جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "soft power" در نشریات گروه "جغرافیا"

Today's turbulent levels, the management of political, economic and military sectors can be established based on the will of the governments, but the issues of the cultural field are beyond the will of people. Accepted values, religion, worldview, language, literature and common ethnic ties that have dominated the hearts of people for years are not issues that have been achieved over several decades or centuries. The aim of the current research is to investigate the challenges of the diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the relations between Fimabin and the Federal Government of Germany. Therefore, the cultural diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on the influence of the meaning and thought of the Islamic Revolution and the influence of the Quranic and Islamic teachings, based on the diplomatic language, which has become a full-fledged discourse by developing and deepening it. The de-escalation and improvement of relations with the West after the period of sacred defense strengthened the relations between Iran and Germany, but the start of the discussion on Iran's nuclear issue in 2003 created a new phase in the relations between the two countries.

National power is one of the greatest intellectual concerns of politicians in political and international relations. If a country has a high national power, it can fulfill its wishes without any obstacles. there are some powers that are not only in the world and the planet, but have such power, but also reach beyond the borders of the planet, and some are so weak that they are not able to satisfy their basic needs and desires. countries and the government should communicate with each other and have different behaviors with the aim of meeting needs and exercising will. National power has different origins and foundations that produce national power in a collective function. the main factors shaping the national power of countries are in various economic, political, military, social, scientific, etc. field. the purpose of this research is to identify the most important components of national power the methodology is descriptive-analytical. Data are gathered by documentary and library methods research findings suggest that sources of national power include (7) factors (geography-military-economic-cultural and social-spatial-scientific-political).

If in a general sense soft power is considered as the ability to shape the preferences and behavior of the audiences using attractiveness; One of the important issues related to this concept is soft power measurement. In this context, Joseph Nye is the first person to discuss the possibility of measuring this power at the same time as proposing the concept of soft power. According to him, soft power and its availability can be assessed through public opinion polls, interviews with elites, and case studies. However, soft power is a concept that Gives a different measure to assess the international position of a country; For this reason, since the beginning of the term soft power, the discussion of measuring this power, besides other theoretical literature, has enjoyed widespread progress and success among thinkers; Despite the short history of soft power measurement research, various models have been designed by researchers and study centers. But Despite the many efforts, these models were attacked and criticized from different angles. Accordingly, this study tried to design a new model, while measuring the status of the soft power of countries, to draw the geopolitical structure of the world with a focus on soft power.

The first question of this research is what are the most important sources and indicators of the soft power of countries? And the second question, What is the geopolitical structure of the world with a focus on soft power? However, given that these questions were exploratory, no hypothesis has been put forward; In this regard, the method of this research has been descriptive-analytical and the method of collecting information has been library and field

In this study, there was a hypothesis that the geopolitical structure of the world has undergone changes due to the emergence of the concept of soft power. Due to this necessity, understanding the global geopolitical structure with a focus on soft power became relevant. Therefore, in the first step, due to the weakness of current models of soft power measurement, the conceptual model of soft power measurement in the form of six components (political, cultural, economic, science and technology, military and geographical), 48 conceptual indicators and 260 operational variables were designed. Then, the importance of each of the capacities and conceptual indicators of soft
power was determined using an online questionnaire by 194 soft power experts opinion from 33 countries. In the next step, among the common methods of measuring power, the matrix measurement method was chosen. Then, based on a number of preconditions,  160 countries were selected. In the next step, referring to databases and valid documents, etc., the amount of data of each of the 260 variables for 160 countries was extracted; At this stage, 57 countries were excluded due to a lack of valid data in some indicators and variables; Also, 15 variables were excluded due to lack of universality. Therefore, the number of countries under study was reduced to 103 countries and the number of variables to 245. In the next step, with the help of four standard methods,  The values of the variables were converted into score; Then the scores obtained for all variables were placed in the same range using the minimum-maximum method. After going through the above steps, the soft power of the countries was calculated based on the matrix method. In the final stage, Richard Muir's model and the writer's creative approach were used to drawing the geopolitical structure of the world with a focus on soft power. Therefore, for the soft power of countries, five levels were considered. Then, the soft power classification of countries was analyzed by six statistical methods. In the next step, among the different methods, the natural failure method was selected based on the number of advantages, and the soft power of the countries based on this method was divided into five levels. In this regard, the results showed that the United States, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, South Korea, etc. at the first level, or other words in the highest level; Italy, Singapore, Poland, China, UAE, Israel, Malaysia, etc. in the second level; Russia, India, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, etc. at the third level; Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Ecuador, Colombia, etc. in the fourth level and Egypt, Iran, Algeria, Mali, Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, etc in the fifth level or other words, in the lowest levels of soft power are located.

In this study, with the knowledge of the true nature of soft power and the limitations of measuring the elements of this power, an attempt was made to design a soft power measurement model with a focus on countries. In this regard, the results of measuring the soft power of countries showed that despite all the ups and downs of US policy, especially during the Trump administration, the country has relied on the position first of soft power in the world. However, with Biden taking office and revising some of its previous policies, including resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis through multilateral diplomacy, trying to return to the Paris Climate Treaty, Laying the groundwork for the United States to rejoin the World Health Organization, increasing refugee reception in the United States, and so on. The new team is expected to work more than Trump to repair the mental image of the United States and strengthen its soft power.At the same time, it should not be overlooked that the United States's position at the top of the global soft power pyramid is shaky; Because near it is a selection of European countries that can occupy the position of this country by setting and adopting a suitable strategy. The United States, on the other hand, does not have a significant advantage in all aspects of soft power; it has a decisive position only in economic capacities and science and technology, and in cultural capacity, despite occupying the first place, the countries of Britain and France are with a relatively small difference after it. And it is far from the first place in political, geographical, and military capacities. With these interpretations, one can expect this scenario; If the members of the European Union, especially Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Finland, increase their cohesion and solidarity on a variety of issues in such a way as to present a single picture of Europe's soft power; In the post-Corona, the geopolitical structure of soft power will be shifted towards the EU.

