نشریه پژوهش های جغرافیای سیاسی
سال سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 9، بهار 1397)

Regionalism has attended an important mechanism for regional development in Europe from the second half of the 20th century and spread rapidly to other parts of the world. The Persian Gulf is a distinct and unique region among the various regions of Asia and Southwest Asia. This region consists of eight countries, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. Generally, there is the best context to make regionalism and regional convergence. The history of the idea of regionalism in the Persian Gulf dates back to the 1970s. A new political and security space was created in the region of Persian Gulf when the British colonial power left it in 1971. The coastal countries of Persian Gulf tried to play a greater role in the post-British region and maintain regional stability. Accordingly, in this decade, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, all, have proposed regionalization and convergence in whole or in part of the Persian Gulf region to shape new security arrangements.The Islamic Revolution of Iran took place at the end of 1970s. Saudi Arabia with the newly independent Gulf States found the Islamic revolution as a clear threat to the survival and existence of their government and the security. Saudi Arabia's rulers pay attention to regionalism after the Islamic Revolution and with the onset of the Iran-Iraq war. They noticed to regionalism to counter the Iranian revolution and the balance of power with Iran and Iraq. Heads of the Arabian Peninsula countries established the Gulf Cooperation Council in May 1981. Gulf Cooperation Council has comprised six countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.Despite 37 years have passed since the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the heads of the member states have drafted different constitutions and regulations for reaching the unions and regional unions. They’ve encountered major challenges to achieve regionalism and unification. Hence, the question is that what challenges the countries of the Cooperation Council face in the context of regionalism and unification and why these six countries on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf did not succeed to achieve full regionalism and regional unity?

The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges and obstacles the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have faced in regionalism and regional unification. The research hypothesis is that "the Gulf Cooperation Council is in the process of regionalization and regionalization has done, but it faces fundamental political, security and economic challenges in order to evolve regionalism and regional unification, and therefore cannot be a successful model to provide the regionalism". This research has been done in descriptive and analytic method with historical approach. The required data have been collected in a library and documentary way.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, although having political and security gains for its member states and being able to continue its activities for almost four decades, it is still at the beginning of the process and is far from convergent regional alliance. The Cooperation Council has encountered many challenges and difficulties, which can be analyzed in three dimensions of political, security and economic:The political challenges of the Cooperation Council are deep-rooted and many of them are resulted from geopolitical crises, not easily resolvable. The countries of the Cooperation Council have created regionalization, but have not yet entered a regionalism and regional unification. They face a regional identity crisis in regionalism process. So, the regionalization of the Cooperation Council has taken place in the part of the Persian Gulf region and in a "sub-region", namely, in the countries of the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. The countries of the Cooperation Council do not have the same view on different regional and international issues, and each of them has a different perspective on regional issues of geopolitical interest and bilateral relations with regional countries such as Iraq and Iran, and countries outside the region and the global powers.Except for Saudi Arabia, other members of the Cooperation Council lack the strategic depth and cannot defend their territorial integrity in regional and international wars, due to their small size. The weak strategic depth of the Persian Gulf's small States has placed it under the Saudi Arabia's security umbrella. Saudi Arabia is a country that is vulnerable to security.Economically, the Cooperation Council countries are not a good complement to each other and cannot improve the economic needs of each other. In other words, all member states of the Cooperation Council, with the exception of the oil product, are consumers and import countries. For this reason, the trade relations between the members of the Cooperation Council members are very limited.

The Cooperation Council faces some challenges. The most important challenges are political, identity, security, and economic ones. In the political sector, countries involved political inequalities, territorial and border disputes, tribal structures, and the crisis of legitimacy. From the standpoint of identity, the Cooperation Council is formed in part of the Persian Gulf region, and it is a sub-region with a flawed identity that functions in a contradictory manner in the larger Gulf region. In the security dimension, it is weak and fragile and faces serious threats. In the economic sector, the member states are not a good complement to each other, and have not been prepared to form an economic alliance due to political and identity and security barriers.

