پژوهشنامه علوم سیاسی
سال ششم شماره 4 (پیاپی 24، پاییز 1390)

Analyzing the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.I) has been influenced by different and some paradoxical theories. Scholars have attempted to study different eras of Iran’s foreign policy using various theoretical approaches such as realism, idealism, constructivism, and discourse analysis. Therefore, it seems essential to achieve an appropriate analytical framework in order to identify the effective elements in formulating the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy. In our view, analytical framework of structure- agency (structuration) is an appropriate means to study behaviors and processes in Iran’s foreign policy. The present article addresses the structuration theory in sociology and how it has entered the vocabulary of international relations studies, and discusses about its applicability to the foreign policy analysis. Finally, it deals with elements of structure and agency affecting the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy.

The Iraqi sectarian-ethnic society has been unified by force since its establishment till Saddam`s downfall which intensified its social divides and tended to political disintegration. New circumstances paved the way for the existing political discourses competition for hegemony and transforming their elements to moments. Regarding the influence of Islam in the Iraqi society, Ayatollah Sistani’s democratic political Islam discourse has a high potential capacity. Although the discourse has many similarities to shi’ite and democratic approaches, its articulation clarifies the uniqueness and novelty of the discourse that “Islam and general consensus” as its nodal point conjoins signifiers and creates a new meaning through its magnetical meaning. Ayatollah Sistani’s discourse has achieved many successes during the critical situation after the collapse of the Baath regime but its stabilized hegemony depends on Iraqi civil society status and its authorities’ accountability which have faced many grave uncertainties. This article analyzes democratic political Islam signifiers and compares and contrasts them with the competing discourses by referring to critical discourse analysis of Laclua and Mouffee.

The first National Consultative Assembly of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution had to perform two functions: legislation and initiation; since there were no experiments in making law and no backgrounds for establishing the new constitution. Foreign policy is based on four main factors: understanding the international environment, preparing a strategy for protecting national interests, devising a tactical plan for the implementation of the strategy, and diplomacy, or organizing diplomats for the implementation of tactics. In the 19th century, Iran gained a significant standing in international system. On one hand, given Iran’s strategic position as a corridor state, powerful countries could not afford to ignore Iran, which at the time, played an important role in the competition among great powers. On the other hand, Iran functioned as a buffer state among two intrusive and powerful governments of Russia and England. Iran was neither a colony nor independent and it just played the role of a buffer in the breathtaking competition between two superpowers. Moreover, Iran and Central Asia were involved in a great game, at the time. Russia regarded Iran as an important country in order to damage England’s interests in India and Afghanistan. For England, on the other hand, Iran was of utmost significance to curb Russia’s interests in the Persian Gulf and prevent other powers’ influence in India. The authors of this article seek to answer the following question: what were the main effects of political, economic, social, and historical contexts on formulating and shaping the discourse(s) of the foreign policy in the debates of the National Consultative Assembly of the Constitutional Revolution era. Based on the method of discourse analysis (Fairclough approach), the authors seek to interpret the concept of foreign policy from the viewpoints of the first National Consultative (constituent) Assembly of the Constitutional Revolution period in Iran as an instrument for the formation of Iran's constitution of 1906.

At the beginning of the third millennium, the phrase of Rising/Emerging Powers entered to International Political Studies, especially power transition theories. Powers with relatively different behaviors have usually been compared to other great powers in the history of International Relation. In the recent years China has been in the core of this field of studies. China's rising in the international system has caused this country to improve its role in different regions including the Middle East and to boost its national interests. The main question of the present article is that “how different obstacles & opportunities in the Middle East, would affect the china's rising role in the region?” The hypothesis is that “China's military limitations and political-strategic obstacles due to great powers rivalry in the region have a direct relationship with this country playing marginal role in the Middle East. Moreover, economical opportunities (trade-energy) bear a great importance in China's rising role in the Middle East. Using the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) and reviewing the political, security, economical, cultural and strategic aspects, this article emphasizes on the fact that the Middle East is one of the key areas in China’s long-term grand strategy, and that the Islamic Republic of Iran may become the main focus of this strategy as well as the main strategic ally of China, by modifying some of its international behaviors.

Food safety is among the phenomena affecting the global policy making in the recent years and it has entered into the literature of international relations as a serious discussion. For the past two decades, food safety has become the focus of attention of international actors via organs affiliated to the UNO and we are gradually witnessing the formation of the international food safety regime. What is the nature of the international food safety regime? This research would generalize the three elements of an international regime i.e. “normalization functions”, “establishment of international regulations” and “regulatory system” to the case of food safety and it would be clarified that the international food safety regime is recognizable as one independent regime. The international food safety regime is already illuminating the need of security theories to focus on soft and civil aspects in analyzing the components of insecurity. In this study a model for international food safety regime is offered compared to other international regimes.

The European Union developed the Common Security- Defense Policy (CSDP) in 1999 to enhance its position in the field of international system and to play an effective role in the field of international peace and security and subsequently to reinforce the various aspects of European convergence. This institution is known as the military/civilian arm of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) of the European Union, and nowadays it is one of the most dynamic areas related to European Union’s plans and projects. Although it has passed only a decade since the birth of the Common Security and Defense Policy, this institution has run 24 civil and military missions since 2003 to promote global peace and security in three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. The key to the success of the Common Security and Defense Policy missions is in developing the culture of planning and conducting joint military and civilian operations. However, EU is encountering limitations preventing it from the development of a comprehensive Common Security and Defense Policy; still, it is expected to overcome some limitations of European security and defense area, having the Lisbon treaty come into force by European countries in December 2009. Therefore, the present paper seeks to explain the Common Security- Defense Policy of EU during 1999-2009.

The two principles of the right to self-determination and the right of national sovereignty are the most fundamental principles governing the United Nations that are emphasized through various ways including the UN Charter (Articles 1(2), 2(1, 4, 7), 55(3), 73-74 and 77), UN covenants on human rights of 1966 and the Security Council’s resolutions (such as resolutions 1514 and 1803). Nevertheless, the conflict between the two principles has been erupted over time in a variety of situations in international arena. In the case of Kosovo, as an example, the parliament of Kosovo issued a unilateral declaration of the regional independence in an apparent conflict with the national sovereignty of former Yugoslavia; and the UN Security Council who had always highlighted, in its resolutions of 1169, 1199, 1239, 1244 and other documents released to solve the crisis between Yugoslavia and Kosovo, the need to respect the two principles in the form of recognizing Yugoslav national sovereignty and the right of Kosovan people to self-determination, did not in practice either prevent NATO military intervention in Yugoslavia or even condemn it and thus the Yugoslav national sovereignty eventually altered. Advisory vote of International Court of Justice on 22 July 2010 and the follow-up resolutions of General Assembly on 13 October 2010 approving the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo Parliament were all in support of Kosovo right of self-determination against the national sovereignty of Yugoslavia. Referring documents released and action taken by the UN and its other principle organs as well as other international entities to resolve the Kosovo crisis, this paper seeks to study the conflict between the two principles and analyze the situation in which one is preferred over the other.