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111. The New Role of Latin America in Iran's Foreign Policy

Author:
Saideh Lotfian
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The present article intends to explore discernible shift in Iran's foreign policy toward Latin American countries in recent years. Iran's relations with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and more recently, Brazil, have grown warmer in recent years. The ever-increasing scale and scope of diplomatic ties and bilateral economic cooperation agreements between Iran and these Latin American states, most of whom pursue generally radical, anti-US policies, demonstrate the changing orientation in the Iranian policy as well as in the dynamics of the Latin American politics. The emergence of an Iranian president in 2005 with a populist outlook and pronounced anti-US/Anti-Western rhetoric has facilitated the closer ties between Iran and the leftist Latin American governments. This aspect of the Iranian policy has drawn both domestic criticism and outside opposition, particularly from the United States. Given this, a major question that could be raised is whether the new trend will be a long term feature of Iranian foreign policy or a temporary, transient one, especially taking into account the major role played by the personality of these countries' leaders in their policymaking. A related question is whether these heads of states will be able to create the necessary institutions, processes, and coordination mechanisms to remain in place even after they leave office. The author looks at the recent developments in these politicoeconomic relations, and tries to examine the degree of long-term resilience of Tehran's current involvement in Latin America. The main conclusion of the paper is that for as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran feels the need to look for countervailing force in its ongoing conflict with the US and the West, the current policies in seeking close political and economic ties with the anti-Western and radical Latin American states, as part of a larger coalition of like-minded developing countries, will continue.
Political Geography:
Iran, Brazil, Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

112. Obama's Iran Policy: Mutual Respect Matters

Author:
William Scott Harrop
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
This article analyzes President Barack Obama's thematic use of “mutual respect” in his foreign policy and in his efforts to engage the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Obama began his presidency by proclaiming that America seeks “a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President spoke of constructive diplomacy, a process “not advanced by threats,” but an “engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect." As will be shown, the ideal of “mutual respect” resonates authentically with Obama's personal background and worldview. The President believes that mutual respect matters, that it positively enhances American policies toward friends and adversaries alike. “Mutual respect” also strikes a responsive chord inside Iran because it embodies a time-honored value embedded deep in Iran's diplomatic culture, transcending personalities, governments, and factions. Yet Obama's mutual respect message has not been heard clearly in Iran, in part because of contradictions emanating from simultaneous expressions of pressures, sanctions, and time limits, words perceived in Iran as threatening and disrespectful. Despite such serious problems, this essay contends that “mutual respect” still matters, that it provides a constructive rail for bridging present chasms between America and Iran, a necessary pre-requisite to overcome counterproductive habits of “mutual disrespect.”
Political Geography:
United States and Iran

113. Roles at Odds: The Roots of Increased Iran-U.S. Tension in the Post-9/11 Middle East

Author:
Kayhan Barzegar
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
This article investigates the main roots of tension between Iran and the United States in the post-9/11 Middle East. Since 9/11 and especially after the 2003 Iraqi crisis, Iran's role has sharply risen in the region. The evolution of Iran's role and power in the regional system has led Iran to seek a bigger weight and role more in tune with its acquired stature and capabilities. The conflict between Iran and the United States has been generally attributed to either a political-ideological clash and mutual hatred, or to a simple aggregation of a number of distinct policy disputes including: Iran's nuclear program, Iran's state support for organizations that Washington regards as terrorist groups, human rights issues, and Iranian involvement in the new Iraq, the Levant, and Afghanistan. While accepting these explanations, the author takes a step further and argues that the conflict, especially since 2003, has been essentially focused on a dispute over the growth of the two sides' role in Middle Eastern politics which both regard against each other's national interests and security. The author concludes that complex and interdependent nature of regional security necessitates, on the one hand, Iran's cooperation in the wake of the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq in Summer 2010, and on the other, that the United States recognize and respect Iran's legitimate security concerns and accept the evolution of Iran's role in the region.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Iran, Washington, and Middle East

114. NPT Review Conference 2010: The US Focus on Iran

Author:
Farhad Shahabi
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held in New York, 3-28 May 2010, was of particular importance to the US, especially in view of its serious concerns for nuclear proliferation. In this context, the US perceived violation of the NPT by Iran's nuclear activities was among its major concerns. For the US, the review conference provided a unique opportunity and occasion to draw international attention to the US non-proliferation concerns in general, and work towards further containment of Iran's nuclear program in particular. To this end, the US Administration under Barack Obama has pursued an overall “containment” strategy, aiming at the twin, inter-related objectives of rehabilitation of the tarnished US image and credibility and effective exercise of the US leadership towards non-proliferation and strengthening of NPT.
Political Geography:
United States, New York, and Iran