Generally, spatial injustice which can be a threat for national security and evolution of critical areas refers to an imbalanced distribution of society’s valuable properties such as political-executive power, wealth and opportunity resources. Spatial injustice is the most important feature of Iran’s spatial organization which is seen in the center-periphery structure of the country from local to national scales. Due to the threats and current complicated conditions, an effort to achieve spatial justice is one of the main research priorities in political geography.A democratic approach to spatial justice provides equality for all residents of a geographic space to enjoy the resources, opportunities and infrastructures through their participation in the decision-making processes. Spatial justice is realized when power, wealth and opportunities are distributed proportionally with the potentialities of the micro- and macro-spaces and places. As a result, the interests empowering societies to meet their needs increase and the coefficient between the regions increases. Space and humans are the focal point of human geographical thought and of political geography.Equal access of all residents of a geographic space to the main factors like power, opportunity and wealth at micro- and macro-levels form the axis of spatial justice in political geography.
Mohamadi, Rasoli and Dastineh (2016)

This research uses descriptive-analytic method based on a literature review and field findings to codify method to reach geographic and spatial justice in Iran. The literature review was used to determine the effective factors in spatial injustice in Iran. In the field findings, the facets and indices of spatial justice are categorized and standardized to measure the Iranian situation. The pillars of spatial injustice are characterized and categorized from the perspective of the statistical population based on the average score to codify methods of reaching geographic and spatial justice in Iran. 

The results of the research show that spatial justice in Iran is due to the operation of a wide range of factors as follows: Natural geography and unequal distribution of biological foundation (Inherent characteristics);
- Human geography and spatial structure of the nation;- The political system, policy making, and planning for national development (casual properties);- Regional and global geopolitical environment.The research results show that the most important foundation of spatial injustice in Iran are as follows: inequality in the distribution of power, wealth and opportunity resources, the weakness of budgeting system, the weakness of regional and local system management, spatial justice is not a general demand, Institutionalized centralization are the factors with high level of impact and unbalanced natural foundations, thetheoretical weakness in the field of spatial justice studies, the weakness of regional and national information and accounting system as the factors with lower impact.

In order to access spatial justice, the following strategies are proposed as a policy agenda:- Optimal spatial distribution of wealth flow as development prerequisite (management of money flow);- Allocation of special budget in provincial budgets for balanced development in order to achieve regional balance;- Strengthening the local potential of the regions in order to increase in efficiency to achieve balanced development;- Attention to the systemic thinking of spatial justice in local, regional and national levels;- Revision of the 27 principles of the constitution related to the concentration of affairs.

Devolution in the Islamic revolution was based on transferring the power of decision-making to people and public institutions. Over this period, the specific conditions of civil and political demands led to the creation of local management based on the hierarchy of councils in several constitutional principles, directly and indirectly, and even before ratification of the constitution. Today, after nearly a half century of the approval of the constitution, the local management of Iran is still a centralized organization that is seriously in conflict with the sustainable development and urban prosperity as well as the constitutional principles as an overarching law. Decentralization is applied as a model for determining the processes and ways of the relationship between the national government and local sovereignties. In other words, the realization of local development will not be possible if the power, supervision, and enforcement do not transfer to local institutions and levels. Therefore, moving toward decentralization is based on belief in the right to self-determination and local community participation in public affairs as well as lack of concentration of decision-making and executive powers at the different spatial scales. Besides, decentralization as a program to regulate the relationship between national sovereignty and local management is applied in four dimensions of urban governance: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring. In order to regulate the relationship between national sovereignty and local management and determine the type of legislature's vision to decentralization based on the levels of decentralization and its various dimensions in urban management, the research has focused on analyzing the content of related law by creating index in this area. Hence, by a comparative review of the legal duties of the councils in “The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “Law on the Organization, Duties and Elections of Islamic Councils and the Selection of mayors”, the paper seeks to analyze the mechanisms and position of decentralization.

Devolution as the highest level of decentralization completely implements all four components of its constituent: local policy, local regulation and planning, delegation of local authority in implementation, and direct monitoring of local affairs. The emergence of devolution implicitly refers to participatory democracy. Participatory democracy requires a responsible accountability mechanism, which is the delegation of power and resources to new political entities and which is not limited to decentralization at the intermediate level. Theories of participatory democracy promote the delegation of power that covers local levels and functional cross section.

