نشریه مطالعات قدرت نرم
پیاپی 22 (بهار و تابستان 1399)

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Basij-Asatid (Teachers Basij) on the generation of soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran through training of political elite. The main question of the article is "What are the possible methods for the soft power of the Islamic Republic to be enhanced by Basij-Asatid and through training of political elites?" For this purpose, a survey approach has been used. The statistical population of the study consists of all faculty members of Shiraz universities. The sample size includes 375 professors selected through proportional sampling method based on the number and gender of professors. Data collecting tool is a researcher-made questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.98. The data are analyzed using SPSS software at two levels: At the first level using descriptive statistics methods (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and in the second level using inferential statistics (one-sample t-test and Friedman ranking test). The findings say that the average role of Basij-Asatid in increasing the soft power of Iran by training of political elites is 5.44 and higher than the low intensity limit for this factor (4), which confirms the decisive role of Basij-Asatid in increasing Iran's soft power. The results also show that the factor of "enhancing student Wilayat (Velâyat Paziri)" with an average of 4.7, is the most important and "increasing the student scientific abilities", with an average of 2.73, is the least important.

The present paper seeks to answer the important question of how national identity and its mechanism of action can be considered as soft power and how Islam and Western modernity as two wings of national identity in the development of Iran's foreign policy. Involved in the period under review?

In this research, using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on library-based information, while explaining "national identity and soft power", this concept is used in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2005-. 1392 to study and explore.

The national identity that Islam and Western modernity are examined here as two of its three wings is the center and central signpost of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the form of soft power.

Islam and Islamism in the form of the teachings of Islam in the constitution and Western modernity as another have created a platform that the foreign policy game can be processed, codified and developed in the conflict of these two concepts.

< p >Media, as one the most important means of creating and displaying soft power, has a key role in persuading and attracting the people. Media with a dual contradictory nature and function can cause informing, insightfulness, and hopefulness of the people in COVID-19 crisis; on the other hand, they can spread wrong information, fear, and anxiety. The aim of this study is to investigate the role and function of media in COVID-19 crisis and their effect on public opinion in Iran and the US. In Iran, the foreign opposition media considered the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for an invasion against the Iran, inculcating a denial of reality, offering an inappropriate picture for the role of religion, and being in different to the role of science in facing the disease. However, after powerful west countries became inflicted with COVID-19, the opposition media attempted to cast doubt on the Iranian toward the information announced by the National Committee of Fighting with COVID-19. The domestic media have made an attempt by informing and professional analysis in order to cause peace in Iran’s society. according to the polling centers in the US, at the beginning of the crisis, the media, in the domestic arena, planned to inform people and teach how to face the disease, and in the foreign arena, aimed to deteriorate the China’s face before the public opinion. However, considering the nature and function of the party for the media, they were gradually inclined to criticize the party opponent using this crisis.

This research based on a descriptive analysis method, focuses on the ICT aspects of geopolitical tensions and therefore selects the Russian case in the field of information warfare. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the information and ideological tensions of the West against Russia in the academic discourse of Russia on the basis of conflicting narratives and ideological-geopolitical paradoxes.The main question of this article is how and through what tools the West has spread Russian phobia in the academic discourse of Russian and non-Russian social sciences? The analytical background of this paper is the views of some Russian ideologists and thinkers, and the main hypothesis of this research is that the West has managed a successful information war against Russia through six thematic-narrative areas. Accordingly, in the discourse of Russian elites and ideologists, Russia has been, in most cases, the main victim of the West in the information-media war and on this basis, Russia today is also trying to counterbalance with West by designing a new ideological narrative and expanding media influence - information-centric against the United States, though Russia's power and capacity in this field is limited against the West.

The emergence of the Corona pandemic in early 2020 has become a major concern for national and international concerns and activities, which makes it unavoidable to be aware of global causes and effects and to respond appropriately to this emerging international phenomenon. What has been posed so far as the challenges of world politics have been hard issues such as nuclear proliferation and soft issues such as the environment, but never has a disease, which has spread all over the world, been included in global politics. The question that arises is: Can the Corona Pandemic be on the agenda of world politics and be considered as one of the soft issues of world politics? In response, it can be assumed that: Although the Corona pandemic has severely affected the world community, it is not yet eligible to be on the agenda of global politics, and this depends on the extent to which the international system has had significant influence, continuity and diplomatic responses. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility or impossibility of designing a corona pandemic as a global policy agenda and assessing the situation after it. First, by presenting the theoretical framework, how to determine the issues of the world policy agenda, then the Corona pandemic is evaluated as a soft international issue and the possibility of change in the global policy agenda, according to the recent developments.

Today’s world is the arena of competition among the media. Media, considering their functional dimentions, not only have the ability to shape the minds, but also they can make even specific mindsets. Because they have the power to give their own constructed narratives to their audiences. Daesh gives much importance to media and this means that it well understood the role of media in the world. The main question of the present research is how the power representation is being done in daesh’s media? To answer the question regarding the concepts and elements of the soft power, authors analyze the power representation techniques in daesh’s media via a content analysis method. The case study of the research is dabeq magazine as the most important media that Daesh employs. Content analysis of Dabeq shows that Daesh succssessfully exerted power by declaring the Islamic State named Khilafa, revived the Islamic Khilafa based on religious holy texts, accompanied a wide range of Muslims all around the world by reinforcing the spiritual power and conviction to fight under the ideology of Daesh Khalifa and to exhibit the Daesh power across the globe by terrorist operations. Other elements analyzed in the research are focusing on the military power, punitive power, economic power and social and welfare services by Daesh.

