نشریه مطالعات روابط فرهنگی بین المللی
پیاپی 12 (پاییز 1398)

The Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys numerous sources of soft power at regional and global levels. One of the most important aspects of Iran’s soft power comprises cultural elements and the cultural dimension of power, which have played an effective role in elevating Iran’s strength in the international arena. One of the regions wherein Iran has many components and sources of cultural power in Afghanistan. Considering the strategic importance of this country (Afghanistan) in the regional policy of the Islamic Republic, the present research paper proposes to examine Iran’s cultural soft power in Afghanistan. While making a review of the cultural drivers affecting Iran’s cultural soft power, the paper will address the challenges of cultural power in Afghanistan as well as the role of Iran’s multilateral diplomacy in this country with regard to soft power. The main hypothesis of the paper is that cultural owing to cultural, religious, historical, and civilizational commonalities between the two nations, the Islamic Republic of Iran has many cultural resources in Afghanistan. However, the activities of regional and global powers have led to the emergence of certain challenges for Iran’s cultural soft power in the region, and, thus, in order to do away with these challenges, Iran’s multifaceted diplomacy in the fields of education, culture, and media needs to be strengthened.

Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has always relied on the soft dimensions of power to pursue its national interests across the international borders. It is for this very reason that cultural diplomacy has come to have a special place in the foreign relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran with other countries. Furthermore, since bilateral interactions with neighbors are among the priorities of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran - keeping in view the many historical and cultural commonalities of Iran and Afghanistan - the application of cultural diplomacy in the relations between the two countries is highly important. Taking into consideration the fact that Iran enjoys great civilizational and cultural potentials, the present research paper seeks to answer the question that: “What are the opportunities available to the Islamic Republic of Iran has for expanding and increasing its cultural activities in Afghanistan, and what are the challenges that the two countries face within the framework of cultural diplomacy?” It seems that by adopting a soft power approach, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been able to take some important measures both to ensure its national interests and to achieve its strategic goals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the significance of Iran’s soft power by emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of its cultural diplomacy; using a descriptive-analytical methodology.

Being located on the Silk Road, Iran and Afghanistan have been the link between the great civilizations of the world and have been a dominant cultural and political center in Asia. These two nations have a common language. Language is the phonetic instrument by way of which communication takes place. It is also a form of thinking; since thinking is a form of speaking. Literature, too, is a way of speaking; an effective and expressive instrument, which is an important branch of the culture of every nation and has a valuable role in preserving, spreading, and transmitting culture. A major part of the literary works of these two nations is in Persian. Using a descriptive methodology, this research paper proposes to examine the Persian poems of famous poets of the two nations such as Ferdowsi, Rumi, Hafez, Ghanbar Ali Tabesh, Seyyed Nader Ahmadi, Seyyed Hakim Binesh, Mohammad Khalil Khalili, and other Persian speaking poets and reflect upon many cultural commonalities between the two nations. There are several cultural expressions, including the Nowruz celebrations, the new moon ceremony, music, pilgrimage, and religious beliefs, which make these two nations culturally very close and serve as suitable platforms for a constructive reciprocal relationship between the two countries.

The general attitude of the Islamic Republic of Iran's policies towards Afghanistan has always had a significant impact on its foreign and regional policies at regional and international levels. According to this view, stability in Afghanistan is important for Iran in all respects. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the foreign policy of Iran in relation to Afghanistan through the library-documentary method. The main question of the present study is what is the nature of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan?  A review of the literature revealed that Iran's foreign policy has played a constructive role in all periods in Afghanistan, and Iran has played an important role in advancing the common goals and interests of the two countries. It has always been one of the principles of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in terms of domination and domination. Therefore, having a development-oriented foreign policy with a geopolitical view of returning Afghan refugees to their homeland, reducing drug production and trafficking, reducing border evils and stability And border security, opposed to the presence of US troops in the region and the borders of Iran and Afghanistan, useful and useful interaction with the government of Afghanistan. Also, Iran and Afghanistan can enhance human security, cooperative mechanisms in social, cultural, commercial, political, scientific, humanitarian, technical, religious, sport, tourism, legal, administrative, spiritual, occupational, Economically, to achieve the interests of the two countries.

The paper has been written with the aim of describing some aspects of the tense atmosphere of discourse conflict between the two Persian speaking nations, i.e., Afghanistan and Iran; the conflict, which is the product of discourse control in this field. A survey of the situation of literary and cultural trends in Persian speaking countries, as well as its scattered users in other parts of the world, shows that there is always a dispute between Persian speaking people over the existing cultural commonalities. Furthermore, it has been revealed that with the growth of social networks the existing conflict has escalated to a critical stage. Therefore, it may be time to seriously ask the question: “What are the reasons for the failure of the Persian language and literature in fostering unity among the Persian speaking people?” By resorting to the two phrases of “conflict and control” - and while producing a number of evidence proving lack of unity among the writers, poets, and media people of Afghanistan and Iran - this paper proposes to throw light on the factors that have converted Persian language and literature from a “unifying” opportunity to a “stressful” issue among Persian speaking people? In the end, the authors provide certain suggestions that could help reconsider certain behaviors in this regard.

Owing to such factors as territorial and historical proximity as well as age old political, social and especially cultural relations as well ashaving a common language Kabul and Tehran have managed to establish fruitful and productive interactions with one another. The most outstandingaspect of such relations is the common cultural background that has resulted in the formation of strong intercultural dialogues between the two countries. It is to be noted that different factors have contributed to the formation of these dialogues. However, it goes without saying that what is clearly missing in these dialoguesis the absence virtual social networks, which have had a strong impact on man’s social life. The unique features of virtual social networks and the high number of users of such networks in both the countries makes the use of these networks a must with regards to strengthening cultural interactions between the two capitals. This is an issue the absence of which is strongly felt in the intercultural dialogues between Iran and Afghanistan. Keeping the above in view, the present paper has been written by resorting tothe library and document-based research methodology in order to find an answer to the question that “why and in spite of the large of number of users of social networks in the two countries there is a lacuna with regards to the use of such networks in intercultural dialogues and how could this lacuna be compensated for?” It has been argued that the lack of feeling the need for using virtual social networks among the cultural activists of the two countries, the absence of sufficient attention to the role that these networks can play in such dialogues and the different contents used by the Iranian and Afghan users in cyberspace have resulted in being oblivious to this media with regards to strengthening and expanding intercultural dialogues. Thus, the aim of the present research paper is to help strengthen the use of virtual social networks in cultural dialogues between the two countries with a constructivist approach.