نشریه تحقیقات سیاسی و بین المللی
پیاپی 22 (بهار 1394)

Most studies done about the nuclear program of Iran have used realism as theoretical framework to deal with relations of states and statesmen. They have neglected the impact of ideational elements like social inclination, attitudes and the social context. One of the ideational forces which has impact on politics is beliefs and attitudes in the society which they call it public opinion. From the viewpoint of constructivist all the social phenomenon including foreign policy decisions are socially constructed. This rule applies to nuclear issue of Iran as well. Since political decisions are not made in vacuum, they are strongly influenced by values and norms of the society. The present article wants to examine and analyze the United States and Iran's point of view on Iran's nuclear issue based on public opinion polls and surveys which were conducted in both countries and it also tries to find out how they affect and shape the views and perceptions of the decision makers in both the countries.

The quest for increasing security has always been the main preoccupation of Israeli regime. Maintaining security is therefore, one of the most important concerns for the Zionist regime and the most important foreign policy priority. One of the ways which partially can help this country to face security threats is active energy diplomacy and Israel actively uses energy diplomacy for improving its place and removes or decreases the security threats. The present article wants to answer this question that what are the principle and objectives of Israel energy diplomacy in the region and how this country makes use of energy diplomacy to improve her security and regional place. The finding of the study shows that Israel energy diplomacy has been active in three geographical region viz. the Middle East, Eurasia and Mediterranean and in each of the three regions pursues particular objective proportionate with the situation. The common objectives in all the three regions are gaining a better political place, getting secure supply of energy by diversifying the sources, reducing security threats and gaining political legitimacy.

Islamic Republic of Iran and China can be considered as revisionist state in current international system. Economic and commercial relations between the two have prepared the ground for close and friendly relations. In the question of nuclear program of Iran and Syrian crisis both the countries have had similar stand. What will be the security consequences of the rise of China as a stronger power than the United States for Islamic Republic of Iran? The present article wants to examine the consequences of this event within the framework of Barry Buzan security approach. The Underlying assumption is; that after the rise of China as a stronger power than the United States the international system undergoes change and the United States no longer be able to dominate or put pressure on Iran or jeopardize Iran's security. The methodology used by the article is descriptive-analytical and collection of data is library sources.

Theoreticians of political economy and international political economy and international relations by referring to recent trend in international political economy consider the twenty first century as the century of geo-economics. It is because they believe that the most important global challenge in this century is competition for energy resources, particularly oil and natural gas. The problem of energy security would be the most important paradigm of political economy. Moreover, there is going to be a strong connection between the security of energy and militarism for protecting oil cargo, transit routes and commercial energy markets. The security of energy supply will be one of the important components of energy policy and competition for possessing energy sources and markets by using political, economic and military tools will become an important problem in international relations. In this context maintaining the security of energy for a country like China which has become the biggest consumer of energy is of great importance for China's energy and foreign policy. The present article tries to examine the connection between this aspect of China's energy and foreign policy and the geo-economic place of Iran.

The new public diplomacy is a state centered program that its aim is disseminating information or affecting public opinion of other countries. In this regard powerful countries by propagating and disseminating their ideology, values and norms want to send their message and culture to the world and gain superiority over others. The powerful countries will further their objectives by the help of media. They propagate their views through media, political propaganda, covering news and events and forming public opinion in favor of their own country. The present article by a descriptive-analytical method wants to answer this question how public diplomacy by the help of media diplomacy increases its influencing power? It seems that increasing power of media diplomacy have prepared the necessary ground for influencing foreign policy and diplomacy. The authors are of the view that media diplomacy is the most important part of the new public diplomacy in 21st century. The paper also deals with the way media by shaping public opinion influence the process of foreign policy decision making.

In today's world sport has increasing interaction with domestic and international politics and an impression has been made that sport can enhance the level of development, creating the condition of peace and settling disputes. International sport which consists of governmental and non-governmental agents sometime is considered as suitable topic of diplomatic discussions. The big sport events like Olympic and world cup can bring countries together and lead to close and friendly relations among the countries. In these situations sport diplomacy shows its efficiency and nations can show their friendship, cooperation and close aspect of their relations to each other. The cooperation between the United Nations and international Olympic committees and sport federations particularly FIFA(International Football Federation) can play an effective role in this direction. The finding of the study shows that sports can play a constructive role in international relations particularly prevalence of peace. Nevertheless, in some cases sport has been used to disrupt peace and provoke enmity. The present paper by a descriptive-analytical method and by using library sources wants to examine the above said hypothesis and answers the related questions.

The relations between Iran and Russia have existed from long time back in several sphere and most of the time Russia had the upper hand. The occurrence of Islamic revolution in Iran changed the pattern of our foreign relations. Iran and Russia continued their relations thereafter despite mutual suspicions about each other with ups and downs. The question of Ukraine in recent years has dramatically affected the relations between Russia and West and has led to tension between Russia and the West headed by the United States and European Union. In this direction last year several economic sanctions were imposed on Russian Federation. This forced Russia to substitute the Western partners with Eastern countries. This question apparently brought Russia closer to Iran. The present article wants to answer this question that what has been the impact of sanctions imposed on Russian Federation on relations with Islamic Republic of Iran. The underlying hypothesis is that the sanctions imposed by Western countries forced Russia to improve her politico-economic relations with Iran and has led to closer relations between the two. The present paper has examined the relations of Iran and Russia by a descriptive-analytical method.

Undoubtedly the developments in Arabian countries are one of the most important and influential developments that have occurred in the Middle East over the past decades. Of course there are widespread differences of opinions in regard of the nature, content and even the title or name of these developments. As a matter of fact some consider it as Arab Spring, Arab developments and others consider it Arab revolution or Islamic Awakening which all shows differences of attitudes regarding the nature of these unprecedented developments that have engulfed the Middle East region in recent years and are yet continuing. While these developments have great importance there are vast ambiguities about the origin, nature and future of these developments. Experts, scholars and academic circles as well as different countries have different attitudes and viewpoints about these developments in the Arab world. Various books have been written in recent years in order to explain and clarify these ambiguities and present a deeper and precise understanding of what is happening in the Arab world. Most of these books reflect different viewpoints. For example one can refer to the present book which has been authored by the initiative of “Fawaz Gerges”, the political science lecturer of London University who is considered as one of the most distinguished and prominent authorities on the Middle East region. In this book several other distinguished university teacher and observers have also contributed. Different articles of the book have meticulously and thoughtfully discuss the development in the Arab world from different perspective and viewpoint. For this reason academic circles have admired and welcomed the book and several critics have written reviews about it. The book consists of one introduction and four chapters which here in are discussed and reviewed.