Search

Begin New Search Publishing Institution Center for Strategic Research (CSR)

101. The Role of the New Iraq and Neighboring Countries in the Stability and Security of the Persian Gulf

Author:
Mahmood Vaezi
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Iraq, as a major country in the Persian Gulf region, has traditionally played an important role with regard to stability and security in the area. However, the Ba'athist Iraq, especially under Saddam Hussein, acted in large measure as a source of instability, tension and conflict in the area. That period came to an end in 2003 with the collapse of the Ba'athist regime and the emergence of a new governance system in that country. Considering Iraq's position in the region as well as its quite substantial potentials, this country can still play such an important role – perhaps more important than in the past – in the stability and security of the region. Characteristics of the “New Iraq”, particularly its unfolding democratic experience and governance, and a new collaborative approach to foreign policy, especially towards the neighboring countries, have raised hopes for Iraq's prospective positive contribution to regional stability, security, convergence, and ultimate integration, based on a new pattern of engagement and collaboration among regional states and actors. Having suffered for a long period from destructive rivalry, tension and conflict, the Persian Gulf region is acutely in need of a new collaborative, indigenous mechanism to foster and promote lasting stability and security in the area – needless to say, with the active participation of all countries in the region. The present article attempts to look into the Iraqi aggressive posture and policy during the past several decades as well as into the prospects for the future based on the mutual roles and responsibilities of the “New Iraq” and the neighboring states in the Persian Gulf, from the vantage point of peaceful intentions and conduct, interaction and collaboration towards the development of a collective regional system.
Political Geography:
Iraq and Persia

102. The Contribution of Energy Diplomacy to International Security; with Special Emphasis on Iran

Author:
S. M. Hossein Adeli
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
This article discusses how energy diplomacy is used in today's world to secure and promote the national and international security of nations. It focuses on the case of Iran as a major energy power. It will be argued that the emergence of energy as one of the main global concerns on the one hand and the emergence of multi-polarity in the wake of the demise of the Cold War on the other, have provided a foundation for the use of energy resources as a new means to pursue the international diplomacy of nations. In this context, the isolationist outlook in international politics advocating hard power as the main anchor for a nation's security is rejected; instead a new approach based on the principles of engagement, participation, and partnership in the world's mega trends is emphasized and, in fact, recommended. It is argued here that the level and degree of the meaningful role a country plays in the current world affairs and also in contributing to shaping the prospective international system is directly correlated with the level and degree of safety and security it would be able to secure for itself. In this vein, the traditional as well as modern outlooks in Iran's energy diplomacy will be briefly examined. While the former views oil and gas resources as a source of income to be utilized – primarily – to bankroll current activities and hence, ignoring the political economy considerations of energy, the latter, fully cognizant of such considerations, is based on the new vision of engagement and partnership with global partners and calls for adoption of a comprehensive energy plan that addresses both domestic and international concerns of this sector.
Topic:
Cold War and Debt
Political Geography:
Iran

103. Islamic Republic's Two-Tier Foreign Policy towards the US From Suspicious in the Mid-term to Proactive in the Long-term

Author:
Hossein S. Seifzadeh
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Hopes for changes in Iran's foreign policy towards the United States (US from now) have been dashed times and again. It is argued in this article that ideational and situational factors are responsible for this. Ideationally speaking, the lagging dialectical gap between otherwise two complementary factors of the Islamic Republic's ideological disposition and perspective and Iran's mutually strategic interests with the US is the single most contributing factor in this respect. As long as the prospects for striking a “correspondence discourse” out of this “dialectical components” (ideological and strategic outlooks) remain uncertain and opaque, realistic hopes for change in Iran-US relations would remain unfulfilled. Situationally speaking, the US also needs to reconsider its anachronistic approach as well as the previous patron-client paradigm in its relation with Iran. Moreover, circumstantial events also play a significant role in tilting the weight in favor of one or the other factor. Notwithstanding the on-and-off aggravating ideological confrontation, the mutually-shared strategic interests of both countries have times and again served to ease and mitigate the post-1979 relations between them within the limits of a practically reigning “cold war.“.
Political Geography:
United States and Iran

104. The U.N. Security Council's Approach towards Iraq: 1980-2003

Author:
Majid Takht Ravanchi
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Between 1980 and 2003 Iraq was involved in three armed conflicts; namely, the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980's, the occupation of Kuwait in 1990- 1991, and the American-led war against Iraq in 2003. These are three different conflicts with their own distinct characteristics. A comparative study on the behavior of the United Nations Security Council with regard to each of these conflicts reveals that the Security Council has had three different and notably imbalanced reactions towards these conflicts. While At the beginning of the Iran-Iraq conflict, the Council was silent for a few days and later adopted a very ineffective resolution, the approach and conduct in the second conflict was quite different. A few hours after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Council adopted a very strong resolution, under Chapter VII of the Charter. In the case of the third Persian Gulf conflict – 2003 - the Security Council was in the middle of discussions as to how to deal with the Iraqi crisis when the American and British forces started the military attacks against Baghdad. Furthermore, international humanitarian law has been violated during these conflicts on numerous occasions, most notably the use of chemical weapons by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq conflict. The Security Council's lack of resolve to adopt necessary punitive measures against Iraq to prevent further use of chemical weapons was considered by Iraq as a green light to continue its resort and practice with a sense of impunity. As discussed in the paper, blatant lack of resolve on the part of the Security Council towards Iraq's repeated use of chemical weapons was, as a matter of fact, the most manifest expression of the strong pro-Iraq tilt in the Council's approach and conduct; the outward expression of alternating implicit-explicit consensus among the permanent members on how to punish the revolutionary Iran and reward a friendly Iraq. The present paper concludes that a different approach and conduct by the Council vis-à-vis Iraq 's aggression against Iran would have most probably created a different situation and dynamism in the Persian Gulf area with all its significant repercussions and implications.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, Iran, Kuwait, Baghdad, and Persia