One of the most important events of the twentieth century was undoubtedly the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which opened a new phase of multidimensional interaction for both successor states and other countries involved in this historical evolution. The post-Soviet countries are confronted with the consequences and legacies of their historical past that have profound implications for the convergence of regional countries. Russia and other post-Soviet countries have inherited similar institutions from the past, including state institutions, political, social and security mentalities, political culture, the style of government-society relations. The newly independent states were trying to solve their domestic problems with the support of foreign powers, but the initial enthusiasm for integration with the Western countries subsided. Similar problems emerged in countries with similar cultural and ethnic structures. It can be argued that the trend toward convergent policies has taken a long time. Shared values and norms and similar mentalities can help Eurasian convergence. In this paper, the concept of social and cultural integration in Eurasia in the post-Soviet era with regard to the soft power of Russia in the Eurasian region is examined by examining the factors of religion, language, media and education to show the social and cultural integration in Eurasia at the level What has been going on within the region and beyond since 1992? It is hypothesized that social and cultural integration in Eurasia, influenced by Russia's soft power, has a clear perspective on political and economic liberalization and the decline of authoritarianism elsewhere in the region and the process of globalization.In this article, Russia is considered a hegemonic power in the post-Soviet space. Developments in the post-Soviet period show that Russia is unwilling to back down from its role as a regulatory player in Central Eurasian affairs. Russia's post-collapse foreign policy is based on a combination of pragmatism and a commitment to the traditional desire to have a plan for a great power. The position of Central Eurasia in Russian foreign policy has not changed. Russia seeks to excel in Eurasian integration, including cultural and social integration. When Putin came to power, he put bilateral relations with countries in the region on the agenda. Although the organization has not been successful in terms of member convergence, favorable areas for convergence among its members are notable, including the Russian Monroe religion, the presence of racists in the former Soviet republics, and the region's energy and military dependence on Russia. The monopoly economies of these countries, which have made each other dependent on exports and imports, make Russian the second language of most of the republics that survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, maintain border security, and cooperate in the fight against fundamentalism and drug trafficking. In this article, after a brief look at the fate of national cultures in the world era and culture, the impact on regional convergence under the cultural and social treatment of the Soviet era and the soft power of Russia in the Yeltsin and Putin eras. Then check the usability of the software including Russian language, religion and education system. The method of writing this article is descriptive-analytical and with boron collecting data from authoritative scientific sources: books, scientific-research articles and licensed websites.In this regard each country achieves the preservation and strengthening of its national, ethnic and religious identity through the better cultural integration of the regions. Thus, cultural convergence is not only a threat to preserve and strengthen the identity of the nations of the region, but also confronts external and threatening factors of national identities, such as extremist currents. While the nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus have many historical, cultural, religious and religious ties, due to negligence, incompetence and unfounded aspirations, today some cultural ties originate. Disagreements have become like disputes over cultural and literary luminaries.The following conditions are necessary to create regional cultural convergence:- Understand the importance of the issue of extremism as a serious threat and common challenge, by all countries in the region- Lack of baseless and destructive synergistic superiorityExplain key and common cultural values among the countries of the region- Group cohesion of the countries of the region and having the spirit of collective work, interaction and cultural synergy- Active participation of all countries in the region in designing and implementing a roadmap to counter extremist currents and consensus of member countries on this solutionAdequate preparation and flexibility for quick decisions and the use of new, creative and innovative approaches, methods and tools against extremism. The cultural system was formed in 1920-1930 and continued until 1980 despite some changes. In the mid-1980s, Gorbachev made major changes in Soviet culture with the performance of Glasnost and Perestroika, which eased ideological and media pressure on the media and administrative control of the country's educational and cultural institutions. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin undertook fundamental economic reforms and encouraged integration with the Western world. First, steps were taken to regain control of Russia in the region. However, the Russian elite sought to expand Russian-Western relations. From 1993 onwards, Russian elites began to emphasize the importance of post-Soviet geography and soft power policies in the region. These efforts were initially made by Yevgeny Primakov and the Eurasianists, but the policies implemented for convergence were not successful. With the advent of the Putin era, Russia began to develop soft power tools by pursuing policies to maximize its interests in the post-Soviet space. In the post-Soviet space, Russia strengthened its position in Central Eurasia as part of a policy of soft power. This ability is based on two important tools: language and education. Russia began to develop multilateral and bilateral relations, in a preventive manner, with the former Soviet republics. Russia is developing its soft power capabilities, but many of its problems have not yet been resolved so that it can be considered a powerful soft power. . Both soft power and hard power policies are implemented in parallel with creating a favorable environment for the Russian Federation in post-Soviet geography.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the challenges of political marketing with the approach of using the soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Categories related to each of them were extracted using content analysis method and these 6 groups were ranked using Friedman test by SPSS26 software. According to the results, the highest ranking was given to the techniques used in international political marketing with the approach of diplomacy, media power, ideological power, cultural power, economic power and management system power. Persuasion and third place became the most prominent dimension of international political marketing, namely national identity. Iran's current position in terms of identity, international prestige and economic identity ranks fourth, restrictions on the use of political marketing ranks fifth with unique ideological approach, financial challenges and theoretical poverty and the most effective Iranian foreign policy discourse ranks sixth with de-escalation and balance discourse approach. Finally, the analytical model of political marketing affected by limitations, necessities and the most significant dimension using effective techniques and the best discourse in promoting Iran's current position in the economic field and strengthening the international image are presented. Practical suggestions are also provided based on research questions for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Economic Deputy of this agency and non-governmental organizations including the Red Crescent and other responsible agencies and organizations.

