فصلنامه مطالعات راهبردی
سال بیست و دوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 84، تابستان 1398)

After three decades of using the discourse-based approach to carry out political research in Iran, it seems necessary to do research on these research works. Therefore, this study asks what inclinations are reflected in both the theoretical framework and the content of discourse-based pieces of research in Iran and what the shortcomings and challenges are. In order to answer this question, this article has sought to present the theoretical inclinations, variety of subjects, and the dominant themes in Iranian research works through a meta-analysis of a sample size of 201 pieces of discourse-based political research. The findings of the article show that these research works have shortcomings and face challenges at two levels, namely the extent to which they conform to the rules of the discourse-based approach and criticisms of this approach at the international level.

The authors of this article maintain that the current territorial policy in Iran has resulted in a number of issues, including political and functional divisions, flawed mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between managers and officials, disregard for economic efficiency and effectiveness, legal ambiguity in the system of administrative divisions in the country, lack of public participation, and, most importantly, lack of a clear and well-crafted policy for making decisions about dividing or merging territories. In light of the above-mentioned issues, it can be said that the merger of territories could contribute positively to some territorial divisions in Iran if it is carried out in a well-planned manner, some authority is delegated to local bodies, fewer political consultations are made, and the influence of unofficial factors becomes less strong.

Experience shows that countries with similar international status but different cultural traditions do not make decisions in the same manner as each other in the face of new developments. The reason is strategic culture provides a system of values in the field of decision-making, which affects a country's foreign policy. This article is an attempt to answer how strategic culture influences foreign policy decisions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The authors assume that the Islamic Republic's strategic culture influences its foreign policy decisions through defining an Iranian-Islamic identity and specific national roles.

Studies and analyses carried out about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have not properly and accurately addressed the impact of the agreement on Iran's strategic status. This article seeks to study and analyze the impact of the JCPOA on Iran's strategic status in the international system through defining an exact and measurable framework. The authors have studied and measured the impact of the JCPOA on Iran's strategic status with the help of documents and resources available in libraries or on the Internet and by using SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results and findings confirm the research assumption that the JCPOA has elevated Iran's strategic status in the international system.

Studies and analyses carried out about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have not properly and accurately addressed the impact of the agreement on Iran's strategic status. This article seeks to study and analyze the impact of the JCPOA on Iran's strategic status in the international system through defining an exact and measurable framework. The authors have studied and measured the impact of the JCPOA on Iran's strategic status with the help of documents and resources available in libraries or on the Internet and by using SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results and findings confirm the research assumption that the JCPOA has elevated Iran's strategic status in the international system.

The authors of this article believes the developments that have taken place in public-related fields and human relations, which have influenced macro concepts such as sovereignty, have had an impact on the issue of confidentiality in diplomacy as well and have created a trend in its conceptual evolution–despite its traces being found in diplomatic relations–which in turn has created another seemingly paradoxical concept called "transparent confidentiality". The article would conclude that as long as a nation state system remains in place, the issue of secrecy will continue to exist. However, its content has undergone and will undergo such changes that, despite literal similarity, it will no longer look much like the concept of confidentiality used in classic books and even modern diplomacy.