فصلنامه روابط خارجی
پیاپی 51 (پاییز 1400)

European Commission published EU trade policy titled an open, sustainable and assertive trade policy in Feb 2021. The main concern underlying this new policy is EU preparation for confronting new geopolitical developments derived from increasing role of Asia in the global economy, great power competition and new advancements in digital trade and global communication. Due to Iran’s economic interactions with EU countries and also the sensibility of Iran’s economic ties with Asian partners to EU policy, EU trade policy would have significant impacts on Iranian economy. The article investigate the elements of EU trade policy 2021 and how it influences Iran. Applying Barnett and Duvall conceptualization of power, the article argues that EU approach to global trade has evolved from power to trade to power through trade and this approach has paradoxical impacts on Iranian economy; negative impact in regard to EU compulsory and discursive power and positive impact in regard to EU structural and institutional power.

In recent years, relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar have shifted from cooperation and interaction to confrontation. The Disputes that seriously affected their relations after the evolution in the Arab world in 2011 until their severance in 2017. Despite the resumption of relations after the Al-Ula meeting in January 2021, the two sides have not been able to normalize their relations. The hostility between Doha and Riyadh at the neighborhood and regional levels can be analyzed based on structural theories propositions. Because the two actors' different perceptions of Islamic and Arabic identity and tribal social construction have acted as a key element in the consolidation or divergence of the two. Accordingly, the main question of the present article is "how the perception of Saudi Arabia and Qatar on national and regional issues has led to a change in the political pattern of relations in the two time periods (2017-2011) and (2021-2017)? In this regard, the hypothesis is that, the different perceptions of Saudi Arabia and Qatar of political Islam, their role in the regions and inter-family rivalries, have led them to challenge each other in the field of identity, territorial and regional issues. The present research is of descriptive-analytical type and the required information has been collected by library and internet methods.

The Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, signed on November 10, 2020, after 44 days of conflict between the two countries, has had far-reaching implications for Iran's security and interests. With regard to this issue, the present article has been written specifically with the aim of explaining the effects and consequences of the Qarabagh 2020 ceasefire agreement for Iran's security and interests. In this regard, the main question of the article is what are the effects and consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh 2020 ceasefire agreement for the security and national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The findings of the article show that the recent ceasefire agreement in various dimensions has a positive and negative impact on the interests and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the most important of which include; Russia's role in the northwestern borders of Iran, the possibility of geographical distance from the borders of Iran, the Zionist regime's large-scale weapons assistance in liberating the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and, as a result, the regime's greater role in Iran's northwestern borders, Iran's access to border lands The reconnection of the relatively long border with Azerbaijan has been the expansion of capacity to expand Iran's railway network to the Caucasus and Russia, and the presence of Iranian private companies in the reconstruction of the critical regions of the Caucasus.

In the present study, while analyzing the threats posed by the actions of the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific strategic area, the future of the effects of competition on Iran's interests is analyzed using the scriptwriting method. It should be noted that the leading research based on the obtained results is of practical type and considering that during it to answer the main question of the research, namely how the future threats of Sino-US approaches in the Indo-Pacific area to Iran's interests, It deals with a variety of qualitative methods of script writing called GBN. In addition, the present study is descriptive in nature and is descriptive of the current context of the conflict and the factors that shape the current and future threats of Washington-Beijing relations. Attempts have been made to extract key factors and drivers of these relationships through interviews with experts and focus groups, and given the key uncertainties extracted from the distributed questionnaires among 25 security, scientific and diplomatic experts, four scenarios: 1) Worst: Ensuring China's energy security; 2) The best: the occurrence of economic and trade war between China and the United States; 3) Continuation of current trends: no trade and economic war between China and the United States; 4) China's inability to ensure energy security, which in accordance with the scenarios and in detail in addition to the indicators of the occurrence of scenarios, strategic recommendations, policies and strategies to manage each.

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) uprising entered the Iraqi equation in 2014 in response to the emergence of clear signs of the collapse of the two main characteristics of the national government, namely territorial control and the monopoly on the use of superior military power and the regular army. The organization achieved significant success on the ground in the fight against ISIS and, despite internal and external opposition, joined the Iraqi Armed Forces and defined new missions. The main question of the present article is what changes has taken place in the process of active of the PMF from its establishment until 2020? Findings show that the popular mobilization activism has evolved from a non-governmental paramilitary actor to a multidimensional government actor and that the organization has integrated many of its former missions through integration into the armed forces while transforming the Iraqi military-security context. Has also followed. The present article is of explanatory type and the required information is collected by library method and referring to valid internet sources.

The most important feature of the second decade of the 21st century is the gradual decline of the relative power of the United States. Most of the factors that have led to America's global power are changing and moving in the direction that has led to the decline of American hegemony. Regional governance is therefore necessary to manage the instability caused by the decline of American hegemony and the need to face global complexities. This governance is based on regional institutions, norms and organizations that replace global institutions. The research method in this article is descriptive-analytical. The main question of the present study is what are the symptoms of the decline of American hegemony and What is the alternative to American hegemony in the post-Corona? The main hypothesis is that the decline of US hegemony has been revealed in three areas: political, economic and military, and with the decline of US hegemony, regional worlds, including Iran, will be a good alternative. The main purpose of this article is to examine the decline of American hegemony in post-Corona and its alternative. The components of US hegemony, which are defined in three areas: political, economic and military, all three of which are severely affected by the outbreak of the Corona virus (apart from other factors such as China's economic growth, weakening of the values of the international liberal order). It will be the decline of American hegemony and the rise of regional worlds. In this research, a single theory is not followed, but various theories will be proposed and analyzed in line with the purpose of the article.

Given the fragile political-security situation in West Asia, China which currently supplies about half of its oil and about 10 percent of its gas imports from this region, is concerned about the possible challenges deriving from its energy security prospects. The US presence throughout the region, Chinese weak control over international energy corridors, conflicts and tensions between the regional countries, Iran and United States, and of course the political orientation of West Asian countries should be added to the complexity of China's energy security dilemma towards this region. In this regard, China has gradually clarified the outlines of its strategy for ensuring energy security towards West Asia. At the heart of this article is the question, "What outlines the extent of China's contemporary energy security strategy towards West Asia?" Using a descriptive-analytical method and Focusing on the three concepts of "access security", "transportation security" and "energy transition process", the present study finds that the contemporary Chinese energy security strategy towards West Asia is based on a number of principles such as striving for diversification of its import, strengthening energy interdependence, pursuing a balanced and prudent policy regarding the ongoing regional and extra-regional rivalries, establishing safe corridors for energy transportation, keeping a direct military presence in sensitive areas and finally pursuing regional cooperation regarding energy transportation across West Asia.