The term soft power entered the literature of political science, international relations, etc. since about 1989 with the help of Joseph Nye, and now, after three decades, it has become one of the official discourses in policy and scientific researches. In the same context, Nye, in addition to the term soft power, also introduces a new keyword called hard power. In connection with these concepts, he states that hard and soft power are both aspects of the ability to achieve desires through influencing the behavior of others. However, there is a difference between them, so that this distinction covers both the behavioral nature and feature of tangible of the resources. In this regard, in terms of behavioral nature, he bases hard power on coercion or bribery, and bases soft power on attract, accept, and persuade. Also, in terms of being tangible, Nye believes that soft power is rooted in intangible resources such as culture (those parts that appeal to others), political values (in cases where it is considered at home and abroad), and finally, foreign policy (if it seems legitimate and legal) (while military power and economic capacity are among the tangible resources of hard power). However, despite the passage of many years, the scientific evidence and the events of international politics reinforce the hypothesis that this view needs to be reconsidered because the nature of soft power is not limited to specific resources. In fact, it seems that a country's various resources including military power can also be used in this power by focusing on the true nature of soft power. To this end, the study seeks to how and based on what components a country's military capability can affect the country's soft power?

The main question of this research is how and based on what components a country's military capability can affect the country's soft power? The hypothesis corresponding to this is also designed in such a way that it seems that a country's military uses attractiveness to influence soft power. To this end, the authors have used descriptive-analytic methods to answer this question. In this regard, first the nature of soft power and then the position of attractiveness in this method of power is examined and analyzed, and after that based on existing examples and scientific analysis in the style and context in which the military plays a role in soft power, will be mentioned. With these interpretations, the method of data collection in this research has been based on library resources as well as data analysis in the form of content analysis along with inductive reasoning.

The points that Joseph Nye mentioned from the nature of soft power in a covert way, along with the existence of common keywords from the definitions of soft power, lead us to the point where the root of soft power is influenced by attractiveness. However, the concept of attractiveness, in a way, is reminiscent of the behavioral nature of soft power. But that quality may come from the content and facilities of a country or its style of behavior. Therefore, the nature of soft power is not limited to specific resources. Rather, resources or behaviors that can produce peace, respect, credibility, admiration, imitation, and role modeling, and in a word, attractiveness, tend to produce soft power. According the details raised, one of the current capacities based on attractiveness that can play a role in the soft power of countries is military power. In this regards, the findings show that a country's military capability can be achieved through measures such as helping to train foreign troops, participating in deploying peacekeepers in areas under conflict, helping to maintain international security in the framework of multilateralism, holding or participating effectively in the latest exhibitions of military equipment, technical assistance to nations involved in natural and human crises, maintaining and promoting peaceful military relations with the countries of the international system, scientific-peaceful cooperation of military, hosting the international competitions of the armies of the world, launching peaceful competitions among the world armed forces, attending and winning honors in the international competitions of the armies of the world, intelligence and creativity of the military commanders, etc., play an active role in soft power.

This study, considering the important position of military power in the calculations of a country's national power and the prominent role of soft power in domestic and foreign policy, sought to examine this question was that, how and based on what components a country's military capability can affect the country's soft power. In this regard, the results indicate that experts do not have a clear vision of the role of hard resources in general and military capacity in particular, in soft power. Nevertheless, scientific documents in the field of the nature of soft power and global events confirm the opposite of this claim. As the developments of the international system show that with the entrance of the concept of soft power in the field of policy-making, the armed forces in all parts of the world, especially in the West, have adopted and implemented this method of exercising power. With these interpretations, today one of the elements that can play a role in the framework of soft power is the military capabilities of a country, which is also achieved with the help of attractiveness and various methods. However, the point that should not be simply overlooked is the expression of the fact that an attractive military force, with the help of defense diplomacy, becomes an effective element in the mechanism of exercising soft power..

Détente as a policy seeks for decreasing tensions in foreign relations between states. Although there are lots of variables affecting the mentioned policy, this article basically concentrates on the role and status of military power in détente. The main argument is: there was a clear correlation between military power and détente in the Cold War era (especially between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the two superpower) but in the post-Cold War era, we cannot see such a correlation between these variables, which means there has been substantial change in the correlation between military power and the détente policy. This research shows that, due to changes in the international system on the one hand, and an evolution in state attitudes towards the nature of power on the other, the role and status of military power has declined in the détente policy between states in the post-Cold War era.

In current world "Sport" is recognized as an important social, economic, cultural, political and international factor and element. "Sport" can be considered as the multi- dimensional phenomenon with different political, cultural and economic aspects. One can even consider it (the sport policy) as the new dimension of foreign policy. It means that "Sport" is playing a significant role in relations and interactions of Nation- States. As a matter of fact, Sport has played such an important role in international aria since the last century. If we consider "War" and "Peace" the main issue or challenge of international relations, as it before, Sport has a close relationship with both of them. Thus, Sport as a source of soft power, can be in service of foreign policy goals and some (or many) states use it to maintain of their national interests. Interestingly even in sport policy and strategy of some countries, "Sport" has increased to a higher level as an efficient and effective instrument /mechanism to help the geopolitical aspect of foreign policy, for instance in China, Qatar, Israel and recently Russia.

