فصلنامه سیاست جهانی
سال دوازدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 43، بهار 1402)

While the Asian emerging countries are changing the international distribution of power by acquisition of material resources, Intra-Asian dynamics have been affected by the rapid rise of India and China during the shift of international power towards Asia. In drawing the future horizons, these two powers consider international water areas as a necessary component for gaining global power. During the last decade, the Indian Ocean, as an emerging field in international open seas, has become the center of competition between these two countries. However, the existing works have not provided a comprehensive picture of India and China competition in the Indian Ocean. This article, using data analysis method, examines the maritime relations between the two states under the influence of the mounting China appearance in the Indian Ocean. To answer the question of what are the effects of China's emergence in the Indian Ocean on India-China maritime relations? This article claims that China's increased role in the Indian Ocean has created a new round of strategic competition between the two states. In this regard, it argues that India in response to Chinese implementation of advanced maritime strategies, trade and investment network, modernization of the military force, and development of ports and naval bases in the Indian Ocean, through increasing maritime capabilities, deepening relations with the marginal and island countries of the Indian Ocean, and forging strategic partnership with China's competitors in the framework of the Indo-Pacific maritime landscape, take balancing measures against China.

Today, energy is considered as one of the most important geopolitical variables in the international system. Energy as the cornerstone of the survival and development of societies in the 21st century with the ever-increasing growth of the world's population, South Asian countries are facing an energy shortage due to the rapidly increasing demand for fossil fuels. Due to the economic and political effects caused by such a shortage, improving the supply of fossil energy is one of the important priorities of regional governments. In this article, the main goal is to examine the role of natural gas export on the development of Iran's regional relations in South Asia. Therefore, the main question raised is what is the role of natural gas export in the development of Iran's regional relations with South Asia? Therefore, with the qualitative method and the nature of the descriptive-analytical method and with the use of library collection tools, as well as with the method of interviewing 15 experts related to the subject, which was done in an estimated and available method with theoretical saturation, the results have been obtained. The results of the research findings show that Iran has not been able to establish strong regional relations with this region due to its favorable geo-economic position, having natural gas resources and the need of South Asian countries for these resources.

The present research is written in response to this sociological question, what are the reasons that led to the superiority of the discourse of Islamism in the process of struggles leading to the Islamic Revolution of Iran. In a space where the discourses of liberal nationalism and Marxism had an effective presence, how was Islamism able to establish its semantic system as a hegemonic discourse. In this regard, the discourse analysis theory of Lacla and Moff has been used as the theoretical and methodological basis of this article. Because the theory of discourse analysis is more compatible with the nature of the subject and provides a more accurate explanation of it. From this point of view, Islamism is considered as a discourse that, in order to fight against the ruling Pahlavi discourse and to establish its own semantic system, marginalized the ideologies of liberal nationalism and Marxism, and is recognized as the undisputed winner of the revolutionary battle. This research considers the main reason for the superiority of the discourse of Islamism in the conflict with rival discourses to be Imam Khomeini's ability to organize a comprehensive discourse that includes most of the concepts of liberal nationalism and Marxism discourses, and by creating a metaphorical space and covering a wide range of revolutionaries' demands, the existence of rival discourses has challenged

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role and importance statesmanlike positions in women's political empowerment around the world. For this purpose, the representation of women in executive and legislative political positions has been studied and analyzed worldwide with an international approach from the past few decades to today. The research method used in this article is descriptive and data collection is done using library tools and internet resources. The results of the research show that there is a reciprocal relationship between women statesmanlike positions and their political empowerment, that is, on the one hand, female political office holders give motivation and self-confidence to other women to enter political activities and competitions and empower them, and on the other hand, Political empowerment of women encourages them to work in political and social fields. In addition, increasing the representation of women in executive and legislative political positions will lead to political stability, political legitimacy, equality, social welfare and effective governance; Therefore, most of the world's political and social thinkers continue to insist on the necessity and importance of women's presence in politics in such a way that the United Nations has made the improvement of gender equality and women's empowerment the third main goal for the development of the millennium. Based on the statistical data of the current research, there is hope that women can empower themselves politically and improve their current position by holding political (administrative) positions.