The content analysis was used as the qualitative method of the research to describe the legal principles through coding and systematic classified procedures. On the other hand, because of specific theoretical framework, directed content analysis approach is chosen as the main method to answer the questions. Therefore, all principles related to the duties of councils and local management in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran including 7, 12, 100, 101, 102, 103 and 126 as well as 34 sections of Article 71, 5 sections of Article 78, 9 sections of 1 continual Article 78 and 10 sections of 2 continual Article 78 of the “Law on the Organization, Duties and Elections of Islamic Councils and the Selection of mayors” have been scrutinized.

The comparison between the state of decentralization in the constitution and the council’s law show that the rules address relatively to the all four indicators of concentration assessment. Generally, public participation has been emphasized in the councils of the constitution while two principles in the constitution directly provide the required conditions to delegate executive powers to the local level. However, in council law, it is only within the executive power of the councils as representative of local sovereignty. On the other hand, although the legislator in council law considers that the local regulation and planning is one of the duties of councils, the local regulations in city councils, provinces, and supreme council of the provinces is only limited to financial processes. Also, the emphasis in the duties of council is on budget approval and financial processes. Unlike other indicators, the legislator pays attention to the supervisory role of the councils more than others. In the constitution, in addition to the city councils and provinces, the supreme council of the provinces for the monitoring of macro affairs is predicted. Besides, the council law takes into account monitoring function at all levels of the council as it focuses more on financial processes of municipalities and related organizations. Therefore, the constitutional approach is more tended towards "local policy" and "local regulation and planning" that provide “devolution” to local management. In contrast, in the “Law on the Organization, Duties and Elections of Islamic Councils and the Selection of Mayors”, the legal duties of the councils are limited to the two elements of “regulation and local planning” and “direct monitoring of local affairs”.

Due to the adaptation of the constitution with all components of the decentralization index, the relationship between the national sovereignty and local management in the constitution is a kind of "devolution" and it is dependent on the development of local management and councils. However, the silence on supervisory authority and the mode of the mayor election makes a decline in the Council’s power on the decision-making and management of the local affairs. In the legal duties of the councils, decentralization can be found in the form of "delegation". In fact, some local responsibilities have been distributed among central government entities, but there was not any redistribution in decision making power. Besides, management responsibilities were only transferred to lower levels for limited functions. Hence, the lack of adequate consideration of participatory processes in establishing the devolution based on the legislature's vision is neglected between the relationship of the constitution and the council law. In this structure, although the form of power has been defined as decentralized, the mechanism to achieve participatory democracy as a prerequisite for the formation of the process of devolution and delegation of responsibilities and resources has not been foreseen to be able to push the content of power toward decentralization. Finally, what actually happened is the centralization of the structure of power.

Given that the geographic space is a social production/reproduction, it  is known as a social phenomena that is made by the society. We can call it  a text or a spatial text because the humans - as the logical being - are authors of spatial text, so this spatial text (geographic space) is a significant and complex phenomena. The transition of geographic space of one status to another is a sign that shows geographic spaces are the dynamic phenomenon. All of geographic spaces are driving toward new status and conditions because they are not a fixed and static phenomenon but they are a social production. All of the social texts are dynamic because “society” as their base is a dynamic phenomenon. So, geographic space is a dynamic text as well. The spatial text of those geographic spaces which have been made by wider and more varied societies, are also more varied.On the one hand, geographic space is the outcome of social, political, cultural, economic processes, while on the other hand, discourses on geographic space try to intertwine this process toward their regimes of truth, structures, visions, and purposes. So the“discourses” play an important  role in the processes of writing spatial text or geographic spaces. Each of the agriculture, industrial, and information era has created its own special geographic spaces. In the network society and the information era, worldwide information and communication technology has provided a context to create the micro-discourses. Cosequently, it has provided a context for their shifts. The moving toward ‘network society’, has to be accompanied by changes in the text of geographic spaces. Communication of varied micro-discourses  is one of the characters of ‘network society’. This micro-discourse can affect the geographical texts. This article intends to answer this question: What drives geographic spaces from  ‘oriented mono-textual’ space to ‘oriented multi-textual’ and then ‘oriented inter-textual?  And how?