The methodology of current article (which is extracted from PHD thesis) is descriptive- analytical based on the fact and data collected from the written documents especially books and articles both in English and Persian. (Library Technique)  

Sport can be used in different ways in foreign policy (by states) with positive or negative effect as in follow:A) The positive usages of sport in foreign policy:As a political instrument (for improving bilateral and int. relations & supporting peace)As a diplomatic instrument (for enhancing friendship among nation – states)As a social instrument (for increasing social coherence & national identity)B) The negative application of sport in foreign policy:As a political weapon (for increasing tension & using for boycott) As a Diplomatic Trigger mechanism (for ending peace & starting conflict)As a social instrument (for increasing tension inside society & activating social gap)

Analysis:

In analysis of the sport policy & sport diplomacy of People Republic of China (PRC) and what it has done during the past half a century, we can see and recognize that there is a close relationship between two "Champs" (sphere): the champ of foreign policy of China & the champ of international sport. According to "Champ Theory" presented by French well – known social philosopher, Pierre Bourdieu, in which the theoretical foundation of this research has been based, there are interconnections & reactions between deferent Champs and  different players and agents (states, institutions, establishments & persons) try to act in various champs in order to gain and obtain capitals and achievements and finally use them to increase their positions in internal & international society and to pursuit their foreign policy goals & defend better their national interests. In such a context, PRC has endeavored hardly to use its soft power of sport in international sport area (champ), among other hard/soft/smart powers (such as economic strength, military power, political influence & etc.) in order to solve its geopolitical challenges , especially regarding Taiwan, and improve its geopolitical situation in international area. In this article two most famous examples of enacting international sport to help solving geopolitical concern (i.e Ping Pong diplomacy between China & U.S.A) and decrease geopolitical conflict with Taiwan (by using international sport, especially Olympic Formula) is reviewed and analyzed.    

With examining and scrutinizing of policy and conduct of PRC in international sport champ, especially its sport strategy towards Taiwan and using Ping Pong diplomacy with U.S.A as a coverage for formal diplomacy and make a global balance to America and Soviet Union, we reached to some conclusions as follow:With wisely conduct of soft power of sport in international area, PRC has been able to make enormous geopolitical achievements regarding to re-defining and re- shaping of bilateral relations with the western block super power, i.e United States of America. Also China with smart use of sport in international champ, was able to control and manage the "Taiwan problem".It seems that the strategic target of PRC by using the soft power of sport and implementing an active sport diplomacy is political exploitation and to reach geopolitical goals. It means that the sport policy of PRC is complementary element of its security strategy. Thus, the case of PRC is an extraordinary example in which the "Sport" in international area has upgraded to a highest level as a powerful political instrument with geopolitical considerations.In the framework of the designed conceptual model, it is obvious that PRC significantly matters the "International Sport Champ" and severely endeavor to gain and obtain the maximum achievements (capitals). The main achievements that PRC pursues are international dignity, economic benefits, political influence and above all, geopolitical advantages

Historically, the Navy has been one of the pillars of power assessment of countries, and for this reason, the importance of this force has been taken into consideration, whether at applied level by the politicians or at the theoretical level by strategists and thinkers. Therefore, this force has always been one of the main pillars of the exercise of power by the world powers, and geostrategy of many countries is defined on its basis. Iran is one of the oldest countries with naval forces and has used it for its goals. But the Iranian navy has fluctuated and has not had growing on steady process. In the modern era, especially over the past decade, Iran's navy has succeeded in achieving relative success, and if continued, could become one of the most important bases to Exercise of Iran Power. Therefore, in this paper, Iran's Navy has been studied to examine its impact on hard and soft powers and thus its smart power.

Here, the method of data collection is based on library and documentary findings. In this way, information are gathered by referring to real and virtual resources. Then, the collected data are analyzed by qualitative- inferential method. The

The results showed that Iran's navy based on the definition of a new strategy for the development of the navy of Iran, using two principles of military management, namely tactical and strategic force, have affected hard and soft power of Iran, and ultimately, its smart power. IRGCN, as a tactical naval force, with its military and constabulary roles has provided the basis for exercising Iran's hard power in the maritime areas of Iran, and IRIN as a strategic naval force, with its diplomatic role has provided Iran's soft sea power in world seas. The combination of these two types of maritime power has formed the maritime smart power of Iran. On the one hand, given type of weapons, coastal defense, asymmetric warfare and maritime surveillance, it forms exercising IRGCN’s hard power and on the other hand, exercise IRIN’ssoft power by maritime diplomacy, cooperation diplomacy, showing the Flag and deterrence diplomacy and etc. From the combination of these two dimensions of naval power, the maritime smart power of Iran is formed, which can be analyzed on the basis of the following dimensions: Understanding of the importance of maritime theaters, proper Fleet distribution, expand of the maritime territoriality, increase in maritime strategic depth, understanding of the use of dual navy’s equipment, understanding of the geo-economics status of the sea, develop a variety of maritime diplomacy, approach threats to rivals, cognition of geostrategic enemy, protection of marine assets, especially in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, reduce of overlapping of sea area of dual forces, creation of a defense line to prevent threats, delay operations, fight against piracy, Navy management based on the principle of unity in plurality and plurality in unity, reduce of potential vulnerability in battle with the enemy, far defense, knowhow of use of conventional and unconventional naval war, define appropriate military tactic and strategy for the Navy, establishment of new naval bases, maritime safe zone. So in a schematic way we can represent the chain of Iran's use of smart maritime power as follows: understanding the maritime theaters to exercise of power understanding the balance of power between hard and soft Navy solutions and different degree of intensity these can appear understanding the Institutional Framework for the use of smart power on the Navies creating unity and partnership of the two navies implementation of maritime policies and strategies understanding the goals.

Iran, due to its maritime and strategic position, can achieve a highly efficient navy by planning and access to the appropriate equipment and show its maritime power and authority at regional and trans-regional levels. Therefore, recognizing this fact, Iran, by defining a strategic maritime strategy, tries to take advantage of this capability and be more present in the maritime arena. Analyzing the performance of the Iranian Navy, reorganizing and defining a strategic navy indicates Iran's naval ability to increase hard and soft power and ultimately Iran's smart power through tactical and strategic navies. Over the past decade, Iran has been able to use its navy to exercise hard and soft power and ultimately smart power in green and blue waters. The tactical naval and strategic naval, according to their mission areas, respectively, have the task of applying hard and soft power in green and blue water, and their combination have formed the maritime smart power of Iran. Expanding and strengthening the strategic navy can be a way to break and influence the Western-Arab containment (Western-Arab NATO) defined against Iran. By expanding the navy Iran can create a threat and expand the battlefield in several ways and reduce direct pressure on its border. Therefore, this force should consolidate its presence in the maritime arena, especially in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and seek to develop its maritime smart power. Because Iran needs hard power in green water and soft power in blue water today.

