فصلنامه روابط خارجی
پیاپی 46 (تابستان 1399)

The experience of the past few decades shows that in parallel with the accumulation of economic and political power of countries, foreign aid has been considered by various countries as one of the means of pursuing national interests in the international arena. A new development in the field of foreign aid, especially in the first years of the new millennium, is the strong presence of China in this field, which has attracted much international and academic attention. The question that the article seeks to answer with a descriptive-explanatory method is how China's strong presence in the field of foreign aid in the first years of the new millennium has affected the position and model of the United States in providing foreign aid? The hypothetical answer to this question is that the rapid expansion of Chinese foreign aid in the early years of the new millennium, along with China's different approach and performance in providing such aid, challenges the position and desired model of the United States in providing foreign assistance. The article shows that the rapid and intense emergence of China in the field of foreign aid, has practically led to the emergence of new ideas in the relationship between foreign aid and foreign policy and the promotion of a favorable pattern of development in international political economy so that we can speak of the rivalry between the Chinese and the US model in terms of foreign aid.

Rentier economies, as a kind of economy which is highly dependent to foreign sources of income, have features that distinguish them from other economic structures and make them easier target for various sanction pressures. Iran's oil-rent-based economy has experienced many types of sanctions during four decades after Islamic Revolution for various reasons, including the conflicts with the United States and the nuclear dispute. The sanctions which have been trend to smart process in geographical, monitoring, regulatory, and thematic forms to be more effective. So what will be consider in this article is; Does Iran's rentier economy has made smart sanctions more effective? Based on this, it is assumed that the rent structure of Iran's economy has played an effective and key role in the intelligence and effectiveness of sanctions. To test this hypothesis, while examining the rent indicators of the country's economy and the smart sanctions proceeding, the effects and reactions of these two variables are evaluated by using a descriptive-analytical method.

In the States only conception states have absolute legal personality and this matter is valid during the stability of traditional International Law in which the legal personality of non-state actors is secondary and derivative at best. Nevertheless, by transition in the Westphalian order and appearing or becoming self-conscious the non-state actors, the problem of contradiction of their existence and legal subjectivity was appeared and if not unsolved, it has been defined depend on the legal personality of states. Among them, the matter of legal personality of armed non-state groups, may because their mostly anti-state nature, is more discussable than the other actors. The legal personality of these groups is considerable under International Humanitarian Law, more than the other legal fields. However, there are some written literatures in this field, the strength of the current research is being inter-disciplinary and induct the legal personality of armed groups under IHL, by starting from the International Relations’ entrance. The current research focuses on the Shiite and Al-Qaeda affiliated armed groups in Iraq and Syria. In this regards, empirical and interpretative method will imply to explain interpret the legal personality of armed non-state groups. It is expectable that the out-put of this method, in synergy with the inter-disciplinary approach, will be innovation and originality of the achievement on the legal personality of armed non-state groups under IHL

The confrontation between Iran and the United States after the Islamic Revolution had many ups and downs, which intensified in the fifth decade of the revolution with getting into power of the Trump administration. In this regard, the US Congress, as one of the most important pillars of the power structure through legislation and oversight, has played an undeniable role in US foreign policy towards Iran over the past forty years. The purpose of this article is to review the actions of the 116th US Congress towards Iran and its role in US foreign policy. Studies show that the 116th Congress, under the widespread influence of the Zionist lobby, has organized numerous legislative and monitoring activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the control of its elements of power, including nuclear and missile capabilities and regional power. However, in the second year of its actions, with the escalation of tensions in the region, especially after the assassination of general Soleimani and the Iranian missile attack on the Ain al-Assad base, Congress focused on controlling the Trump administration's belligerent policies to prevent a military strike against the Islamic Republic. The most significant actions of the One Hundred and sixeenth Congress, including a joint bill and resolution, have been taken in this regard. It seems that despite the Trump administration's countermeasures to neutralize the resolution passed by Congress, the activities of the 116th Congress have been one of the most effective factors in preventing a full-scale war against Iran.

Ensuing the Arab Uprisings, regional order that is calling the New Middle East has gone through the playing of new emerging middle powers such as UAE and Qatar. From the component of power, these states unlike their predecessor as with Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria lack normal prerequisites for morphing into regional actors. The main question here is why these players have expanded the range of their actions from the Persian Gulf sub-system into the great Middle East. It seems that it did not spill over the Arab uprisings into UAE and Qatar provided the opportunity for them in the light of weakening other rivals such as Egypt and Iraq that engaged by this turmoil to morph into the regional actors. While studying the trajectory of changes in their foreign policy behaviors implies that ambitions for enhancing their ranks within the regional international relations ladder. This work intends to study the dislocating among regional players after the Arab uprisings and focusing on the dominant trends of both mentioned new emerging powers. This will do by the conception of regional middle powers in IR.

The relation between economics and politics in the domestic and international spheres that shape economic diplomacy is essential for development. For this reason, development-concerned governments put this at the forefront of their policies. The present study also seeks to answer the main question: what is the position (role and importance) of economics and especially economic diplomacy in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the last few decades? The research claims that the mere attention to security issues and ignoring the economic goals emphasized by the upstream documents in the foreign policy orientations has caused the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran not to have a specific economic strategy in the regional and international environment. The findings of the study indicate that the lack of specific economic strategies has caused fluctuations in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the four decades of the revolution, especially since 1989. Foreign policy pursuing cross-sectional policies in the political economy of the governments of Iran and the failure to achieve the goals envisaged in the five-year development plans are among the features of this period. Foreigners noted the impact of sanctions. Thus, in this research, an attempt is made to study the mentioned issue using a descriptive-analytical approach and relying on documentary sources.