The Relationship Between Offense-Defense in the Military Doctrine and Idealism-Realism in the Foreign Policy of I.R. Iran (1989-2021)

I.R. Iran has no documented defense doctrine covering specific periods. The five-year socio-economic development plans (FSDPs) of Iran are hence the most significant sources for understanding its “officially announced military viewpoints”. They are also among the most effective instruments of the Iranian government to affect the country’s defense direction. This paper aims to discover the relationship between the “offense-defense balance (ODB) in military doctrine of I.R. Iran ” and the “idealism-realism balance (IRB) in its foreign policy” using content analysis methodology. The main research question is, “What are the relationships between the former (as perceived from the military/defense content of FSDP) and the latter (based on Iranian presidents’ understanding of the international milieu and the optimal way to deal with it)?” Our findings indicate that ODB was at relative equilibrium in Rafsanjani’s government, tipped towards idealism in the governments of Ahmadinejad, Rouhani, and particularly Khatami. However, ODB was tipped towards defensive in the first and second (Rafsanjani’s government) and third and fourth (Khatami’s government) FSDPs and towards offensive in the fifth (Ahmadinejad’s government) and sixth (Rouhani’s government) FSDPs. The positive, nevertheless weak, correlation between “idealism and offense” and “realism and defense” could be attributed to the Iranian executive branch's minimal contribution to Iran's military doctrine via compiling FSDPs.