US policy toward Iran's political geography has changed in almost every area since the Islamic Revolution And it was on the path of complete divergence. Consequently, the American media, in particular the Voice of America, took an active role and played the role of representing the Islamic Republic based on US policy in the post-Islamic Revolution period. Their aim was to increase the soft power of the United States of America within the geopolitical boundaries of Iran and, consequently, the Middle East. The present paper attempts to delve into the revolutionary leader's speeches, messages, and texts in the decades after the revolution by using the Robinson model, and by answering the question that Voice of America's policy in the media war against the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been based on what theory?It will also examine how they respond to US media policy (crystallized in the Persian section of Voice of America) and their measures in this regard.

Afghanistan is one of the neighbors that Iran can exert a great deal of influence through the use of culture and higher education. Afghanistan is Iran's cultural backyard. The linguistic, cultural and historical commonalities are so intertwined that no one can fill Iran's cultural vacancy in Afghanistan. Most of Afghanistan's textbooks are in Persian. Many scientific resources used by Afghan students have been published in Iran. There is a curious desire among Afghan students to attend higher education institutions and Iranian universities. Afghan families' tendency to use Iranian radio and television products, despite the emergence of dozens of colorful radio and television broadcasters, mainly broadcasting Western or Indian films, etc. all show the importance of the cultural sphere in the relations between the two countries. Unfortunately, despite this tendency, there are many shortcomings in the field of Iranian cultural activity in Afghanistan. If Iran wants to have security, political, economic and other influence in Afghanistan, then it must pay more attention to culture and education, because Iran's relative advantage is to have a more effective presence in Afghanistan than other competitors.

Education is recognized as a source of soft power that enhances productivity and the quality of the university; separates international students; and most importantly establishes relationships and collaborates between internal and external researchers. Therefore, it can be used as a tool for creating national goodwill .Soft power in higher education consists of three dimensions of values, resources and tools. Thus, soft power through higher education can be used to link the values ​​of the host country with international students to achieve the goals appropriate to a country's policies. Interestingly, the process of internationalization in higher education can be regarded as one of the most important and key tools in soft power. This process has helped to understand the dimensions and application of soft power internationally. It looks at higher education from the four perspectives of activity, competence, ethics and process. The prospects for these activities have a cultural dimension, including the presence of international students and academics exchanges between universities. Holmes and Rumbley (2015) argue that soft power, along with public diplomacy and national security, is politically motivated, while higher education enhances the capacities available in this type of power. Improvement in the quality of higher education, the accreditation and categorization of national higher education institutions and the progress in human resource development can be motivated by social and cultural incentives to resolve global disputes, as well as to create global citizenship in order to create understanding.

The present study is a descriptive-analytical one. The information required in this study is gathered (libraries and retrieval) using sources and articles on the Internet and scientific reports.

The starting point for the two countries' engagement in 2001 is the establishment of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Partnership. Subsequently, the Afghanistan Educational and Scientific Reconstruction Staff was also formed at the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in 2002, which was directly affected the visit of Afghan Minister of Higher Education Faegh Sharif of Tehran and the signing the Academic-Educational Memorandum. Also, in 2003 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Kabul as the first foreign leader expressed Iran's satisfaction and acceptance with the transitional government, which strengthened relations between the two countries. Following this trip, the first Joint Cooperation Commission of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was formed in 2004 and its second meeting was held in 2006. In particular, a bilateral cooperation agreement was signed between Herat Province and Khorasan Razavi Province in 2005. In 2007, due to the growing insecurity in southern Afghanistan, a security agreement was signed between Iran and Afghanistan and in 2008 a joint statement was issued at the level of the vice presidents between Afghanistan and Iran. Also in 2010, after the new Afghan presidential election, a trilateral Iran-Pakistan- Afghanistan meeting was held in Islamabad and the third meeting of the Iran-Afghanistan Joint Cooperation Commission. The first meeting of the Commission on Defense Cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan was held in 2011 and the trilateral meeting of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan was held in Trahan. The fourth joint Iran-Afghanistan Cooperation Summit was recently held in 2012, during the Governor of Balkh traveled to Khorasan Razavi. In view of the above, it can be conclude that the establishment of scientific-educational partnerships between the universities of Iran and Afghanistan within the framework of political relations between the two countries is subject to the mutual agreement of the parties to establish interactions and general relations between the two countries. This agreement is completely dependent on the political situation of the countries and the region. Prior to 2001, due to the severe political conflicts in Afghanistan, no interaction between the two countries was possible. Therefore, from a top-down and linear perspective, the political factor can be considered as an effective factor in determining the relationship between the two countries, especially between academia.

Based on the mutual agreements of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with Afghan universities, the level of cooperation has exceeded the level of teacher-student exchange and has been enhanced to a high level of transboundary higher education, namely the establishment of a postgraduate course and the establishment of a university. However, the political and diplomatic relations of the two countries have been affected many of the provisions of the treaties and the parties' unwillingness to cooperate; these have led to the conclusion of contracts and the interruption or suspension of relations has led to the suspension of inter-university cooperation and the unwillingness of the parties. Despite the high capacities and potentials available for greater and better utilization, and on the other hand, the high demands of the Afghan citizens to exploit, these have not been properly utilized.