115. Accession of Iran to the World Trade Organization: A Legal-Political Overview

Author:
S. Jalal Alavi
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Iran's decision to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now 14 years old, among the longest cases in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and WTO history. Given the fact that negotiations have not yet started, it may be the longest accession process when Iran finally joins the Organization. This paper attempts to shed some light on the procedural and substantive aspects of the case. A brief account of the WTO accession procedures and a quick glance on the history of the Iran's application provides solid background for the more analytical parts of the paper. It will be shown how unnecessary application of “consensus rule” to the purely procedural stage of accession (establishment of the working party) cost Iran 9 years. Iran could have become full member during the same period in a less demanding negotiating context. The paper will also look briefly into the political environment surrounding Iran's application for membership. The paper also presents a critical outlook on the negotiations for accession and the accession outcomes. It criticizes WTO-plus commitments/WTO-minus rights paradigm which now prevails over the accession negotiations and argues that this paradigm contradicts the contractual nature of the WTO Agreement. It emphasizes that an acceding country should have a clear picture about rights and obligations of the membership. That should be the WTO Agreement as it is. The balance of rights and obligations (terms of contract) should not be changed in the course of negotiations.
Political Geography:
Iran

116. The Legal and Political Context of UNESCO's 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions – Will It Be Good for Iran?

Author:
Janet E. Blake
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in October 2005 and, by July 2010, 112 States plus the European Community had become Parties to this Convention. This is a relatively healthy number but, at approximately half of the Member States of the Organisation, reflects that there remains a degree of uncertainty among States as to the potential national and international policy and legal impact on Parties. Thus far, Iran has chosen not to ratify this Convention and there continues to be a national debate on this question with a wide range of views expressed. One important aim of this article, then, is to consider and address these concerns through examining both the international (Cultural) policy context of the Convention's negotiation and the rights it grants to and the duties it places on Parties. The 2005 Convention shares an ancestry with the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in that both of them reflect different aspects of the 2001 Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Understanding this fact can provide some guidance as to the orientation and purpose of this treaty in that it addresses the rights of States and their international duty to preserve the aspect of cultural diversity that relates to the cultural marketplace. At the same time, it is by no means a 'pure' human rights text in its character or its intention as this article will show. After having examined the history of the text's development and adoption and the wider legal and political contexts within which this took place, the article will then consider the direct implications for Iran of ratification of this important international Convention.
Political Geography:
Europe

117. Multilateral Diplomacy: Theory and Practice of Regional and International Organizations (Book Review)

Author:
Bagher Asadi
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
A 3-volume work on the theory and practice of multilateral diplomacy, written by two senior career diplomats speaks for itself. It's a huge, serious work of research, based on over two decades of teaching and complemented with the accumulated wisdom and discretion of long years of practical diplomatic experience and actual, active engagement in multilateral processes. I have found introducing the work to non challenge; there is so much information and analysis on so many issues in the first two volumes that can hardly be captured in a short narrative. That I will not even attempt at; instead I career multilateral diplomat myself, highlight the significance of the objective outlook espoused by the authors – even if between the lines.

118. The Atlas of Persian Gulf Maps: A Journey Through Time and History (Book Review)

Author:
Reza Nazarahari
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The semi-closed body of water, an inland sea of a length of 989 kilometers and a size of some 251,000 km², lying to the south of the Iranian plateau, connected in the eastern end to the Gulf of Oman by the Strait of Hormuz; and marked in the western end by the major river delta of the Shatt al-Arab, which carries the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris, is the Persian Gulf. For a host of historical reasons – beyond the purview of this brief essay – the Persian Gulf, as a water channel, appears to have been found of particular interest to geologists, archaeologists, geographers, merchants, excursionists, scholars, and politicians, both in the distant and recent past, and of course, presently. While historians can continue their scholarly interest and work on the reasons for the significance of the water channel in the past, for its critical importance present time and certainly in the foreseeable future, both to the countries sharing coastline with it as well as supra their own, is related to the huge oil and gas reserves in the area and international geo emanating from this very unique feature of the Persian Gulf will continue to be a major source of energy throughout the third millennium, the area will most probably continue to preserve its critical significance, both to the energy energy-importing countries across the world, with all the associated political, economic, security-strategic, and even military, implications during the past several decades.
Political Geography:
Oman and Persia