نشریه پژوهش های روابط بین الملل
سال دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 3، بهار 1391)

This article attempts to examine the concept and pattern of world order in the Islamic theory of International Relations. It will argue that “a just world order” is the main subject of the Islamic theory of International Relations and it is also considered as the core of it. The paper will further argue that the Islamic theory of International Relations instead of explaining the interactions among political units or the effect of the international system on their behaviors, as a macro and systematic political theory will rather present the world order model. The order which provides and describes the context at the structural level where the arrangement of the actors and their behavioral patterns are shaped, while the necessary conditions for the peaceful coexistence and eventually blissful life of humans and human societies are expressed at the functional level. Accordingly, the order will gain descriptive, normative and analytical meaning which will supervise the organization of the actors in the existing situation and create global favorable living conditions as well.

This article attempts to address the question as to what are the capabilities and opportunities of Iranian-Islamic theorization on International Relations? Answering this question, the study will initially pinpoint the existing capabilities and opportunities in order to clarify the purpose of theorizing.The capabilities of the theorization are divided into two categories: first, the historical perspective of theoretical capabilities and second, the current and practical perspective of theoretical capabilities. The historical perspective considers: I. Ancient Iranian teachings on relations among nations; II. Historical experiences of the Iranian and Islamic civilizations; III. Rich source of Persian literature.While the current and practical perspective includes: I. The possibility of reciting the Quran, traditions and hadiths of Shiia Imams; II. The possibility of accessing the required knowledge and expertise; III. The geopolitics of Iran.As long as the opportunities of Iranian-Islamic theorization on IR are concerned, they mostly depend on circumstances, and they accordingly change over period of time. However, the available opportunities could be divided into three categories as follow: first, the transitional international circumstances; second, the possibility of projecting new perspectives and schools of thought; and third, the discourse of Islamic RevolutionOverall, the Iranian-Islamic theorization on IR could be realized by considering three first, perceiving the international issues and realities; second, responding to the policies and actions of other international actors in order to pursue and safeguard the interests; and third, active action and confrontation to the changing trends and structures of International system.

The concept of identity in a coherent form and as one of the most important concepts of International Relations is relatively new which initially emerged in 50s. Identity means to be similar or different from others and includes making borders to separate self from other. “What” and “who” are the most common questions on the issue of identity which have preoccupied the human minds and human societies since ages ago. From English School perspective, the most significant factors in shaping the identity are the ideas and norms that make mutual duties for different actors. Conversely, according to constructivism, identity is a social construct which has mental and discourse aspects. Constructivists believe that interest, in addition to ideas and norms, has a vital role in identity formation. The present article attempts to examine the concept of identity in a comparative context by considering the English School and the Constructivist Theory in International Relations.

Iran’s long border with Arab states, the long-term social and intercultural relations between Iranians and Arabs and their geopolitical locations in the Persian Gulf are the factors that highlight the importance of Iranian-Arab relations. Various aspects of their relations have impacted their domestic, regional as well as international interactions. This article seeks to review and discuss the history of Iranian-Arab relations based on historical sociology perspective in International Relations and cultural studies, by focusing on two questions: How have the historical socio-political issues and developments shaped the Iranian relations with the Arab world from the beginning till the main historical turning points? How the historical socio-political issues have impacted on the identity perspectives, the relations between the two domains and contemporary foreign policies of Iranian and Arab countries?Addressing these questions help us to understand the foreign policy perspectives of the Iranians and Arabs in the aforementioned context in a cultural generality and analyze the effect of historico-cultural components on the functioning of the decision-makers and effective agents in their foreign policies. Another important aspect of this research is referred to Iran, the country’s development program and its significance of the regional stability. Considering the Southwest Asian region where Iran is located as a distinct cultural entity neighboring Arab states, it requires formulating a long term strategy based on stability and interaction in the region so that there would be a secure and safe atmosphere for economic and diplomatic activities and rivalry. In our opinions, achieving such interaction based on settlement of, or putting aside the conflicting historico-cultural components and focusing on the common and agreed issues could lead to the realization of integration in the region.

This article examines the evolution of the concepts based on stored lexical and conceptual items of the theories of International Relations among Iranian scientists in the field of IR. Considering qualitative research method, the main question that this paper poses is as to whether Iranian scholars in International Relations could contribute to the development of the concepts and new conceptual approaches by relying on the Iranian-Islamic background? Focusing on the question and feasibility study of the hypothesis of the development of the concepts by the scholars of IR in Iran and the implications that are in their current writings and research works, it could be concluded that there are some writings and materials available in the field. However, they could rather be found in the ontological and epistemological domains due to the lack of conceptual cohesion and an appropriate unified methodological trend. Accordingly, the Islamic ontological consideration of the concepts of the theory of IR as well as conceptual perspective by some scholars on certain issues like national interests, identity and the relationship between the ethic and profit are the most important aspects of the conceptual change in the Iranian-Islamic theory of IR. Consequently, some of the theories which are ontologically and conceptually projected are taken into account and challenged because of their failure to be recognized at the international level, while examining the causes and reasons of this trend. Eventually, this paper tries to establish consensus among Iranian scholars on the need for presenting an Iranian International Relations approach with a valid ontological and epistemological basis as well as a methodological trend.

How to deal with those who believe in God and metaphysics, yet they do not recognize the doctrines of human rights, democracy, liberalism and many of the principles and assumptions of the prevalent mentality dominating the international environment which they also consider critically? Shall we dismiss and ignore them on the pretexts of being underdeveloped, authoritarian and superstitious? In case of confrontation, shall we consider them and establish relationship with them with an independent identity having rational principles or shall we try to change their mind sets? Do the states and countries with political theology have fair and conscientious citizens or people who are contentious and do not favor dialogue?This paper focuses on the new theories of International Relations and Politics that are mostly related to the era of information and seeks to scrutinize the ways that these theories deal with political theology and religious statements. However, the article is basically concerned with the governmentality which implies the means and ways of enforcing and limiting the power in political theology. In order to address the issue seven most-known theories of International Relations and Politics are taken into consideration and examined in details so that to establish the fact that the status of political theology and religious constructs in International Relations is no more overlooked and changing while it is gaining attention as a public issue.