In the last decades and following the international changes, many countries and in particular China have come to this conclusion which it is necessary that they adopt themselves with the new international conditions and search for a new type of power in order to pursue their goals and interests. Since applying only one type of hard or soft power will endanger the long-term interests of the country, Chinese emphasis on this key point that they require a combination of both hard power and soft power which is well known as smart power in the international arena. With a descriptive-analytical method and the conceptual framework of smart power, this study intended to explain what kind of power is pursued in China's foreign policy to pursue its goals, and how they use various power sources for their own goals and interests. Over the past few decades, China's foreign policy has pursued two types of hard and soft power in the international arena. 1- Hard power: During these years, foreign policy along with other parts of the Chinese community has taken a lot of efforts to upgrade hard power sources. Economically, it has always sought to avoid international challenges and attract international resources for China's economic development process. Militarily, it has played a major role in China’s military modernization process 2- Soft power: Unlike Joseph Nye, China presented a wider definition of soft power and considered economic components as soft power. 3- The role of international institutions in the process of China's empowerment: At the moment, China's foreign policy is seeking to access their goals and interests through active participation in international organizations or the establishment of new institutions. 4- China’s economic attractions: China's foreign policy, in the framework of interdependence and win - win politics, is intended to pursue their political, security and economic interests in the regional and international arena. 5- China’s diplomacy: By pursuing comprehensive diplomacy, China's foreign policy has expanded its interactions with the other countries and international organizations, and has applied such a tool to extend its influence, power and development. 6- China’s traditional culture: although the Chinese culture has grown less than other components of power, nevertheless china’s culture has a considerable influence on the regional level. Furthermore, it is worth to mention that the China's foreign policy seeks to expand Chinese culture and language through the Confucian institutions. China's foreign policy pursues many goals in the international arena. With regard to new international changes, it believes that a combination of soft and hard power helps to reach at politic, economic and security interests. As well, reaching to a great power position and confronting new international threats, they have to follow a new form of power called smart power that combines hard and soft power. Therefore, in recent decades, especially in the Xi Jin Ping period, pursues various forms of soft and hard power such as diplomacy, culture, military modernization, economic etc. on the agenda of china’s foreign policy. Conclusion The emergence of new international conditions has led the China's foreign policy to seek a new pattern of power and security. This new pattern will be achieved within the framework of combining various sources of power. Because pursuing hard or soft power alone, cannot protect the country's long-term goals. In the shadow of the smart approach, the Chinese find more opportunity to engage with international society and its organizations. Smart power also aids to provide fairly good picture of china in its relation with others and can better counteract the challenge of China's threat.

A brand is a set of subjective perceptions of a factor that is formed over time. Meanwhile, a national brand is an overall image of a country which encompasses political, economic, historical, and cultural dimensions. National brand is a multidimensional, hybrid, and consistent concept which occupies a prominent position as one of the important tools of soft power and a modern characteristic of new public diplomacy. The present study seeks to provide answers to the following question: has the Islamic Republic of Iran been successful in the area of modern public diplomacy by creating its national brand? The main purpose of the study is to examine the performance of I.R.I. in this context in addition to conducting a theoretical investigation of the position of national branding in the modern public diplomacy.

To date, there has been no studies conducted in the examination of the position of national brand in modern public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the only research carried out in this regard have focused on indices of the modern public diplomacy including the concept of national brand. Szondi (2008) described the relation between modern public diplomacy and national brand. Cull (2009) has regarded national brand as one of the important differences between traditional and modern public diplomacies.Public diplomacy is a tool for governments to take the resources (soft power) in order to communicate with and attract people from other countries. During the past few years (since the September 11 incident), public diplomacy has undergone massive developments in terms of execution patterns to the extent that the former pattern is now called the “conventional” one, gradually being replaced by the modern pattern.One of the differences between conventional and modern diplomacies is the attention paid to the concept of national brand within the international context and the proper use of the brand to increase soft power and improve the country’s public diplomacy (Hadian & Saeidi, 2013). The idea of a national brand means creating a specific name or symbol by which the country can be distinguished from other nations. Alton (1996) believes that countries transmit their messages through a number of communication channels which include export brand, tourism, domestic and foreign policies, people, investments, and cultural heritage (Ryniejska–Kiełdanowicz, 2009). Paul Temporal considers the intentions and motivations behind countries’ national branding to include attracting tourists, encouraging foreign investors, increasing exports, stabilizing the currency, gaining international credit, improving nations’ international positions, increasing political influence at international level, inspiring more effective international participation, and enhancing the national symbol (Keith, 2008).

The present study was conducted using the descriptive-analytical method. Data were processed using document studies. In addition to illustrating the status quo, researchers employ this method to provide descriptions and explanations for the causes behind a certain subject as well as its dimensions. Researchers require strong argumentative basis so as to explain and justify the causes; such a basis can be provided through exploring the related literature and theoretical discussions of the study along with editing the overall propositions involved.

