JOURNAL OF POLITICAL STUDIES
Year:2011 | Volume:3 | Issue:10|Papers Count:8

American foreign policy, particularly with respect to the oil region of the Middle East, is highly influenced by United States need for oil. The decades’ presence of the United States in the oil rich region of the Middle East along with its high political, economical and military costs to guarantee oil flow to the United States is indicative of how oil is important in the formulation of Macro foreign policy strategies by the United States. Thus, it is obvious that without an in depth understanding of role of oil in the politics, economy and military strategies of the United State one cannot have a clear grasp and perception of the nature of the security and military strategies formulate by this country. Hence, it is aimed in this article to understand how the goal of guaranteeing the oil flow to the United States influences the formulation of security and military strategy of this nation. Obama’s energy doctrine which is based on the reduction of United States dependence on the imported oil and search for the possibilities of finding new sources of energy and other alternative fuel efficient sources are explored and analyzed in the last part of this article.

In recent years, NATO’s new policy is assessed in accordance to the abilities of expanding its geographical sphere and increased role in world’s affairs including fight against terrorism. By taking advantage of present power vacuum, due to falling apart of WARSAW Pact after the demise of communism in Russia and other communist nations in Eastern Europe, NATO tries to expand its sphere of influence from its traditional area, such as Atlantic and Europe, to Asia, Oceanic and Middle East. The present study, by employing the descriptive-analytic method, aims to know the capabilities of NATO and challenges faced with in establishing order and security in Afghanistan. Hence, the main question to be answered in this paper is what are the prospects of NATO being able to eliminate the network and the bases of terrorism in Afghanistan.

In Weberian viewpoint personalist rule and its extreme version, sultanism, is a type of traditional authority which also according to the theorists of comparative politics and government of the 20th century, should be placed in the category of non-democratic regimes. These regimes are usually characterized by personalization of power, institutional weakness, political corruption, use of violence and coercive instruments and so on. In Iran, the first personalist government was Reza Shah’s absolutist state which was established as the result of 1299 coup d’etat, after that, by relying on modern army, the foundation of a new dynasty was set up and the path was paved toward authoritarianism. Although this army tried to secure Pahlavi's dynasty by 1332 and 1359 coup d’etat but th is key institution in Pahlavi's presonalist state finally failed to rescue it from overthrow. The main purpose of this article is to answer this question and other similar ones. To do so, in comparative perspective and by using theoretical models of theorists like Janowitz, Huntington and especially A. S.Finer, we try to study three coup d’etat in terms of leadership, ideology and the extent of soldier's intervention in politics and also the role of foreign powers in establishing this trend.

John Lock is considered one of the most prominent theorists on property in bourgeois society. His intellectual and, to some extent, moral views are applied to the rationalization of inequality within the nation and the efficiency of colonialism and dominance in the international community within the system of liberal economy and capitalism. This article analyses the Britain’s economic condition during John Lock’s life time and explain how the landlord system and the establishment of centralized government and bourgeois class deteriorated.Hence, the main objective in this article is how John Lock with his theory of “Labor-value” and the linkage between two concepts of liberty and capital accumulation could provide philosophic and moral rational for capitalists grip on the poor internally and the success of British colonialism in international community. This paper also intends, by decoding the theory of "Labor-value" to show how and why property and respect for the right of property owners has become one of the fundamental pillars of liberal economy and the development of liberal system.

In general, citizenship right is defined in terms of three principles of civic, political and social rights. These rights are considered to be the main constituents of human rights. Citizens in democratic societies enjoy the rights and privileges granted to the citizens by the constitution, civil law and other social rules and regulations. Citizenship as a status and modern social role is composed of an interdepended collection of inclusive equal rights and duties, social belonging, the enjoyment of justice and equal protection of law irrespective of the race, ethnicity, class, culture and religion. Problems and obstacles accompanying the administration of the rights of citizenship in Iran, are more than anything else, obscurity surrounding the citizenship status, unfamiliarity of citizens of their rights and obligations, the lack of opportunity to train and educate citizens of their civil rights and finaly internalization of these rights by individuals in various layers of society. This article explores factors serving as obstacles to the citizen’s awareness of their civil rights and then offers viable procedural approaches to the realization and administration of civil rights.

Population on the earth is divided almost equally into two genders of men and women. Paternalism has been the order of the day since when man set foot on the earth. The question posed is how Quran which is the words of God, judges paternalism. In this article, it is aimed to investigate Quran verses 228, 34 and 33 in Surah Bagharah, Nesa and Ahzab respectively which jurist consults of the past and present considers them to imply women deprivation of assuming civil responsibilities. Conclusion in this article is that the above Quran’s verses referred to above negate the deprivation of women from being involved in civic activities. Women are authorized to become chairs and ministers, limitations as such are limited only to prophets’ wives.

One of the most important aspects of contemporary Iranian history has been the formation of modern state and its functional evolvement. In fact, one of the most important changes in the aftermath of Iranian constitutional revolution has been the changes in the nature, structure, and functions of government.That is why theorists and analysts of contemporary history express different views on Iranian governments and in particular on the governments during the reign of Pahlavi the second. These analysts use different approaches such as traditionalism, integrative, comparative and extraversions in their reflection on the government in Iran. Such studies include Ravasani ’s“ dependent governments” Gasiorowski’s “cliental governments”, Foran’s “oriental despotism”. These approaches apply the following concepts in their study of governments in Iran: clientalistic nature of Iranian governments, dependence on west, instrumental approach of the west toward Iran ignoring political forces, rivalry of political forces, classless society, the crisis of identity and consideration of Iran as an Island.

Nowadays, researchers support the notion that religion plays significant role in formulation of governmental policies, generation of factions and political development in the world in general and Southwest Asia in particular. Based on our historical experiences, religious role in exacerbation and/or resolution of conflicts cannot be denied. Religious royalties even though in some occasions have been instrumental in furthering regional cooperation,, however, quite often has led to the distancing of nations from each other and increased tensions among nations of this region. That is why religious royalty considered as obstacle to the formation of structural and administrative institutionalization which could provide grounds and opportunities for negotiation and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Religious principles and values are fixed and as such leaves no room for bargaining. Thus, increased religious and sectarian discourses in the region would lead to more conflict and insecurity, hence, limits the development of regional structures to further cooperation among the nations of region.