Based on the Foucaultian notion of "power" and "discourse," it can be said that  the micro-discourses derive geographical spaces from ‘oriented mono-textual’ space to ‘oriented multi-textual’ and then ‘oriented inter-textual'. Foucault considers discourse as the social and historical state of society, and believes that we are dealing with major prohibitions and types of discourse that condemn one aspect of the meaning and give the priority to another (Sajjadi & Dashti, 2009, 86). “Each type of discourse creates a special space for action, which is what Foucault calls" areas of possible choices" (Dreyfus & Rabynv, 1997, 156). The networked society - by its uncontrollable nature - not only provides the areas of possible choices, but also enables the micro-discourses to become more powerful and influential discourses.The network society’s space has provided a more globalized and dynamic communication platform for the flowing of information, wealth, and power among social networking levels; by making a link among 1- places, where activities (and the people who execute them) are located in, 2- communication networks that link these activities and 3. The theme and geometry of the information flows that form the activities with the certain purpose and function. (Castells, 2004). A networke society is a society of unequal and incompatible languages ​​whose common criteria are abandoned in favor of pluralism (Tajik, 2008: 134). In the Foucault's concept of power, power is deeply rooted which is based on the understanding of the productive form of power, its regulation, and its decentralized or networked and dispersed nature throughout the society ”(Nazari, 2011, 345) and the notion of power. It has a social network and can be found in all areas of society and human relations (Ibid 346). It reflects and generates the power and displacement at any level. The space of flows has provided the "possibility" that micro-discourses change and create spatial texts which can switch geographical spaces into ‘oriented multi-textual’ and then ‘oriented inter-textual' ones.

The methodology of this paper is a logical–analytical one. At first, the basic concepts of discussion (space, discourse, network society, dialogue, and monologue) are described. Then, relationships among basic concepts have been determined in many theories including Manuel Castells’s network society theory and Michel Foucault’s power theory.

The network society is the society that is made by networks, communications, and media. So, in this society, the monopolization and control of governments on information and communications is fading. In fact, the network society provides a context for the formation, presentation, and the spread of discourses. These discourses enter to the monologue-mono-discursive circle and they break this circle. The breaking of this circle allows varied discourses to participate in the processes of the product of geographic space. Because any discourses have their special “regimes of truth” and structures, so being of varied discourses in ‘oriented mono-textual’ geographic spaces will drive them toward ‘oriented inter-textual’. The ‘discourse’ converges political, social, economic, and cultural processes toward its purposes and visions by producing essential organizations, systems, structures, and necessary spaces. Discourses on geographic space show their symbols in the geographic space, so the operating diverse discourses on space can make its spatial text more varied and can  derive them toward a space that has the ‘inter-textual’ characteristic. Effects of diverse discourses on geographic spaces are different because the power of discourse in geographic space is dependent on political, social, cultural, information, and the communication conditions of that space.This paper showed that the monologue-mono-discourse circle creates a mono-text geographic space; the multilogue-multidiscursive circle creates a multi-textual geographic space; and dialogue- interdiscourse circle creates an oriented inter-textual geographic space. The basis of these creations is the pluralism of information, civilization, and the network media nature of the network society.

Using global information and communication technologies form “network society” (Castells’s theory) provides contexts to dialogue for varied and numerous discourses and micro-discourses. With the increasing varied and numerous discourses and micro-discourses and the number of power centers, this process shifts oriented mono-text spaces to oriented multi-text spaces and finally oriented inter-text spaces. (Of homogeneity, to heterogeneity, of mono to multi). In the network society, the hard boundaries (red lines) of micro-discourses have been faded by the shifting micro-discourses; The prosess which is providing combined discourses has soft and orange lines instead of hard and red lines. These discourses can be known as the “inter-discourses”. Thus, the changing hard boundaries of discourses to soft boundaries drive pure and local geographic spaces toward inter-textual and global geographic spaces that have soft and orange boundaries.

