نشریه مطالعات خاورمیانه
سال نهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 31، پاییز 1381)

The analysis of the foreign policies of the Middle Eastern states are highly difficult, considering the pace and trend of regional developments, especially if scholars also seek to recognize pathologies. This article seeks to conduct the pathology of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acknowledging the complexity of such a study and emphasizing Iran’s successes within the two past decades; in other words, it aims to identify the deficiencies precluding the realization of certain ends and interests of the country. Mentioning the requirements and characteristics of desirable foreign policy, the author considers a framework for the assessment of Iranian foreign policy and on the same token, he counts 11 deficiencies part of which stem from the substantial limitations and part of which arise from formal problems. According to the author, the combination of these problems and obstacles have led Iranian foreign policy to stay away from desirable and ideal situation, and in order to achieve further success, there is no option other than to remove these vulnerabilities.

The September 11th events have caused international relations and politics to enter a new phase. The assessment of this incident’s impact- in particular in the case of Afghanistan- already gains the attention of policy-makers and researchers. Pointing to US authorities’ exploitation of the September 11th incident, the author has addressed its effects on new political position in the Persian Gulf region. In his view, Persian Gulf geopolitics is highly affected by the incident in question and the United States attempts to pursue its own ends and interests by proposing and following the discussion of full-fledged battle against terrorism. Therefore, it may be suggested that the United States aims to expand and complement its prior policies, albeit more assertively and aggressively under current desirable conditions by extending its presence in the region.

The Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies has undertaken a number of pollings in recent years in order to recognize recent tendencies and views on regional developments in particular within the country’s scientific elites. Among them is a poll of senior specialists and university professors’ opinions about Middle Eastern developments (January 2001 through June 2001) a summary of which is presented here. This poll consisting of 8 questions was carried out in the form of a questionnaire and the data were analyzed in light of factors such as gender, age, educational degree and field of study.

Within the past two years, US-Iraqi relations have entered a new phase affected by George Bush’s presidency and the September 11th terrorist attacks. The presence of a number of elites from the Bush Senior’s administration in the Bush Junior’s administration bears it in mind that the mission to overthrow Saddam Hussein will be fulfilled this time. On the other hand, although there is not evident any link between the September 11th events and the Iraqi government, the United States attempts to build an international coalition against Iraq in the pretext of battle against all forms of terrorism. In this article, dispute within the US administration over how to deal with Iraq and to acquire other countries’ consent is discussed and US and British efforts to further control Iraq through smart sanctions have been explained. Emphasizing that Arab countries do not possess an important position in the international coalition envisioned by the United States, the author has described incoming months as fateful for the Iraqi regime.

The establishment of Israel and its continued existence in one of the most important regions of the world have given rise to much controversy as this country’s attitude toward the Palestinians and neighboring countries have already been subject to study by many researchers. In this article, Israeli operations have been analyzed and assessed in light of international human rights standards. According to the authors, this regime’s domestic and foreign actions and reactions do contravene most of conventions accepted by the international community. Citing certain articles of the Four Geneva Conventions, Annexed Protocols and Rio de Janeiro Non-Aggression Treaty, the authors demonstrate that such articles have fragrantly been ignored by the Israeli authorities, as Palestinians have not been able to sufficiently enjoy their natural rights including self-determination, right to freedom and personal safety. In this perspective, an appropriate solution can be found in order to ensure Palestinian rights and the prevention of Israel’s violent actions through invoking certain principles accepted by the international community such as ‘humanitarian intervention’ and in light of concepts like ‘international crime.’

In this article, the author suggests that globalization is currently at the center of much research and many seminars and in the meantime focus on Middle Eastern issues as a crucial region in the world is increasing. He proposes the necessity of attention to various dimensions of soft politics and the consequences of globalization in the Middle East and referring to the viewpoints of certain scholars in the region concludes that their perception of the phenomenon of globalization is essentially negative. At the end, the author addresses the phenomenon of political succession in the Middle East region and predicts that the replacement of rulers in the Middle East in the future will bring about salient consequences.

Succession crisis and its consequences have become important problems in a number of Middle Eastern countries. With the end of rule of old Arab Middle East leaders, several questions on how to transfer power and on its domestic and foreign consequences have gained the attention of researchers. Peterson has dealt with the question of succession in the countries member to the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and has developed probable scenarios for transfer of power and problems faced by the countries’ new generation of leaders. He concludes that along with developments such as economic growth, social welfare and increase in the number of the educated people, mechanisms for transfer of power still remain vague and unpredictable, especially because the countries’ political systems are transforming from emirate to monarchy.