Given the stated criteria, the performance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the context of national branding can be described as follows:In the area of cultural heritage, history, and nature:One of the most important actions taken by I.R.I. in the context of national branding was the usage of potential capacities present in areas including cultural, historical and natural heritage; subsequently, their introduction at international level, and particularly their registration in UNESCO, are considered as Iran’s priorities.  Currently, there are 24 instances of historical, cultural, and natural heritage are registered to UNESCO. Along with cultural heritage, there are 13 instances of spiritual heritage registered to UNESCO as well, in terms of immaterial or intangible features. Of the total 460 types of handicrafts, 370 exist in Iran out of which 273 have received the UNESCO’s symbol of authenticity which is of great significance in highlighting the Iranian arts.  In the area of tourism, social, and scientific indices The tourism sector is substantially important and can be effective in improving the national image of I.R.I. at the international level. The positive image of Iranians from the outlook of foreigners who travel to Iran and the inclusion of this country in the 2019 index on the least dangerous places to travel according to travel risk map are certain advantages of Iran with regards to its international appearance. In the ranking of countries according to the health index, Iran was positioned at 69th place out of 169 nations.In the area of academics and interests to pursue education in Iran, 40 Iranian universities were pointed out in the 2020 edition of NY Times’ 2019 index of the world’s top institutions (The Islamic Republic News Agency, 2019). Listed below are a number of other indices that significantly affect the creation of a national brand and are at inadequate positions in Iran:Iran’s inadequate positions in international economic rankings include: - Ranked 85th in the 2017 global entrepreneurship index and ranked 72nd of 2018 Iran entrepreneurship. - Following a 7-place downgrade, Iran was ranked 138th in the 2018 international transparency organization report on the corruption perception index.
- Ranked 128th in the sixteenth World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking in 2019; this is a place downgrade compared to the 2018 ranking. - Ranked 155th out of 180 nations in the report by the Heritage Foundation on economic freedom index (ISNA News Agency, 30 January, 2019).

- Ranked 58th out of 60 countries in the 2018 quality of life index by the Economist information unit (Eghtesad News, 28 May, 2018). - Conflicts between domestic and foreign policies and lack of endeavors to provide a better understanding of complex subjects through engaging in informed conversations.

The national brand of a country such as Iran should be formed in a way as to cover almost the entire significant aspects and features of the country; features including ancient history and civilization, political geography, natural geography, and rich culture. Subsequently, the Iranian national brand can achieve a desirable function when it becomes consistent with the inherent reality of the nation while encompassing the affective elements that transforms the country into an appealing destination for the target audience. On the other hand, the superior position of Iran with regards to historical, cultural, and natural heritage necessitate the efforts made in line with their registration in UNESCO; until such time that the Iranian cultural and civilizational heritage are presented to the international views, any attempts to improve the image of Iran along with creating and empowering a national brand at the international level would face difficulties. Aside from the country’s potential capacities in cultural, historical, and natural areas, Iran is suffering from substantial shortcomings in terms of effective economic indices, creating and empowering a national brand such as indices of entrepreneurship, ease of doing business, economic freedom, quality of life, and perception of corruption. In the majority of these indices published by valid international institutions such as the World Bank, Iran occupies a low rank which is not a suitable image for the country at the international level. Improving the position of Iran in economic contexts would definitely play a significant role in offering a positive image and improving the national brand at the international level. Moreover, the adoption of balanced domestic and foreign policies should not be overlooked from the perspective of domestic affairs that influence national brand. Without an effective national structure, the national brand cannot achieve success. The people’s self-perception of their own country is in line with that of foreigners with respect to the nation’s structure and image.
 
 
 
 
 

Introduction Power is among the notions that in the focus of attention of experts in political geography and Geopolitic. Accordingly, many scholars have discussed the nature, scope, deminsion and function of power. According to the one of the newest classification of power, it is divided into three forms of hard power, soft power and smart power. on the other hand, of years away, science and Nowadays, along with its; technology are considered as one of the main sources of the power. Hence, considering the fact that the Interest of global powers in the field of science and technology have been added more than the past, this research seeks to analyze the position of science and technology in the realm of hard and soft and smart power.
Methodology In this research, has been used through descriptive-analytical research method.Therefore, in the first stage, by studying library resources such as books, research projects and articles in Farsi and Latin, the role and position of science and technology has been Surveyied ; And its advantages over hard, soft and smart power dimensions have been described and analyzed. In the next step and in the field research, a three-question questionnaire was developed in two Persian and English languages based on Likert, and was attended by 400 domestic and foreign experts in the field of political geography, and International Relations and Geostrategic; finally, comments They have been investigated about the effects of science and technology on hard, soft and smart power.
Findings The findings of this study have been derived from two parts of library resources and field research. Accordingly, in accordance with library finding , science and technology have three approaches to influencing various forms of power, including hard, soft and smart.
1. The first approach: the hard power approach; that in it used the capacity of science and technology to influence the components of hard power (military and economic power) and it also is used fo strengthen bargaining power with rival and hostile countries. to more precise phrase, if we concentrate the most important sources of hard power in the country's economic capacity and military power; science and technology, through various mechanisms, will have an impact on these two areas of power.
2. The Second Approach: Soft Power Approach; in the sense that the benefits of science and technology with the help of the diplomacy of science and technology are used for effect and strengthen soft power. According to the findings of this section, science and technology, as a tool for the application of soft power, have the basical potential in foreign policy and especially in diplomacy of science and technology, Hence, these benefits will be thoroughly examined in this approach.
3. Third Approach: Smart Power Approach; in the sense that from the capacity of science and technology will be used to combine and unite mechanisms of hard power and soft power under the guidance of diplomacy tool in order to apply of smart power. According to this approach, The center of smart diplomacy is science and technology, which has both the hard power and soft power features , while at the same time demonstrating the ability to boycott, and the ability to partner and converge. of course, this role is more under the ownership of diplomacy of science and technology. But the field findings and results and average scores obtained from domestic and foreign thinkers Also have emphasized that science and technology have high degree of influence in three dimensions hard, soft, and smart power. Analysis The analize of research's findings reflect the fact that the new developments have leded the role of science and particularly technology, as a key element, have attractived more than ever by the view of the majority of global powers. which, of course, partly reflects nature and character of science and technology; So that Between the various components that are influencing the power of a country, whether either in viewpoint of appearance or in viewpoint of Thinkers, Science and technology have a double nature. therefore, it have this the capacity and potential that hard power and soft power can been connectived under of the ownership of diplomacy of science and technology. on this basis, science and then technology can be thought of as the most important linker of hard power, soft power and smart power.
Conclusion The results showed that although in the past centuries, territory, population, agricultural resources, military power were the sources of authority, but in the present time, this role has been transferred to science and technology; in fact, though that from ancient times, science as a the source of authority has been important; but in the current era, this role has been enhanced with the help of technology; therefore, today, science and technology not only in its vast definition are probably the most important source of power, but also been impressed on the use of other forms of power and altered their mechanism and actions. Therefore, in the context of the globalization process and the complexity of the social and international environment, after the collapse of the bipolar system, we are witnessing the growing impact of science and technology on political issues and the equations of power on the international level. So, As America's position at the top of global geometry of power, to a large extent, reflects the use of science and technology in pursuit of political, economic, military, cultural and other goals.For this reason, in today's world, science and technology can be used as a rating card in the confront with global equations, since that it have a significant impact on hard, soft, and smart power of countries.