In a world of international communications and interactions, cities are studied as geographical regions within an atmosphere of streams built upon direct connections between cities (Najati Hosseini, 2011). In other words, cities play a significant role in the global politics, economy, and the restoration of global management. In the globalization age, cities can be introduced as key players within the frameworks of decentralization policies and interactive actions between cities and provide the means for increasing interactions in areas including information technology, economy, society, and culture (Acuto, 2012). Therefore, in today’s world, the development and progress of cities highly depend on communications and interactions between them at a transnational level. In fact, modern cities are regarded as spatial-geographical territories that enter transnational interactions and assume international roles. The subject of urban diplomacy is a tool used for studying the role of urban geographical regions in international interactions. Urban diplomacy can be defined as institutions and processes through which cities serve the purpose of demonstrating their capacities and interests in one another in relation with other actors as well as within international politics (Pluijm & Melissen, 2007). During the past few years, Mashhad metropolitan area has managed to take a bold step in the direction of growth and development at both national and international levels through progress in areas such as industry, science, tourism, etc. The backgrounds and requirements for Mashhad metropolitan area to play a role within the urban diplomacy framework is an important subject which is examined in the present study.

The present inquiry is an applied study conducted using the descriptive-analytical method. This study seeks to provide answers to the following question: How is the position of urban diplomacy in Mashhad metropolitan area with focus on transnational actions of municipality and universities? Data were collected using library studies and by referring to valid sources, along with field observations and gathering the comments of experts through interviews and questionnaires.

The analysis and examination of the findings show the active role of Mashhad municipality and universities in the context of urban diplomacy development. According to the results of SWOT model, the perceivable reality is that, given the high position of Mashhad metropolitan area in Iran and the Islamic world, the activities carried out under the present conditions with regards to urban diplomacy development of this city have not been acceptable and significant. There is a need for organized planning and more scientific actions, particularly in the municipality sector and universities. Based on the findings from the IE matrix (the internal-external factor assessment matrix) the urban diplomacy in Mashhad metropolitan area is currently at a conservative position (wo). The conservative position denotes that to develop the urban diplomacy in Mashhad metropolitan area, the internal weaknesses should be mitigated using external opportunities.

Considering its exceptional capacities in religious, historical, scientific, cultural, and geo-cultural areas, Mashhad metropolitan area can play an influential role in the context of urban diplomacy and particularly, religious and scientific diplomacies, both at regional and the Islamic world levels. However, the findings of the study point to a number of challenges faced by this city along this path. According to the results of SWOT model, despite the strengths (10 strengths) of Mashhad metropolitan area in the context of urban diplomacy development, there exist multiple weaknesses as well which are subject to systemic inadequacies. Moreover, regardless of the effective roles of universities and scientific centers in Mashhad in the field of international scientific interactions during the past few years, urban diplomacy development in this city requires making use of opportunities, esp. efficient planning and policymaking in the area of municipality and universities’ transnational interactions. As a result, Mashhad metropolitan area can rely on increasing the transnational interactions of municipality and universities and making use of external opportunities to mitigate its internal weaknesses in line with urban diplomacy development.

Terms and concepts of tension, challenge, dispute, conflict and crisis are commonly used in the literature of political geography and geopolitics and international relations. And they are often used to express types of hostile relations between two countries or rival powers. Geography and geopolitics of every region play a major role in the establishment of peaceful and friendly relations among nations, or tension and conflict over that region. In other words, the root of many conflicts and tensions in countries relations is in the geographical and geopolitical features. At present, there is no single general theory about tension and conflict accepted by scientists or experts in other fields of political sciences or experts from whom political scientists have inspired. There is no way to determine the source of conflict or war, because not only they are numerous, but also they have been gradually increased.The research hypothesis is that most of the theories presented by professionals and scholars relating to the sources of tension and conflict between countries have uni-factor or multifactor essence and none of them have succeeded in providing a comprehensive theoretical model. Accordingly, this paper by using descriptive-analytic approaches and using library resources attempts to assess and evaluate theories related to the origins of conflict and tension between countries and by the means of criticism and analysis of theories provides a new theory in the field of factors causing conflict in countries relations.

