فصلنامه سیاست خارجی
سال سی و یکم شماره 4 (پیاپی 124، زمستان 1396)

Different Iranian and international researchers have studied the foreign policy of Islamic Republic of Iran, using theories of foreign policy and international relations. The most important challenge facing all this studies, has been analyze and explain the contradictory aspects of Iran's foreign policy. This study proposes a new framework for analyzing the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and argues that this framework can explain Iran's foreign policy contradictions and differences . The authors argue that using the Critical Realism as a new conceptual framework in international relations is a better way of understanding the different aspects in Iran foreign policy. Critical Realism stands between Realism and Critical theory in international relations and while has some common points with them, has also some different with each of them.
This article has two main parts: The first part is to explain the concept of Critical Realism and its position in international relations theory deals. The second part examines the appropriateness and matching theory to explain the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the post WWII era, Multilateral Export Control Regimes (MECR) were formed to restrict the access of countries outside the western bloc – especially members of the Soviet Union – to modern military technology and equipment, mainly missiles and WMDs. Although even during the Cold War, these regimes went beyond those specific targets and set a precedent for global restriction outside NATO sphere.
Admittedly, these regimes proved effective in the years that followed the disintegration of the Soviet Union and have – directly and indirectly – affected the national security of many target countries.
Meanwhile, two notable Multilateral Export Control Regimes, including Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), seek to establish executive mechanisms to ensure that other countries do not have access to specific missile technologies related to the transfer and delivery of WMD warheads and dual-use technologies.

The main goal of this article is evaluation of some challenges that resulted in creating some obstacles before regional trade blocs in the Middle East. In recent years, regionalism in light of geographical and geopolitics relations have influenced interdependence and common interests. Hence, states have tended to cooperate and organize interaction in some issues such as political, economic, and cultural context. This article, with emphasis on Middle East and promotion of cooperation and security space mitigation, pursues to answer the question that what has challenged regional trade blocs in the Middle East. With descriptive-explanative method, this article argues some political factors such as structural contrasts and competitions among the Middle Eastern countries, internal crisis in regional countries and influence of intra-regional actors and multiple economic factors such as underdevelopment in difference levels, rentier states and weakness of privatization are more important factors that influenced free trade blocs in the Middle East.

Contrary to many of the current challenges in the world, the crisis between North Korea and the United States is completely different in the 21th century, and its performance is similar to the Cold War era. Hence, distrust and uncertainty determine the perceptions of the United States and North Korea towards each other. In this context, the United States insists on stopping North Korea from achieving a complete cycle of nuclear deterrent, and defeats the country through multilateral sanctions and military threats. North Korea is also insists on moving towards development of nuclear deterrence and survival, and is willing to make an agreement with regard to security and its interests, at least in the freezing position of the conflict. Meanwhile, a range of issues such as potential threats, different commitments, changes in the priorities of the two countries, domestic policies and trans-regional events, one after another, has only increased the scope of conflict and uncertainty. In this regard, the question is what final conclusion can be perceived for this dispute in view of uncertainties about true intentions of North Korea, and on the other hand, the United States under Trump administration ? The present article seeks to consider the dimensions and consequences of the crisis between the two countries in a descriptive-analytical way by using the Bayesian theory and military scenarios.

The arms control, in the Cold War period, was based on the power relations between the two superpowers. They set up their interactions based on strategic stability in the missile field. New actors emerge post-Cold War and they play significant role in the international system. As a result, arms control approaches also changed to adapt to the new conditions. The question arises here as to what changes have been made to the approaches regarding missile control in light of the change in the international system and the emergence of new challenges in missile area? This paper maintain that arms control approaches after the end of the Cold War, in response to new challenges from the narrow government-oriented field and the relationship between the two powers of domination, focused on three principles of confidence-building, transparency, and safeguards. This paper first examines the theoretical evolution in arms control approaches. The second part examines the missile challenges and ultimately examines the trend of evolutions in arms control approaches in the missile area.

In post-JCPOA era, it is necessary to take suitable energy diplomacy in order to enhance Iran’s position in regional and international affairs. In this regard, in the light of the developmental foreign policy of the Rouhani administration, it has provided a platform for energy diplomacy with the emphasis on interaction with the world and multilateralism. The question is that how adoption of energy diplomacy in the framework of developmental foreign policy will provide a framework for economic development? The hypothesis of this study is that the adoption of energy diplomacy in the current administration will lead to economic development of the country. This paper uses a descriptive-analytical method with a practical purpose to measure the relationship between development-oriented foreign policy, economic development and energy diplomacy.