105. Ba'athist Iraq and the Three Islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs The Genesis and Development of an Issue

Author:
Kourosh Ahmadi
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
This paper is an account of the controversy between Iran and Iraq over the issue of the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs. It covers the time span from 1971 up to 1992 and focuses on the role of Iraq that hoisted the banner of opposition to Iran's title to these islands, following the British withdrawal, and sought to spur the reluctant Arab conservative camp along.
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, and Persia

106. The "Afghan Drugs" Problem – A Challenge to Iran and International Security

Author:
Nasser Saghafi-Ameri
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
This article looks in to the issue of the Afghan drugs problems from the international security perspective. The definition of international security has evolved since the end of the cold war. In the past, there were, and there are presently, some people who perceive that only military capabilities of their rivals can pose a threat to their security. That is, while the new definition of international security has expanded to include many issues that are not necessarily in the domain of military or armed forces. In that context, drug habits that caters to the trade of illicit narcotics, and with connections to the organized crimes has become a nascent threat to international security. In recent years, the drug problem in Afghanistan has grown to a staggering proportion and its outflow threatens the security of many countries. The sheer scale of the problem and its devastating impact on regional and international security calls for a concerted effort by all in the international community, especially those who are mostly affected. However, when it comes to major anti-drug projects in Afghanistan and its adjacent regions, the stances of certain Western countries seem to be ambivalent at best. In this context, one can point to the tendencies in some of these governments making an effective cooperation with Iran in the critical fight against drugs impinging on an agreement on its nuclear dossier. That approach indeed overlooks the urgency of the problem and the scale of the threat that Afghan drugs imposes on all sides especially the Europeans. The author concludes that to find a lasting solution for this problem, it is imperative that cooperation would be based on an inclusive approach, and participation of all states, with the essential coordinating role of the United Nations.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Europe

107. Iranian Studies: Exploring the Iranian 'Otherness'

Author:
Evangelos Venetis
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The field of Iranian Studies was developed in the West as a means of exploring the unknown civilization of Iran in the aftermath of the Renaissance and during the political expansion of some Western countries towards East, starting from the 16th century. The establishment of Iranian Studies as a sub-field of Middle Eastern and Asian Studies resulted from practical necessities which Western nations faced in their efforts to understand the Iranian world and civilization at a time of their political advancement in the region. Throughout the twentieth century the field of Iranian Studies has advanced academically. While geopolitical balance in the region has remained essentially unaltered, and Iran has retained and even increased its geopolitical importance in the region. Thus Western interest in Iranian affairs, culture and mentality similarly increased.
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, and Asia

108. Iran, the New Iraq, and the Political–Security System in the Persian Gulf (Book Review)

Author:
Zahra Tavakkoli
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The author's main hypothesis in the book Iran, the New Iraq, and the Political-Security System in the Persian Gulf is that the overthrow of the Ba'athist regime in Iraq and the subsequent emergence of a Shi'ite-dominated government has created a favorable situation for Iran and significantly increased its potential for a much stronger role in the Persian Gulf, and on a larger scale in the entire Middle East. In his analysis, such a potential is much facilitated by the enhanced possibility of a strategic cooperation between the New Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, hence providing greater opportunities for a more activist regional and international foreign policy. The crux of the author's argument in the book revolves around the necessity of adoption of new approaches in the Iranian foreign policy towards the New Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, and Middle East

109. Editorial Note

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The present Note is written with a mixed sense of pleasure, pride, and humility looking to the future and what lies ahead. It is certainly a matter of pleasure and pride for all of us at the Iranian Journal of Foreign Affairs – IRFA as it has come to be called by its slowly growing readership – that the first issue came out at long last back in mid-March, and more importantly, that it was not found to be disappointing. That proved to be a great moral boost, which I presume is critically needed to stay the course. In fact, we were truly humbled by many words of encouragement, which far exceeded what we deserved or expected. We also received many helpful suggestions and recommendations, beginning with form and format and extending to content and analysis, which we appreciate and will take into consideration.

110. Russian-Iranian Relations in the Context of the Tehran Declaration

Author:
Ghoncheh Tazmini
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
There has been a marked volte face in Russia's position toward the Islamic Republic. This was made clear when at a critical political juncture – namely the watershed agreement on fuel swapping between Brazil, Turkey and Iran – Russia expressed support for the US-led UNSC resolution to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran. This paper argues that Russia, a country that has traditionally shielded Iran and weighed down on the US from pressuring her, obstructed the initiative out of economic and geopolitical considerations. Prompted by the eternal quest to restore Russia's former status as a great power, the Kremlin has had to reevaluate its relationship with Tehran. Moscow in is in dire need of foreign investment, advanced technology, and even markets, which requires thawed relations with the US. Moscow is ostensibly dissatisfied with the NATO's eastward encroachment and also needs the US to turn a blind eye to it geopolitical aspirations in the former Soviet space. These considerations require that Russia warm up to the West in general and the US in particular. Incidentally, Obama is offering Russia a carrot – a diplomatic reset – and Moscow is biting the bait. Today, it appears that Russia needs the US more and the Islamic Republic less. However, Russia's about turn suggests that Moscow is conscious that if the nuclear impasse is resolved, Iran would be on its way to becoming a genuine regional power. Furthermore, the Iran- Turkey cooperation axis could also suggest diversification of energy supply routes, breaking Russia's monopoly on gas. With geopolitical considerations and energy politics in the balance, the stakes are higher, explaining why Russia has acted in an increasingly unfriendly manner than Iranians seem to have expected.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, and Moscow