فصلنامه سیاست خارجی
سال سی و چهارم شماره 4 (پیاپی 136، زمستان 1399)

International law is a field of knowledge that has been criticized by various approaches, and its role in establishing the inequality and hierarchy that govern the world has been studied and stressed. "Third World Approach to International Law" in its critical stance on this system focuses on the historical suffering of the deprived and the underprivileged people of the world, and points the finger of blame at international law itself as one of the important factors in establishing this inferiority. This critical approach has not ignored the international human rights system in its criticisms, despite its deceptive and justified appearance, and emphasizes its function in legitimizing the process that leads to the continuation and consolidation of this inequality. In this article, by descriptive-analytical method, after analyzing the main criticisms of this approach to international law, as well as the critique of this approach to human rights, its nature and purposes will be examined.

As an administrative behavior, foreign policy turned to technological art in the 21st century. By developing of the international systems, media as an environmental supervisor has decreased the power of government in the epistemological process of politics. The activity of this social force in politics has changed the sovereignty and created cyber-societies. However, although public opinion considers mass media as an informative resource, the political system regards them as a base of power. Therefore, the evolution of media’s identity in foreign policy was not abrupt, but it was a gradual approach. In other words, mediatization of foreign policy as a process theme and peerless capital of decision-makers turned to a pattern of new governance. Thus, analyzing the relationship between mass media and foreign policy is the main question of this paper. According to the hypothesis, mass media and foreign policy are in mutual dependency. In other words, media are the informative source of political events, and policymakers will try to use mass media to understand the public demands. So, this paper will test the mentioned hypothesis by the analytic-comparative method.

Seventy-five years ago, the United Nations was founded to establish and maintain international peace and security and respect for preserving human dignity, with the participation of 51 countries and the lessons learned from World War II. Today, with 193 members, six main pillars and a large number of sub-pillars and specialized agencies, the Organization has become a big tree that plays a significant role in almost all areas of human life, including political, security, economic, social and cultural. Assessing the quality of the UN’s impact on the transformed and uncertain international system, requires extensive studies on the role of the UN in each of these areas and the use of accurate tools to assess progress.The issue of women who comprise half of human society and basically the gender approach is raised today as a sensitive issue which is considered by international, regional and domestic institutions. Several factors have played role in highlighting this approach. The United Nations is one of the institutions that has played a significant and irreplaceable role in this process over the past 75 years.The question that this research seeks to answer is: How does the United Nations influence gender approach? The United Nations has played a dynamic and active role in strengthening the gender approach and standardization in the subject of women, in various political, economic and social fields through the ratification of credible international instruments, the establishment of special institutions for women, and holding global events. In this way, the United Nations takes the issue of women seriously.

Changing security equations and communications in the Korean peninsula during the post-cold war era made this region a strategic feature in balance of power among the regional and international players and also an important part of the regional security dynamics. In this atmosphere, South Korea is an influential economic power which due to the North Korean threat, tries to play a more active role in enhancing its security. Besides its strategic defensive alliance with the United states, South Korea also uses some other options to enhance its economic and defensive security, one of which being membership in Multilateral Exports Control Regimes. With South Korea’s exports rising by use of industrialization of export goods, and its capability in exporting defense items and its interest in trade transactions with the world,  adopting necessary strategies for membership in Multilateral Exports Control Regimes is of great significance. Now, the question of this research is how the multilateral export control regimes affect the security of South Korea? In other words, how does joining the multilateral export control regimes affect South Korean economic and defensive security? Findings show that by joining the majority of export control regimes, South Korea keeps its affinity with the western bloc and provides itself with the security of technology transportation in the East Asian region. By use of regulations of export control regimes, It also fights against the regional threats, including North Korea.

Foreign policy is considered as the outermost part of the state, which, in addition to introducing macro policies to other actors, pursues all national goals and interests at the international level.In general, an extensive set of internal and external factors shapes the principles of foreign policy. The physical and internal structure of the state and society form an important part of the internal factors, and the international system, its structure and its evolution are among the environmental factors. This paper examines environmental factors and how they affect foreign policy. The main question is: "What effect do the international system developments have on foreign policy patterns of states?" Studies show that states display three distinct behaviors in proportion with internal developments of the international system, from the beginning to decline which include: Self-extension, Self-preservation and Self-abnegation." The main purpose of this paper is to study these behaviors according to the various stages of the international system.

In the wake of its economic superiority, Germany has strengthened and institutionalized its active presence in the regional and international affairs by restoring its capabilities. These include developments related to the nuclear issue of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the developments leading up to the JCPOA. The paper sets to address “Why, how and with what consequences has Germany played its role in this issue?” Germany entered the nuclear negotiations and signed the JCPOA by relying on its traditional relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and stress on its new strategy “More Responsibility” aimed at “playing a global role”. A review of Germany’s practice in this area under foreign ministers Fischer, Westerwelle, Steinmeier, Gabriel and Maas, within German Chancellor Angela Merkel leadership, shows that Berlin priority regarding the nuclear issue has been “promoting international security” and “avoiding war” while “realizing Israel’s concerns on Iran”. The German contribution has affected the developments related to Iran's nuclear program at three levels: international, regional and bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Germany.