< p >Abstract:Foreign policy is the resultant of the opinions and decisions of the authorities of a country to ensure national interests at the international level.Decision-makers of a country manage their country''''s relations with other countries and international forums through various channels;Given the breadth and scope of issues in bilateral or multilateral relations in the international system, along with governments and affiliated political institutions, parliaments play a role in resolving international issues and developing relations through parliamentary diplomacy.This article considers that in major countries, the role of the people in securing national interests is a fundamental and irreplaceable role, it intends to examine the role of the legislature of the Islamic Republic of Iran in foreign policy as it is and what it should be, given the main goal of foreign policy, which is to ensure national interests and security.Keywords: Parliamentary Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Islamic Parliament of Iran, Public Diplomacy, Parliamentary Friendship Groups

In the school of Islam, there is a strong emphasis on cooperation and voluntary cooperation, one of the basic plans and functions of which is the cooperation of citizens and the political system in resolving crises. This article examines the role of socio-political cooperation in dealing with crises from the perspective of Islamic ethics. The hypothesis emphasizes that the role of the ethical principle of socio-political cooperation can be played on issues such as compassion for citizens, increased solidarity, a sense of brotherhood, openness to crises, a spirit of responsibility and accountability. He sought the cooperation of citizens and the Islamic State in achieving social justice. This was done using the method of thematic understanding of the extraction based on the four axes of "direct vocabulary" of cooperation, "implicit and obligatory vocabulary", "contextual and semantic-conceptual implications" and "opposing concepts" to understand the semantic network and all ‌ The socio-political cooperation aspect helps as one of the main concepts in Islamic political ethics, which has been less considered so far.

Although soft and smart power have been important sources of influence in the course of history, changes in politics in the modern world have added to their utility. While in the 18th century power was determined by the one who had the best sources of power at his disposal, in the 21st century, the information revolution and innovations have created new sources of power. In Joseph Nye’s definition, smart power “is a combination of soft and hard power in an effective way”. The objective of this paper is to study the applicability of Nye’s theory to Imam Khomeini’s political thought. The hypothesis of the research is: many of the indexes of Joseph Nye’s smart power theory are applicable to Imam Khomeini’s political thought. Descriptive-analytical research method was used for this research. The findings of the research indicate that some indexes of smart power are applicable to Imam Khomeini’s political thought, while the ones based on Western doctrines are not applicable. Although Imam Khomeini did not use the concept of smart power and this concept had not been yet introduced in his time, he practically used smart power in confronting the challenges.

The United States of America to restore its international dignity since September 11, 2001, it has devised and implemented strategies to reproduce its power, and has made great efforts to improve both its power generation resources and to deploy new sources of power. So the United States, along with compulsory, structural and institutional power, is trying to activate a new dimension of power as productive power. The question that arises is what is the source of the United States' international production of productive power? To answer this question, the paper assumes that international law is the most important source of US productive power after 9/11. To further understand this hypothesis, the evolution of the concept of international law by force in the context of the evolution of the principle of legitimate defense, humanitarian intervention, and international responsibility for protection after September 11 is examined as a case study in this article. This paper takes a descriptive-analytical approach and uses library resources to prove this hypothesis.

Research findings have shown that U.S strategy toward western Asia has undergone fundamental changes in recent years. Creating ISIS emerging phenomenon, and providing it with financial, intelligent, military and logistic support is a manifestation of this new strategy. Literature review shows that ISIS and its relation with U.S interests is investigated thoroughly, however, after physical eradication of ISIS by regional powers and axis of resistance, no systematic research is conducted on the U.S strategy in post-ISIS world. Thus, the current research is an attempt to employ the principles of regional security complex theory and adopt documentary research method to investigate resistance power elements and virtual caliphate of U.S in post-ISIS period comparatively. It was revealed that after ISIS, resistance structural development has overpowered U.S coalition making. Also, the pragmatic nature of the resistance has strategically defeated American military kinetic actions. In addition to that, the U.S attempts aimed at recovering the virtual caliphate of ISIS through media and propaganda is blocked by realities of Shiite crescent. This research has implications for researcher in politics, regional studies, and theoretical and military strategists.

The Holy Quran has once mentioned in verse 52 of Surah al-Furqān the meaning of the Jahad-e-Kabir. Given the characteristics of this type of jihad in the Qur'an, narratives and interpretative statements, the Jahad-e-Kabir is a comprehensive package of civilian activities to confront the enemy.In political science, the concept of Soft Power is also called, which means using non-hard tools at the right time and intangibles that are used against the opposite group.The similarity of the use of civilian tools in two categories of Jahad-e-Kabir and Soft Power is to reconcile the homogeneity and conformity of these two concepts, but with the examination and the expression of their differences, it seems to be at most to match the similarity of the Jahad-e-Kabir with Soft Power. Differences, including the following: the reliance of Soft Power on hard power. While the Jahad-e-Kabir does not have such support, the use of Soft Power in damaging the other side while the Jahad-e-Kabir is defensive, deterrent and immune.To achieve these results, a comparative research method has been used between two concepts and an interdisciplinary research method using library resources.