POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE
Year:2007 | Volume:2 | Issue:4|Papers Count:9

National sovereignty in the context of globalization has assumed a special character which is neither weakened nor strengthened, but despite the pressures from above and below, states have also gained particular functions which we call post- Westphalia sovereignty. Though a world sovereignty which looms over states has not taken shape yet, one can witness its preliminaries that have put states under pressure.The Islamic Republic of Iran, due to its dual characteristics i.e belonging to "the south" and having an "ideological and religious system", is facing special pressures from post – Westphalia sovereignty and the way it treats this situation would determine its future in economic, political and cultural areas. The author believes that under these circumstances neither a confrontation nor total conformity would be to the benefit of the Islamic Republic (or any other states). Mere confrontation makes the country run the risk of being marginalized and passive conformity would be at the risk of the crumbling of transnational movements. The Islamic Republic of Iran should only adopt an interactive approach in order to attenuate the pressures and at the same time to exploit its potentialities in the process of transnational sovereignty. The article discusses ways of Iran's treatment in different political, economic, and cultural fields.

Secularism is one of the properties of the culture, civilization and political systems of the west in the last two centuries. It has had numerous consequences in the social and political life of western countries and, in sum, it has isolated religion from the scene. Secularism was essentially the outcome of the authority of church during the Middle-Ages. It arose out of the ashes of the dogmatism and anti-scientific stance associated with Christianity and was given impetus by the abuses of church authorities. The present article attempts to refer to the genesis and continuity of secularism in the context of Christian culture. It also explains it separately in accordance with religious, historical, social, political, as well as theoretical and epistemological causes. A reassessment of the impact of this concept on the theoretical and practical domains of western politics and political systems is another section of our work.

The religion / politics relationship is a question of an extended background and has received a variety of responses. Asking about the epistemological foundations of the issue and the logical possibility of the formation of an Islamic politics is, however, a quite recent topic which has engaged a lot of contemporary analysts.Two main approaches can be distinguished in the field of the Islamic political discourse which believes in the integration of religion and politics. One is the rejection of secular arguments altogether for the sake of deducing the possibility of an "Islamic Politics" the other goes beyond the criticism of secularism and talks of the necessity of establishing an "Islamic politics".This article favors the second approach and deals with the epistemological foundations of the Islamic politics and introduces the idea of how to make politics accord with religious law. Thus, understanding and practice of politics in a religious society is essentially impossible without recourse to its initial foundations.

Religions in general, and Islam and Christianity in particular, have had a major role in the progress of human societies throughout the ages. The impacts of these two great divine faiths are specifically noticeable in the last two millennia. It extends well beyond the confines of personal and social life to the interactions among societies and states. Issues such as war and peace and their pertinent conventions that constitute the foundation of international law are some examples.This article intends to compare the dictates and ideas existing in Islam and Christianity in regard to human rights and explain their role in the development of these rights. Two Christian concepts i.e ‘just war' and 'truce of God' are underscored and the Islamic view about them are also scrutinized.

The article examines challenges and obstacles in the way of democratization in Egypt from the standpoint of political sociology. The latest statistical data on Egypt's economic, social and cultural indicators are obtained from authoritative sources such as World Bank. Based on the existing facts we assume that the political history, geographical and demographic conditions, political culture and politico- economic structures of this country are to a remarkable degree influential in restricting democracy there. In the final analysis, the scientific measures of a democratic system demonstrate that the socioeconomic and political substructures of Egypt are incompatible with the establishment of democracy. Other serious challenges in the way are the dominant political culture of the Arab world and conflicts among regional countries.

Bourgeoisie and liberal capitalistic ways of life that spread gradually throughout 19th and 20th centuries were the consequences of an almost long process. This article, while analyzing the thoughts of two prominent western philosophers i.e Rousseau and Marx, tries to analyze this process and examine the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of life. Quite obviously, Marx harshly condemned bourgeoisie and capitalism and, compared to Rousseau who strenuously combined liberalism with the restrictions of modernism, he had a pessimistic standpoint. Still, they both have adopted a similar reasoning about the origins of inequality, though they recommend two different tactics following the exigencies of time and place. In regard to these similarities, the article criticizes the philosophy and ultimate ends of capitalism.

The undeveloped Iran and its remedies form the basis of most development studies and researches in the country. Mean while, the contemporary social movements in Iran, especially the Islamic Revolution have occurred for the sake of development. In the aftermath of Iranians' intellectual growth towards the end of 19th century and as a result of the introduction of modernism in the country, various development policies and programs have been recommended and executed.Also, different approaches (cultural, political, economic, political economy, etc) and tactics have been presented. This article, next to the explanation of those approaches, gives a fresh outlook about the Iranian undevelopment and its main cause. The author believes that all the modem Iranian development policies and measures taken in this regard have failed due to cultural, political, and economic reasons intended by the above approaches. A main cause for this failure could be the western models that dominated both the ex-Shah's regime and are still persisting in the Islamic Republic.The prevailing discourse of western development worldwide has been in accordance with the Iranian policies and has been practiced uncritically without any consideration of historical, social and cultural conditions of this country.