Foreign policy strategies of countries have always been a function of domestic strengths and weaknesses and environmental opportunities and challenges. The collapse of the Soviet Union caused the activation of Iran's foreign policy in Central Asian countries. Since 1991 Shamsi and the beginning of political relations between Iran and Uzbekistan, the relations between the two countries have experienced various trends and events. This research is trying to take an "interdisciplinary" approach to analyze and examine the drivers, trends, events and finally the scenarios of the foreign policy strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in relation to Uzbekistan and to answer the main problem of the research: the relationship between the internal capabilities of Iran and How have Uzbekistan's environmental restrictions been in Iran's foreign policy strategies in this country? The results of the research indicate that the internal strengths of Iran's strategies in Uzbekistan have been affected by the restrictions and threats of the Uzbekistan environment and the international environment, which has led to the failure of Iran's foreign policy strategies in this country, but the change in the internal political conditions of Uzbekistan along with the policy Looking to the east of Iran and being a member of the Shanghai Organization, the possible and desirable scenarios of Iran's foreign policy in Uzbekistan indicate a move towards optimistic scenarios and deepening of bilateral relations between the parties.

Iran and China have converged into cooperation as a result of the realities in political and spatial structures of power in Iran and the geopolitical realities governing the international system. Given the strategic importance of the comprehensive 25-year cooperation plan between Iran and China, this study adopted a descriptive-analytical method to analyze the political economy foundations of this agreement and identify the factors affecting the convergence of these two countries into signing the agreement. According to the results, the Chinese state employs neo-mercantilism to resolve the bottlenecks of its export-based economy and secure the imported energy sources in order to extend its influence on strategic areas such as the Persian Gulf. The results also indicated the factors encouraging Iran to sign this agreement with China. These factors are as follows: the nature of Iran’s governing political system, confronting the dominance and hegemony of the US, leaving isolation, harnessing the pressure exerted by the West, improving the resilience of the political system to the potential pressure exerted by the West in the future, enhancing the ability to take risks, and benefiting from China’s veto power in the UN Security Council. This study also aimed to determine the critical or beneficial conditions that the Iran–China agreement could bring to Iran. Finally, this agreement can provide Iran with certain benefits in the current era.

This article, with a geopolitical-perspective, aims to examine the process of Iran's foreign policy approach in the Second Karabakh War and factors affecting it. By dividing the war into three periods: "Imperceptible Azerbaijan's superiority", "perceptible Azerbaijan's superiority" and "Consolidation Azerbaijan's superiority" the three trends of "negligence", "indecisiveness" and "surprise" can be explained in the process of Iran's foreign policy. According to the research claim, the macro-narrative of "Karabakh is the land of Islam" has affected the overall Iran's approach in the Karabakh crisis. The lack of internal consensus, appeasement to Russia, enmity with Israel, competition with Turkey and confrontation with the international system were among the factors affecting Iran's activism in this war. In this war, Iran neglected the Azerbaijan's power and will, and was unable to create a balance between the two narratives "Long-standing ties and the obligation of the Islamic Republic to support the Shiites" and "Separatist Context in Azeri provinces of Iran", and contented itself with declaring neutrality and verbal activism. After Baku dominated the areas bordering with Iran, with a belated understanding of the will of the Azerbaijan, took action with indecisiveness and due to the lack of clear details of the Innovative plan and the lack of consultation and extensive diplomatic activity, was surprised by clause 9 of the Moscow agreement, which became a pretext for the Zangezur Corridor project. This research was done with the analytical-historical approach and the "process tracing" method, using library resources.