In traditional thinking of international relations, power was a one dimensional concept emphasizing on mandatory and structural force regardless of important influence of technology on power. It is very excessive and profound in concept of power. Indeed, power as the ability to do and to influence others is the essential concept in foreign policies of states to initiate and change many political events. There are two approaches to the concept. The first believe that the power is goods that can be achieved and be its owner. The second approach says that no one can be the owner of the power. The power has two hard and soft layers. Military and economic forces as hard power can compel others to change their positions. The soft power is getting what we like by attracting not by punishment or award. During the years after Islamic Revolution of Iran, actions of America have frequently endangered national security of Iran. During the past 7 decades, Iran and USA have been faced with up and downs in their relations. From strategic unity to disconnection of relations and military disputes are in history of the relations of these two countries. Purpose of this research is to identify changes in tools of power and force exertion and its effects on American foreign policies against Iran. This research has a descriptive analytical method and the data needed for this study have been gathered from document resources. The hypothesis of this research is “USA in order for general diplomacy attempts to employ new mechanisms of soft power tools against Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)”. The indicators of power in USA foreign policies against Iran are different in administrations of Carter, Reagan, Bush (the father), Clinton, Bush (the son), and Obama. Thus, the policies are analyzed differently in each administration. In fact, since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 the foreign policies of USA against Iran were hostile actions. In the first decade after the revolution the principal policies of USA were military approaches to exterminate the new regime. With a failure of the USA in application of military forces and hard powers against Iran, this country initiated its attacks applying soft power tools. The failure of America in applying hard tools of power and the advent of information and communication technologies with profound changes in the world lead to application of soft tools of power by USA against Iran. Hegemonic behavioral pattern of America is based on principle of American mission or American exceptionalism by which it can have soft and hard intervention. Some of up and down relations of USA and IRI are including military occupation of Iran by USA during World War II, support of Iran in front of Soviet Union, coup against the public administration of Mossadegh, pressure for appointment of some governments, assignment of gendarmerie role to Iran in the region according to Nixon doctrine, attempt to exterminate the new government after revolution, conquer of American embassy in Iran, support of Iraq in attack against Iran, disconnection of diplomatic relations, clandestine efforts for reconstruction of relations, limited military battle in Persian Gulf, devastation of passenger plane of Iran and threats after that, exertion of boycotts against Iran, new efforts again for reconstruction of relations, threats for military attack to Iran, naming Iran in the list of lawbreaker and rebel countries, two sides debates about Iraq, making international pressures on nuclear case of Iran, efforts for revival of negotiations, and virus attack to Iranian computer systems especially that of atomic power plant. It can be concluded that American presidents did not stopped their actions against Iran. These were by different concepts such as human rights, democracy, and American mission. The real manifestations of USA behavior in foreign policy can be seen in strategic actions based on hard tools of power. Recently, the government emphasize on value concepts as sources of power to exert their policies. It also can be said that USA has continued its value oriented actions against Iran using different tools of power appropriate to the global conditions in each time.

IntroductionThe balance of power is one of the oldest international relations theories. This theory has been regarded as most efficient theory in realist approach of international relations. Developments in international system and communication have changed some aspects of power. These developments have changed conceptual and theoretical foundations of balance of power that proved inefficiency of classic form. This theory has past difficult periods. Therefore we must define it in new framework. Considering the theory of balance of power in new international system suggests departure from some of its common definition. Defining balance of power theory by network theory raises some interesting issues that the article deals with.MethodologyThe article pursues to respond the question that what changes have occurred in epistemological and ontological foundations of balance of power theory? In this respect the main changes are as follows:1. Development in principal of balance of power;2. Type and pattern of power;3. Changes in linear system and formation of non linear system according to new framework of this theory; 4. Changes in physical area of balance of power:5. Changes in relationship between capacities and consequences of war;6. Balance of threats by use of communications and its importance in nonlinear system. These developments have caused inefficiency of traditional balance of power theory. To address the existing inefficiencies and its solutions, this article beyond traditional principles and especially hard power and soft power insists on smart power, defined as the capacity of an actor to combine elements of hard power and soft power in ways that are mutually reinforcing. This study integrates elements of neorealist theories with a model of network balancing and article surveys network theory and it's simulation in international relations and regional studies.Discussion and ResultsIn this article to respond the main question, in the first instance, network theory as a framework of smart balance will be explained. Network emphasizes on the patterns of communications and designs new realities that balance of power theory can use them. In this section article will explain types of networks especially free scale network. In second discussion, foundation of smart balance of power in regional free scale network will be explained. At last, article refers to patterns of smart balance of power.ConclusionUsing the free scale networks, smart balance of power theory in regional free scale network as a new theory to international politics has been discussed and in this respect fundamental principle of designing smart balance and its three patterns has been explained. The study contributes to the relevant literatures in two important ways. First, most other studies defines balance of power in static situation but this study defines it in dynamic situation. Second we assume that the non linear system and networks especially free scale network is the best framework for new theory of balance of power and in other word theory of smart balance of power.