Political Quarterly
Year:2004 | Volume:- | Issue:63|Papers Count:12

Varying type of state is, in fact, basically derived from nature of state-making ideologies. Religious ideologies, in pre modern order, based on their modem or non - modern resulted in different political orders. Modernist religious ideologies pave the way for transition to a new order and then, without intervene in political sphere, recognized Nationalism as the only state-making ideology in modern order. On the contrary, traditional religious ideologies, not only did not provide the ground for transition to new order, but also claimed state-making alongside nationalism.In Iran, Islam as the ideology of pre modern order resulted in a different political order not convenience for transition to new order.  

The necessity for establishing a new school for diplomatic affairs was felt due to the development of political relations with foreign countries. Although the political need had been felt during Naser-al-din Shah regime, the course of the next few decades, the school has been expanded, and along with two other disciplines, i.e. law and economics, formed one of the faculties of the University of Tehran.

This article studies the methodology of political thought in the west of the Islamic civilization. The philosophy of the west of the Islamic civilization refers to the philosophical thoughts in the works of philosophers such as Ibn-Tofeil, Ibn-Bajeh, and Averos. Contrary to the thinkers of the east of the Islamic civilization such as Avecina, they had a specific methodology in political science. They believed that political reason had its roots in religion and at the same time supported and criticised the religious precepts of politics - religious politics - with logical reasoning. Thus, a kind of methodology centered on interpretation formed in the philosophy of the west of the Islamic civilization. It is now called the Islamic hermeneutics or the Averosian hermeneutics. This article is a methodological analysis of the theory and its implications for the political science.

In this article it is emphasized that emergence of democracy-in terms of political competition - in many southern countries, along with suitable international atmosphere, has been dependent on certain factors such as determination from above (preparedness of state) and pressure from below (strength of civil institutions) - along with their impactibility from interests of new middle class towards higher class. Thus, rely on above mentioned formulation, political changes of two countries like India and South Korea can be analyzed. In South Korea, in late years of 1980s - as result of pressure of civil institutions and industrial and middle classes, the power elite (with support of moderate faction fostering industrial capitalism) was forced succumb to accepting risk of competitive politics. The case of India indicates that the emergence of democracy, congress party as bourgeoisie nationalist party defending democratic values and independence of country, before 1947-and its selected cabinet - after 1947 - has played important role despite unsuitable social and economic conditions.

Following the victory of Islamic Revolution in Iran, the major concern on dominant international system, especially the USA, was the impact of the Revolution on neighboring countries in particular, and Muslim societies in general, which have had common grounds from the cultural point of view. In this article, efforts have been made to analyze the impact of Islamic Revolution on Muslim world during a quarter of a century since the victory of Revolution. It has been eventually concluded that first of all the revolution had negative impact on the governments of Islamic countries and created major concern for the changes in status-quo and, as a result, they tried to control and even prevent the influence of the waves of the revolution in their own countries. On the contrary, the revolution had positive impacts on Mulsim societies and was welcomed by their peoples. On the other hand, this development had deeper impact on the Shiate societies and was followed by revolutionary uprisings such as in Lebanon. While this development in the Sunnite societies was followed by reformist movement such as in Turkey and Algeria. Finally, it could be claimed that Islamic awakening, returning to Islamic values, strengthening Islamic movements and antagonistic approach to the Western interventionist policies and values in Muslim societies, in general, are due to the victory and continuity of Islamic Revolution in Iran.

This article is an attempt to conceptualize and evaluate the contributions of the idea of dialogue of civilizations to the constructivist theory of international relations. The first, introductory part of the article deals with the concept of dialogue of civilizations and shows how it is in contrast with the mainstream realist perception of international politics in various aspects. It is argued that constructivism with its emphasis on ontological aspects of international relations, the constructed-ness of international reality, and the transformability of international relations paves the way for introducing moral, normative, and value-based arguments emphasized in this idea. In the second part of the article constructivism and its main arguments will be examined. The third part will be dedicated to the contributions of the notion of dialogue of civilizations to constructivism on the basis of theoretical and meta-theoretical themes discussed in constructivism. The main themes include international actors and their identities, the constructed-ness of identity, the impact of ideational factors thereon, and the possibilities for change in actors' identity and hence in the international inter-subjective structures.

The territory of Iran is on one hand a very Sensitive geographic Section on the world map and on the other hand has some important physical and geographical specialties and rich energy resources like petroleum and natural gas.These factors have put their impacts on domestic policies and country's international relations and the strategies of great powers. This article tries to introduce these geographical facts and their political reflections.

Development as a key concept in social science has had widespread theoretical and conceptual transformation, related to fundamental and deep transformations in advanced societies. After a long time that under the impact of positivism it implied quantitative changes in separated areas of economy and politics, on the basis of development economics and political economy it was related to basic and qualitative changes in attitudes and structures in different dimensions, and made possible a multidisciplinary study on "development". Now, beyond classic literature of modernization, development is viewed as a comprehensive concept, related to polity, economy and humanity with definite criteria and indexes. This essay tries to conclude its scientific, standard and deep contents in order to solve mental and practical chaos and Iran's problems and difficulties.