The term tension refers to a set of attitudes and tendencies such as distrust and suspicion which people and policy makers have toward others. Tension does not cause conflict by itself, but it enables different parties to show behavior based on conflict if each of them tries to achieve incompatible objectives (Holsti,1991). Conflict is different from tension. Tension usually refers to a hidden hostility, fear, suspicion, and perhaps refers to a desire of dominance or revenge. However, tension does not exceed the level of attitudes and perceptions and does not include mutual deterrent efforts. Although tension often precedes conflict and it is always involved in it, it is not always synonymous with conflict and it is not always consistent with cooperation. However, causes of tension are likely to be related to the causes of conflict. Furthermore, if tension is sufficiently intensified, depending on the extent of its influence on the decision making process, it may be converted independently to contributing factors or outbreak of conflict. Many of the underlying causes of tension and conflict between countries are considered in the realm of geographical and geopolitical factors and values. In other words, although occurring conflicts between countries may be affected by political or ideological factors, the vast majority of tensions and conflicts between countries have geographical origin and geographical values are the roots in the perceived national interests of the parties. Even if ideological and political factors are well analyzed, it becomes clear that such factors are also directly or indirectly have geopolitical nature.

This article is based on descriptive-analytic technique and the data collection procedure is generally based on library research. In library research, the emphasis has been put on the examination of documents, reference to the relevant domestic and foreign books, periodicals and newspapers, articles, magazines and internet websites. After data collection and classification, the data analysis has been mainly carried out using descriptions based on logic and reasoning.

 Model presented by Hypothetica from Peter Hagget is an attempt to study geographical factors causing tension in relations between countries. This model involves a hypothetical country called The Hypothetica which has a set of specific conditions causing disputes with its neighbors. The hypothetical country is landlocked and has potential twelve points causing tension in relations with its neighbors (Hogget, 1983, 2001). Hagget presented this model for the first time in 1972 in the first edition of his book Geography: A Modern Synthesis. This model has been mentioned without any change in subsequent editions of the book in 1975, 1995 and 1983. Also, in a new book by Hagget called Geography: A Global Synthesis which was published in 2001, this issue has been mentioned (Hogget, 1972, 1975, 1983, 1995, 2001). In his model, Hagget has mentioned geographical and geopolitical factors causing tension between countries, and compared to other theories, has put more emphasis on spatial and regional variables. However, Hagget’s model lacks the variables related to environmental, ecological and geo-economic resources that cause tension. Hence, we cannot consider it as a comprehensive model. Since geopolitics is the study of the mutual relationships of geography, power, and politics and accounts for consequences resulting from their interaction (Hafeznia, 2006), a model that can explain all sources of tension between counties should include all variables related to three parameters of geography, power and politics. The main drawback of all models is that they consider only one aspect of geopolitics and they have failed to account for all dimensions. According to this view and authors of this article, a model that can explain geopolitical causes of tension and conflict in relations must simultaneously include cultural and geo-cultural, geo-strategic, political, territorial and boundary disputes, geo-economic, hydro-political, environmental and cyberspace related variables.Each of these groups   has several objective and subjective variables which dependently or independently pave the way for tension and conflict between countries. In this classification we have tried to include all geopolitical factors that cause tension and conflict in relations between countries and every factor causing tension and conflict is listed. Thus, we can conclude that this model, to some extent, has the capability to account for all geopolitical sources of tension and conflict in relations between countries.

By looking at theories proposed by experts  in the fields of geography, geopolitics, political sciences and international relations  in relation to factors that cause tension and conflict in relations between countries, we come to the conclusion that none of these theories have been able to account for all of geopolitical sources which cause tension and have only explained part of these factors. In other words, they have a uni-factor or multi-factor perspective towards the problem and, therefore, they cannot be considered as a comprehensive theory and model in this context.  Meanwhile, Peter Hogget (1972) and John Collins (1998) have tried to take a comprehensive and multi-dimensional look at the issues of tension and conflict between countries, and in their theories, they have pointed out different variables such as strategic, cultural, economic, environmental and   hydro-political factors. However, they have also failed to provide a model that account for all geopolitical sources that cause tension in relation between countries. According to this view, a model that can explain the causes of tension and conflict in relations between countries should simultaneously take into account cultural, geo-cultural, geo-strategic, and territorial and boundary disputes, geo-economic, hydro-political, environmental  variables and factors related to the functioning of cyberspace. Each of these groups   has several objective and subjective variables which dependently or independently pave the way for tension and conflict between countries.

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.