on this decline. One of the issues that has always been the subject of discussions related to Tabatabai is the knowledge of methodology and theoretical framework that gives life and direction to his outlook, and consequently to his works. The method used by Tabatabai in his works and those who follow his ideas has been the subject of many debates. What complicates this issue is his deliberate avoidance of introducing his intellectual sources, although the works of Hegel, even Kant, Foucault, Althusser, Strauss, Arendt, and Ranhart Kozlek have been cited as his intellectual sources. Only Tabatabai himself can confirm whether these conjectures are correct or not. However, the fact that these names are mentioned by those who have tried to find the theoretical roots of Tabatabai's research highlights an important point—which is the complexity of Tabatabai's thinking that has confused practically everyone.In this article, we try to explain his understanding of the role of theory in political thought with Heidegger's conceptualization of the work of art and the poet in order to better understand Tabatabai's thinking. We do not intend to argue that Tabatabai is influenced by Heidegger, and thus add a new name to the list of people who have been claimed to influence Tabatabai’s work. In this research, we use Heidegger's conceptualization of the work of art and the position of the poet and artist in order to have a model that explains some aspects of Tabatabai's viewpoint based on the elements of this model. We make use of Heidegger's theory, because we believe that it helps us to analyze Tabatabai's understanding of political and historical thought, his understanding of the relationship between tradition and modernity, and the reasons why he criticizes other Iranian intellectuals. Therefore, this is merely a way to examine and understand Tabatabai's views and has nothing to do with examination of his specific work. By using Martin Heidegger's conceptualization and theories about the work of art, the poet and artist, we try present a new understanding of Seyyed Javad Tabatabai's views on  the theory of decline of political thought in Iran. Based on Heidegger's language, Tabatabai's research on the question of "where do we stand?" as it relates to Iran, reveals his way of thinking. The issue of Iran as a mystery is a topic that Tabatabai believes has continued throughout the history of Iran, but has been expressed in a specific form in different time periods. This continuity requires careful analysis to unveil the mystery of Iran as discussed by Iranian thinkers throughout the history. The state of decline of political thought in Iran is rooted in the absence of historical awareness, and thus the way to confront the decline and to foster a new approach is to revive historiography and interest in the history of political thought.

The history of International Relations (IR) as a discipline has been characterized by periods of more or less —but never absolute—theoretical agreement or rather “theoretical tranquility” and the periods characterized by theoretical debates representing deep gaps within the discipline. Yet what we can see in all these periods is the continuation of the plurality of theories. Even when there was no debate, consensus was not attained nor could significant theories of the time be ignored. At present, the discipline is still theoretically plural and the theories differ in meta-theoretical terms leading to various explanations and conceptualizations of the international. There are now at least eight or nine major theoretical approaches including realism, liberalism, the English school, Marxism, critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, constructivism, and sometimes, green theory within the discipline. All of these have internal divisions; hence even categorizing them in one single approach may become problematic. The question here is how this theoretical plurality can become a strong point for the discipline. According to Ree (2014), there have been five strategies in dealing with plurality in the discipline: zero-sum approach with an emphasis on the correctness of one’s approach and absolute denial of others —practically not fully followed by IR scholars, inviting all to compromise while insisting on the correctness of one’s approach, representing one’s approach as a middle-ground and, hence, more correct, “regrounding” the discipline through developing a framework for maintaining plurality, and finally celebrating plurality.
Here on the basis of the fourth, and specifically the fifth strategy, I show how plurality is inevitable and it can even be considered to be an important value. First of all, none of the existing IR theories can fully respond to —even fundamental—questions in the discipline as even their most insistent proponents admit that their theories are not flawless or complete. Thus, no single approach can be seen as privileged. Secondly, none of the theoretical approaches is dominant in the field. Many studies in recent decades have demonstrated this. My main argument here is that the plurality of theories is a fact, and that from various points of view it can be seen as favorable —or at least harmless— as far as individual scholars’ concerns, accumulation of knowledge, and policy/objective needs are concerned. Individual scholars normally see their own theoretical stance persuasive. They may have a major claim about the explanation of an important dimension of international life or see their work as complementary to the existing literature but rarely anyone claims that his/her theoretical stance explains everything in international relations. Scientific modesty is an agreed upon value in IR.
