فصلنامه سازمان های بین المللی
پیاپی 3 (پاییز 1392)

Recent developments in Arab countries started in December 2010 with popular protests by Tunisian people against the country’s dictatorship and soon spread to other countries like Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. In Egypt, Libya and Yemen, they overthrew dictators in those countries. In other countries like Bahrain and Syria, the conflicts are still going on. This phenomenon can be viewed from various political, social and legal aspects. The present research aims to study measures taken by the United Nations Security Council vis-à-vis developments in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain from a legal standpoint. The researchers believe that the Security Council has adopted double standards in its treatment of those countries in line with the interests of big powers. This issue will become clearer through comparative study of the world body’s performance with regard to developments in those countries.

The US Congress is the most influential institution regulating the American leaders’ approach to the UN and plays an important role in shaping the country’s policies toward the UN. Some congress members believe that due to unique position of the US at global level and in the UN, it should play a determining part in the UN decision-making process. Since the increasing membership dues (assessed contribution to UN) of the US is approved by the Congress, it is clear why administrative and budgetary reforms in the UN are a priority for the US government and Congress. So far, many laws have been approved on the UN reforms. Some Congress members believe that these laws have helped the US to achieve its goals in the UN.

The preset paper discusses major components of a new regional arrangement within the cultural territory of greater Iran. It represents an effort to explore both elements of convergence that make up a regional arrangement, and the elements of divergence that disturb it. Three common factors that have been identified and assessed include: a. territorial unity, b. common history and destiny, and c. common culture and cultural factors. It seems that if players in this region cooperated, unifying variables in the territory of greater Iran would be able to turn it into a prosperous and powerful region in all fields.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is among few intergovernmental bodies in the field of disarmament, which despite wide access of members of its secretariat to information on chemical activities of member states, takes advantage of a different regime, compared to other international organizations, with regard to confidential affairs, especially regulations related to violations of the secretariat staff and responsibility of this international organization with regard to their violations. The main question of this paper is whether the regime governing breach of confidentiality related to Chemical Weapons Convention is different from regulations related to common international law, and whether the contents of this Convention especially that related to breaches or alleged breaches of confidentiality (Para. 22, Section D of the Annexes) can exonerate the secretariat staff of the OPCW?The author hypothesizes that regulations of the Chemical Weapons Convention constitute a big part of the rules and principles of international law, and the confidentiality regime of the OPCW as well as liability resulting from breach of these regulations is a function of this regime.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a regional organization established to build confidence among member states; fight terrorism, religious extremism and separatism; and to counteract the United States unilateralism in international system. China, Russia, and Central Asian countries (except Turkmenistan) are its members with Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia being observers. Shanghai Cooperation Organization is part of convergence process in Asia, but it was established under conditions different from regionalism in Asia. Regionalism in Asia can be explained within three generations of theories, including hegemonic regionalism, independent regionalism, and modern regionalism. This paper redefines SCO according to third-generation theories of regionalism.

Since the common denominator among EU members is increasing dependence on imported oil and gas, security of energy supply is a major concern for the European Union. When assured about security and effectiveness of energy market, those countries will be able to continue increasing consumption of energy. However, the rising energy price, especially with regard to natural gas, has led to questions about future situation of energy supply security for the EU members. Therefore, this paper first focuses on the rising demand for gas and the risks of overdependence of the EU members on gas supply from Russian Gazprom Company, which may lead to repetition of Ukraine experience and the international gas crisis in 2006 and 2009. It then analyzes geopolitical and international aspects of future energy supply security for the EU and strategic plans developed by its members to handle these challenges. In conclusion, the paper introduces Iran as a good alternative source for ensuring energy security of the EU due to its geoeconomic conditions.

The secure society of Western Europe is the most important example of a secure society in contemporary world. This secure society consists of three main institutions, which include: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). All secure societies differentiate between “self” and “others” and this issue links secure society theories to Constructivism theories. Like other secure societies, the Western European society has defined its own norms, identities and interests. Some secure societies try to extend their borders beyond their main members and establish special institutions to do this. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is responsible for doing this in Western European society. This paper is an effort to answer the following question through a historical and descriptive How NATO helped the secure Western European society to expand?