فصلنامه مطالعات عملیات روانی
پیاپی 28 (زمستان 1389 و بهار 1390)

The physical and mental aspects of man require utilization of the power of both sward and thought – direct military action and psychological operations – to win a war. Psychological operations are conducted to influence the minds and feelings of human beings and change their behavior not only along with military measures but also beyond them in a wider military area and extensive space. According to the Quranic verses and narrations, psychological operations were first employed extensively by the enemies of the Devine prophets and the infallible Imams; however, following the beginning of the mission of the Prophet of Islam, especially during the time he was ruling in Mecca, they were extensively utilized by the enemies of Islam in order to turn down the call of the Prophet and quench the invitation for justice and truth. The Quran uses such concepts as guile, malice, etc. to describe this attempt. Psychological operations were not as efficient as they were expected to be during this period since Islam had been newly revealed and Muslims were full of enthusiasm; however, following the demise of the Prophet, hypocrites, unbelievers and polytheists employed this fighting method against the true Muslims widely since they had already experienced it. One of the periods during which psychological operations were extensively and delicately employed by unbelievers was the time when Imam Hasan (a.s.) was ruling the Muslim community. The present article is an attempt to review the conditions of the Islamic community during this period considering both the mental and psychological conditions of Muslims and the mental state of Muavieh as the designer and conductor of this war. It needs to be noted this study has an analytic-descriptive nature and its data were collected by library research and from the Internet sites.

Elections are considered as a big legitimacy test for the ruling system in every country; hence, regardless of who or which political party wins the elections, people’s participation in elections and their number of votes enhance the growth and dynamism of the political atmosphere of every society. It further indicates that the ruling system has the necessary degree of authority to tolerate the political factions. On the other hand, people’s participation in elections is a subject of study in different sciences such as political sciences, social psychology and sociology. Although the studies conducted in this context have produced more or less differing results and opinions and have consequently made the coherent tapping of this social phenomenon difficult, the opinions and theories presented in each study field can contribute to its phenomenology. Given the fact that following the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a numberof elections have been held across the country each year, the scientific and systematic study of this phenomenon seems to be necessary so that the behavior of the participants can be analyzed and the strengths and weaknesses of the elections planning can be found out. The present article attempts to fulfill this objective by studying the aforementioned attitudes.

The U.S. attack on Iraq and expulsion of Sadam drew the attention of the politicians in the region and academicians to Iran’s influence in Iraq. This influence has made the U.S. and its allies worried. The present article argues that their worry is not the result of the hard power of Iran; rather, it is Iran’s soft power that has made them anxious. Benefitting from Alexander Wowing’s explication of soft power, this article concludes that Iran’s influence in Iraq is the result of the attractiveness of the ideals of the Islamic Revolution to the Iraqi Shiites and its supporting their struggles during the last thirty years.

Mojahidin Khalq (Monafeqin) Organization is one of the groups in the last fifty years of the history of Iran with the darkest record of activities. In fact, no other group or political party has had such a record of deviation, confusion, shaky thoughts and beliefs, fundamental changes in behavior and political objectives and violation of political norms in its history. What stands out in studying the appearance and development of this organization is formation of their fundamental beliefs on the basis of a series of Marxist beliefs. This erroneous foundation for which they were seeking Quranic evidence in analyzing the religious concepts of the organization is the root of Monafeqins’ deviation. In fact, their being away from the genuine clergy as the true source of the pure Islam which had been manifested in Imam Khomeini’s character at that time and their dependence on unreliable sources brought them a dark destiny. Focusing on the ideological deviations of Monafeqin and analyzing their unacceptable thoughts on the basis of written records and the oral remarks of the disjoined and loyal members of the organization, this article attempts to investigate the roots of the contradictory and unusual, political behavior of Monafeqin from its inception until the end of the imposed war.

Considered as sociopolitical actions and originated from the ideals and beliefs of human communities, revolutions generate and disseminate values and norms which are often against the existing conditions and quickly cause the opposition of the ruling authorities. Therefore, although revolutions occur within specific geographical boundaries, they proliferate and export their achievements in order to protect themselves against the intentions of their opponents. The present article, which seeks to analyze the influence of the soft power elements of the Islamic Revolution of Iran on Arabic Revolutions, highlights the point that attractiveness and humanitarian nature of these elements and introduction of a successful political model in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the spiritual power resulting from it made, though with delay, the ideals, goals, mottoes and the behavior of Iranians in creating the 1979 revolution, which was based on a spiritual policy and soft revolution (peaceful protest and avoiding violence), a model for Arab Muslims. After introducing the soft power elements of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, this article discusses its manifestations in Arabic revolutions and its long-term influence on the Islamic community.

A review of the history of psychological operations indicates that following the World War II, some kind of unanimity was obtained about the nature, application, and role of what we call psychological operations today. Since then, the common understanding of scholars about psychological operations has included manipulation of beliefs by utilizing one or more communication media. To put it more precisely, psychological operations were defined as a set of political, military, economical, and ideological measures taken to create certain expected feelings, attitudes or behaviors in friendly, hostile, neutral, and opposing groups so that the national interests can be satisfied. Given the evolutionary process of psychological operations, the present paper deals with their novel role in the contemporary era. Reviewing the activities and applications of psychological operations, the article further relates the outlook and approach of the topic under discussion to public opinion. Presenting the methods and characteristics of analyzing opinions of the audience, the article tackles the efficiency criteria of psychological operations as well.

Following the globalization of information, enhancement of technological developments and the software aspect of power and war finding importance in modern world, the role of the U.S. think tanks in developing public policies of this country for hard and soft confrontation against the Islamic Republic of Iran has found higher prominence. Employing experts from different fields, as well as the former and present-day U.S. officials, these centers have helped develop four macro-strategies aimed at changing the political system in Iran: reconciliation (persuading Iran to cooperate), war (eradication of Iran), change from inside (overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran), and deterrence (threatening Iran). Introducing the most important U.S. think tanks, the present article examines the courses of action suggested by them to confront the Islamic Republic of Iran.

To overthrow the sacred political system in Iran, the enemies of the Islamic Revolution have formed a united soft war front against it. This article examines different aspects and consequences of soft war from the viewpoint of faculty members and administrators of a military university. Having information about the consequences of soft war can give human resources insight to the authorities and planners of the country. Our intension in this research work is to tackle this problem. The subjects of the study are all faculty members and university administrators. To analyze the data, descriptive and analytic methods were utilized. The following are the main consequences of the enemy’s soft war against the Islamic Revolution of Iran from the viewpoint of the faculty members and university administrators: harming velayat-e faqih, creation of political instability, creation of gap between political structures and the pillars of the political system in the country, challenging the totality of the political system, attacking the values and the basic principles of the Islamic political system, paving the way for raising the pressures of foreigners, wearing down the loyal forces of the political system, detaching military and security forces from each other, weakening national resistance, exaggerating the economic and social vulnerabilities and difficulties of the country, and stimulating antirevolutionary elements.