Positivists see the value of plurality within the limits of “scientific standards” that should be applicable to all. Yet, as scientific/naturalist approach is not recognized as the only or even the privileged one, it may easily lead to unjustified de-legitimization and marginalization of certain theoretical endeavors. Furthermore, as far as substantive aspects of theorization are concerned, considering complexity of international life and the fact that causal relations are not necessarily uni-directional, under-determination and over-determination are pervasive. Even positivists do not deny that reaching a single paradigm is impossible. At the same time, the way out of this dilemma is certainly not a model in which all identifiable variables are included, as such a schema cannot go beyond an analytical model which is neither parsimonious nor falsifiable and may lack consistency. As far as post-positivists and interpretivists are concerned, plurality is itself a justified value. 
One of the reasons of skepticism about theoretical plurality is practical and policy concerns. If knowledge is to be a useful instrument and be applicable in decision making, it should be “problem solving”. Yet it is most often theoretically inspired research that can be helpful in practice or policy, and one may easily show that studies based on specific theories including explanatory and constitutive one —and even most radical approaches such as post-structuralism— can shed some light on certain aspects of international life, and thus help decision-makers understand it better. Of course, as far as critical approaches are concerned, their applicability is not necessarily for states —especially great and dominant powers— but the forces that seek radical changes. Thus, dependent upon type of theory and the questions asked, theories and theory-based studies can serve various international actors in practice.
This article sees theoretical plurality as plurality of lenses or spotlights that concentrate on specific dimensions of international life and argues for a dialogical approach in which this plurality is recognized at both theoretical and meta-theoretical levels, it is valued as an expression of various experiences of the world and the knowledge produced on the basis of that reflects those experiences, and “truth” —even if partial— is seen as being attainable through dialogue. Such an approach to plurality can, on the one hand, justify plurality without relativism or exclusion of any particular theory and, on the other hand, can pave the way for the inclusion of non-Western theories in the discipline.

The emergence of China as a rising economic power has created a lot of political and academic speculations about its hegemony in the international system in the future. What China had been pursuing until a decade ago was a kind of global political-security inaction and mere pursuit of economic development plans. However, its leaders have progressively realized that pursuing purely economic goals would leave the maintenance of the security of the world's sensitive economic corridors to the United States. Accordingly, such attitude might impede the achievement of China's important economic goals. Maintaining peace and stability in strategically valuable regions, including the Middle East and Central Asia (MECA), is crucial for China in order to maintain and expand its access to international markets, and even capital markets. Military adventures in the MECA region have greatly benefited the United States, while maintaining the security of energy transfer from this region to China is considered crucial for the continuation of Chinese industrialization and exports of its manufactured goods. Given this reality, it seemed that a change in China's strategy was necessary.Governments often react differently to similar systematic pressures and opportunities —these reactions are influenced by systemic factors at the domestic level. Hence, domestic political risks associated with the choice of certain foreign policies and the risk-taking propensities of national elites— which are in turn influenced by a set of preferences and perceptions of the elites of the internal and external environments— have a great impact on the policy-making process. It is clear that the worldviews and preferences of the Chinese elites have affected Chinese foreign policymaking. Their preferences which are influenced by domestic needs and systemic pressures in different time periods have led to different policies formulated and implemented by the leadership in China. A variety of approaches, ranging from Mao's revisionist tendencies to Deng Xiaoping's acceptance of the existing international order have been considered throughout the years.Although the acceptance of the existing order has become a key component of China's foreign policy since Deng, it seems that this acceptance is being pursued by using different tactics during the Xi Jinping era. Xi's foreign policy seems more assertive and effective than that of former Chinese President Hu Jintao. While Hu tended to highlight the policies of ‘peaceful rise’, ‘peaceful development’ and ‘scientific development’ in his grand strategy, Xi has distinguished himself by emphasizing nationalism and using the slogan of the Chinese dream. Xi Jinping's emphasis on the merits of patriotism show the current and deep-seated dissatisfaction of the current Chinese leader with the existing international order. The politically and economically-motivated Belt and Road Initiative should be considered as the central grand plan proposed by Xi, who is probably the strongest political figure in China after Deng Xiaoping. This project is guided by a new foreign and security policy, aimed at achieving global hegemony, and replacing the US as the dominant power in the international system.In this paper, an attempt was made to answer the following three questions: 1. What changes have occurred in China's grand strategy and policies since Xi Jinping came into power? 2. What factors have led to these changes? 3. How did these factors affected strategic changes in Chinese policies? By using qualitative conceptual analysis of government strategic documents and statements of high-ranking officials of China, in addition to examining the viewpoints of theorists and experts, significant changes in China's foreign policies within the theoretical framework of neoclassical realism are studied. The policies of this Asian country which are influenced by a set of domestic and international factors will be explained. In the research hypothesis, it is claimed that Xi Jinping's different approach to macro-political decision-making has led to a strategic change in Chinese foreign policy due to the pursuit of political-security goals as well as economic ones at the international level. The "Belt and Road" initiative is the most important sign of this strategic change. Achieving a hegemonic power position by peaceful means, in addition to extensive economic and security achievements for China is one of the most important results of the implementation of this initiative. The findings of the research show that Xi Jinping's different approach to the country’s decision-making was caused by the current conditions governing the structure of the international system which is under the US leadership; and this has led to a strategic change in Beijing policies in pursuit of political and security goals. The "Belt and Road" initiative is the most obvious and important sign of this strategic transformation.