Foreign policy is the strategy designed by a state’s policy makers in relation to interactions with other states and international actors to achieve national objectives and safeguard national interests. An in-depth look into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy indicates a set of ideological norms, principles, and objectives as well as a pragmatic approach, manifested in the last decades. Accepting the current realities in the world, a pragmatic foreign policy pursues maximum utilization of opportunities with regard to national interests of a given state. This study aimed to determine the role of ideology and pragmatism in Iran’s foreign policy during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency. It also attempted to establish which one of these factors was more essential and carried more weight. Accordingly, this was a historical-analytical study relying on library research. The results demonstrated that the rough core of Iran’s foreign policy based on ideological preference was the most important factor in determining Iran’s foreign strategies and policies under the Rouhani administration. Influenced by its sublime signifier, Rouhani’s government leaned towards moderation; while upholding an Islamic discourse whose elements were based on the principles and values of the Islamic Revolution, the Rouhani administration used its rationalistic and balanced approach, based on consequentialism, to deconstruct the structure of the international system.

Afghanistan has played a key role in US foreign policy in recent decades. The US entry into Af Country-snapshot.ghanistan's political-military arena dates back to the late Soviet occupation of the country in the 1980s. The events of September 11, 2001, increased Bush Jr.'s strategic focus on the country and led to the US invasion of Afghanistan, and this strategy more or less continued under the next US presidents, especially Obama and Trump. In this regard, the main question of the present study is what are the similarities and differences between the strategies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump towards Afghanistan? Findings The Obama badge made the security situation in Afghanistan one of its top priorities and won the Nobel Peace Prize with the slogan of war. Obama's policy on Afghanistan was, in fact, his administration's roadmap for dealing with Afghanistan. Continuing US problems in dealing with the Taliban was one of the important issues the Obamasought to resolve as soon as possible. Trump initially to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, but later signed a plan About 4,000 more US troops will be sent to Afghanistan. In his strategy, Trump opposed the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The present study is of descriptive-analytical method.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan are two long-standing neighbors with historical, ethnic, cultural, and common customs, but with two different ideologies. The Republic of Azerbaijan, having rich oil and gas resources Of course, the openly anti-religious approach of the Republic of Azerbaijan after its independence from the former Soviet Union, isolating the Shiite Islamic identity of the people of this country, moving towards political and cultural secularism on the part of the government, emphasizing Pan-Azeri ideology based on Turkish-Azeri ethnicity, the growing trend of Baku's relations with the West as well as with the Israeli regime, which is not only limited to the cultural fields, but also in the economic, political and security fields, the tendency of the Baku government. It has a strategic alliance with the Western axis, namely the United States of America, NATO and the Zionist regime; It has made the relationship between them colder. In this article, using the theory of defensive realism and a descriptive-analytical method, Iran's foreign policy and its influencing factors have been examined and analyzed. To answer this question, what important factors have been influential in the relations between the two countries? The result of this research shows that despite the bleakness of the relations, but some cooperation’s and understandings such as the positive position of the Azerbaijan towards Iran's nuclear program and not leaving Iran alone in the period of sanctions against Iran. It can create a positive vision of the relations between the two countries.

Regardless of political-security issues, the South Caucasus, serves as a gateway for cultural, economic-trade, and political geography connections. Many analysts confirm to the region’s geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geostrategic significance, emphasizing that in order to reap the benefits of the region, countries must broaden their influence in many areas. This study attempted to clarify Iran’s significance in light of the wide-ranging effect of world actors and explore the nature of each actor’s role-playing in the South Caucasus strategic region. To this end, by using documentary and library research methods, 12 countries, entities, organizations, or unions among regional and extra-regional actors were identified, and the roles and actions that each of the actors play in the region were explained in accordance with numerous publications and studies. According to the findings, the 12 identified secondary and extra-regional actors’ actions are divided into three primary categories: economic-trade, military, strategic, security, and intelligence, and geopolitics. Furthermore, an analysis of South Caucasus business transactions revealed that Iran’s position as one of the regional countries with common borders with two major South Caucasus countries, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, has weakened and requires reinforcement in the region when compared to Russia and Turkey as regional actors, the US, China, European countries, and Israel as extra-regional actors that are mostly G20 members.