فهرست مطالب

Review of Foreign Affairs - Volume:6 Issue: 2, Summer - Autumn 2015

Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Volume:6 Issue: 2, Summer - Autumn 2015

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1395/08/24
  • تعداد عناوین: 6
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  • Roxana Niknami Page 5
    The European sanctions regime against Iran came into force in 2012 and soon turned into a yardstick for evaluation of the European Union foreign policy. The Europeans demonstrated their determination in playing a more decisive role in the Middle East through impositions of sanctions on Iran. The present article aims to study the impact of sanctions on the European Union as well as its impacts on Iran. The main questions are about the effectiveness and impacts of sanctions and the future scenarios after their lifting. The hypothesis is that imposition of sanctions is quite consequential for both appliers of sanctions (European countries) and their subject (Iran). To study the consequences of sanctions, impacts have to be distinguished from effectiveness. For the appliers it is the impacts that should be studied. What concerns Iran as the subject of sanctions is their effectiveness. The costs of imposed sanctions on Iran have been significant for both Iran and European Union. This article approaches the issue of Iran’s sanctions from the International Regimes theory perspective.
    Keywords: European Union, sanctions, effectiveness, impacts of sanctions, human rights, energy, foreign policy
  • Elaheh Nourigholamizadeh, Mehdi Mohammadi Page 37
    The Tea Party Movement (TPM) is a grassroots conservative reactionary movement that according to the Washington Post’s, Christopher Parker, sees changes in traditional conservative values as a direct threat to its way of life. Initially started as an opposition to the fiscal policies of Barack Obama, the TPM soon embraced radicalism and adopted various hardline stances toward various domestic and foreign issues, ranging from the Obamacare to the recent JCPOA accord with the Islamic Republic of Iran. An influential figure within the TPM is the provocative and uncontrollably vocal former U.S congresswoman from Minnesota, whose controversial views have consistently made headlines in the media and the press. The so-called “undisputed queen of the TPM,” Michele Bachmann was never a shy person in expressing her support of Israel as well as her questionable antagonism towards Muslims and more importantly, the Islamic Republic of Iran. This study aims to investigate political views of Michele Bachmann on major domestic and foreign issues, as well as her stance regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran, by utilizing qualitative-based systematic review and content analysis of official documents, congressional records and the media coverage. A new perspective is offered to the understanding of republican-sponsored radicalism that the TPM employs vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran. Furthermore, it is shown that the TPM and its members have negative views with regard to Iran and adopt anti-Iran stances that parallel of today’s Republican Party.
    Keywords: Tea Party Movement, Radicalism, Michele Bachmann, the Islamic Republic of Iran
  • Nasser Pourebrahim Page 69
    The article aims to understand how the relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have evolved in the 2000s, through applying the regional level of analysis. It examines how the regional relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which ranges between regional cooperation and regional competition, affected the political, economic and military relations between Ankara and Riyadh through the period of study between 2003 until 2015 and how Saudi- Turkish relations affected Iran’s regional status. The hypothesis posed in response to the question is the regional context, which impacted the Turkish-Saudi relations positively after the US invasion of Iraq and negatively during the Arab uprisings and more specifically in the Egyptian uprising in 2013. In case, of Syria, the high level of coordination appeared since 2014. The Regional Security Complex Theory, Securitization and De-Securitization will be implemented to understand the regional interaction between Turkey and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and its effects on Iran.
    Keywords: Turkish foreign policy, Saudi foreign policy, Iran Regional Status the Middle East, the Arab Spring
  • Tahereh Miremadi Page 93
    The paper aims to depict the crucial role of a number of domestic factors facilitating the conclusion of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA in Vienna. For attaining this goal, the paper highlights the dynamics of two under-analyzed factors. These factors include the consensus being built in 2012 among the reference groups of business and security communities over the concept of security; and the emergence of policy broker coalition, which mediated between the rival policy positions over the nuclear issue. A hybrid conceptual model and a mixed of quantitative and qualitative research methods are used to substantiate the paper’s argument.
    Keywords: concept of security, social consensus, policy broker, nuclear negotiations
  • Mohammad A. Mousavi, Elham Kadkhodaee Page 123
    Highlighting the need for a more nuanced and multidimensional approach to understanding the relationship between America and Israel, the current article suggests constructivist international relations as a theoretical framework that has the capacity to explain such complexity through the concept of collective identity. According to Alexander Wendt’s version of constructivism, in a Kantian culture of anarchy, states can become friends rather than rivals or enemies, meaning that the security and interests of the Self and Other become identical. In such a situation, a collective identity is formed between the two entities, leading to a friendship that involves not only governments but also the societies, and includes cultural and psychological dimensions as well as geopolitical ones. The current article argues that non-governmental entities such as the academia can play a significant role in constructing such a collective identity. Pro-Israel scholars actively promote a collective identity by producing output that clearly define Israel and America as the Self, and Arabs/Muslims/Palestinians as the Other or the dangerous common enemy. To remain more focused, Holocaust and anti-Semitism are selected as specific fields of study through which formation of the Self/Other dichotomy in academic discourse is studied. A critical discourse analysis of texts authored by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Andrea Markovits and Josef Joffe will be carried out to demonstrate the themes through which this binary is established. The identification of these themes, and the overall endeavor of pro-Israel scholars to construct American identity in a pro-Israel manner, is necessary for understanding the ideational basis of American relations with Israel.
    Keywords: International relations, constructivism, common, collective identity, America, Israel, academic discourse
  • Asghar Jafari Valadani Page 155
    Throughout history¡ the Islands of “Tunb” and “Abu Musa” have been parts of Iranian territory. In fact¡ since the beginning of history up to the 19th century¡ the Persian Gulf coastal areas and the islands have been under Iran’s sovereignty. During this long period of history¡ the Persian Gulf was one of the internal seas of Iran. Even after the 19th century when the British government dominated the Persian Gulf¡ the evidence held by this government substantiates that these islands belong to Iran. At the outset of 20th century¡ the illegal occupation of the islands by the British government did not engender sovereignty to the detriment of Iran and in favour of the United Arab Emirates because this occupation was not free of interruption¡ discordance or objection. Also¡ the British reasons for the illegal occupation of the islands were legally spurious; accordingly¡ the British government had no choice but to opt for the word “disputed” to legally refer to the Tunb and Abu Musa Islands. Ultimately¡ as the colonialism came to an end in 1971¡ the islands returned to their previous state¡ with Iranian sovereignty being exercised upon them again. The main question of the present paper is whether Iran’s rights concerning these two islands have been fully restored after the end of colonialism. The main hypothesis of the paper is that¡ due to the imbalance of power structure between Iran and Britain¡ the Iranian government has had no choice but to back off from its previous positions¡ ignoring the Iranian national interests. The findings of the article show that Iran had adopted conciliatory stances¡ that is¡ it had relinquished its own rights to Bahrain¡ and immediately recognised the UAE Federation — what Saudi Arabia did three years later after having invaded parts of the UAE. In order to maintain its own sovereignty over Abu Musa Island¡ the Iranian government had also conceded financial and economic privileges to Sharjah.
    Keywords: historical rights, British documents, maps, Arab's expansionism, settlement of the issue of Islands