The vacuum of an appropriate theory for the outcasts, blacks, refugees, and women has always been evident in the history of thought. After the student movements of the 1960s, measures were taken to overcome this shortcoming, but no suitable theory was proposed in the field of politics. Using the ideas of her predecessors, Mouffe took steps to fill the gap. This article seeks to answer the following two research questions: 1. What new perception does radical citizenship in Chantal Mouffe’s anti-essentialist approach create in the field of politics? 2. What steps should be taken towards radical citizenship in the political community?
Using a qualitative approach, and the method of conceptual content analysis, first citizenship and the principle of compromise in democracy in liberal tradition, and then Mouffe’s concept of citizenship in radical tradition are discussed. By rethinking politics, hegemony, and antagonism, Mouffe has sought to provide new political alternatives to transform antagonism into agonism in a way based on democratic tolerance. Within the framework of the logic of equivalence, she considers immigrants and blacks as citizens who can be called citizens through the democratic process. In the context of non-discrimination, she believes that citizens, regardless of gender, religion, skin color or transgender issues, can enjoy citizenship rights within the framework of radical democracy, but ethnic-religious groups and fundamentalists are suppressed. Mouffe maintains that we need a populist left front which achieve consensus on the revival of the idea of citizenship in order to radicalize (and strengthen) democracy. Influenced by postmodernism, she has considered the existence of various types of idealism in the field of citizenship in human beings in the West.
In addition to Moufee’s distinct understanding of the meaning of the political, her argument on citizenship —which has centered around how to see and define citizens— has been among her ideas which have influenced other thinkers. In her works, Mouffe tries to criticize and deconstruct the politics of liberal democratic discourse, and present new political alternatives based on a constructive approach. Mouffe discusses the idea that liberal thought contemplates about politics in an economic way, and is never able to understand the specificity of the political. In contrast, radical democracy emphasizes the particularity, the existence of different forms of rationality, and the role of tradition (i.e., behavioral traditions). Citizenship in liberal theory should be called monocultural citizenship, which neglects distinct cultures in the society and its cultural pluralist nature. This type of thought has caused antagonistic radical citizenship to be proposed as an alternative to compromise-based liberal citizenship.
Using an anti-essentialist, poststructuralist approach and combining these perspectives with the views of Antonio Gramsci, Mouffe has presented an alternative anti-essentialist approach, which can create a "chain of equivalence" by paying attention to the demands of the working class together with the demands of new movements with the aim of achieving "common will" in order to "radicalize democracy" by understanding the plurality of struggles against different forms of domination. In accordance with Schmidt’s arguments, Moffee considers the political as conflict and does not consider this conflict to be separate from politics. Mouffe believes that the acceptance of conflict as an intrinsic part of politics is the origin and background of radical democratic politics. It is on this basis that she establishes a close link between the political and antagonism, and then tries to present a different definition of the political by proposing the concept of agonism versus antagonism. Moffee believes that the desired political identity in radical democracy requires the creation of radical democratic citizens. This belief is based on a certain understanding of pluralism and the fundamental role of power and conflict. Mouffe's conceptualization of democratic citizenship suggests that politics is not about radical transformation at all, but instead it is a constructive response to social frustration. Moffee's citizenship is equal to feeling and logic, and there is a possibility of political mobilization through passion and feeling, which have indeed led to the formation of new social movements such as Al-Qaeda. She  argues that fundamentalist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS cannot be included in the domain of citizens due to their violent nature.