FOREIGN RELATIONS
Year:2015 | Volume:7 | Issue:3 (27)|Papers Count:6

This article studies twelve years of relations between Iran and the countries of Southeast Asia (2002-2013), and explores the rise in these relations in the years between 2007 and 2011 and the subsequent sharp decline. The main question is: what are the reasons for the rise in the interactions between Iran and South East Asian countries in the 2007 – 2011 time span, and its non-durability? In response to this question, the author contends that the relations between Iran and the countries of South East Asia have been influenced by two factors: priority of politics over economy and the quality of Iran’s relations with great powers. Based on this, the author tests the hypothesis that “the reason for sudden rise in the Iran –South East Asia relations in the years between 2007 and 2011 is Iran’s bid to establish firm economic relations with the East in order to reduce the political pressures from the West, and its non-durability is a result of: first, the United States policy of sanctioning Iran and second, priority placed on China over the countries of Southeast Asia in the Iranian policy of look to the east.”

The geopolitical situation of the Islamic Republic of Iran has potentially placed this country I the crossroad of international corridors for transferring oil, gas, goods and passengers. With the adoption of the policy of isolating Iran, these corridors underwent structural inefficiency. The settlement of nuclear dispute between Iran and the West which is considered a turning point in relations between Iran and international community raises the question that following the fact that security matters have lost their previous importance in relations between Ira and Europe and more emphasis made by Iran on a development –oriented foreign policy, how the two programs of Tracica and Southern Gas Corridor will be developed? The hypothesis made by authors is that the political obstacle which is a major one will be removed in mid-term, but there will be no significant change in the situation of Tracica corridor due to factors related to infrastructures. The findings of this article show that Iran can have an effective participation in southern Gas Corridor on condition that it has a sound planning. Also, Iran can take some advantages of Tracica. The method used in this article is descriptive-analytical and the authors have used library sources for gathering data.

The main goal of this article is to study the roots of existing fluctuations in relations between Iran and China and to explore the reasons for the failure of the realization of relations based on comprehensive cooperation during the period following the emergence of the Islamic Revolution until 2013 relying upon strategic foundations of the two countries. A study of Iran and China relations since the advent of the Islamic Revolution shows that this part of foreign policy has provoked many discussion and challenges; and despite many commonalities between the two sides, a relation based on comprehensive cooperation have not been developed. The question posed by this article is that how foreign policy strategies of Iran and China could not bring about a strategic relation and experienced many fluctuations in bilateral relations? The hypothesis made by the author is that while Iran's foreign policy strategy towards China emphasized the strategic, long-term and comprehensive aspects of relation with this country, the Chinese side considers cooperation with Iran as tactical, instrumental, short-term, and dependent on time and space conditions. To study this claim, the author first advances a theoretical framework and then explores the ups and downs of relations between the two countries and the strategies governing the foreign policies of the two sides.

Relations among countries in whatever level, from interaction to domination, in a geopolitical region, are influenced by their power at the regional and international levels. Therefore, countries considering their relative power adopt different methods to compete with other countries to achieve their goals and eventually to dominate the region. Since 1991, Caspian geopolitical region including the Caspian Sea and five littoral states- has attracted the attention of regional and extra-regional powers, due to its geopolitical and geostrategic advantages; the geopolitical importance of the Caspian Sea and its superior status in the current geopolitical system have made it a scene for competition among powers. Relying upon a descriptive-analytical approach, this article tries to answer these questions: what are the tactics used by powers involved in competition in the Caspian region in order to achieve their goals? Which of these tactics is considered as the most important competitive instrument in the Caspian Sea? To achieve the goals of this article, the authors used library and field study methods and analyzed the gathered data by using inferential statistics (SPSS software). The findings of this article show that among tactics used by countries for competition like diplomacy propaganda, economic and military means, power projection, alliance and coalition making, diplomacy is the most important tactics.

Since the late 1980s, China as a revolutionary state with unlimited revisionist aims regarding international order has transformed into a revisionist state with limited aims. The three decades of economic growth and the gradual modernization of military forces have enhanced China's status to a regional hegemony, so that China has challenged the regional order advocated by the United States in the Asia-Pacific and Beijing has adopted a more aggressive stance towards economic, security, political and regional developments. China's rise provoked the reaction of its neighbors and the United States as the guardian of the regional order. In this regard, the hypothesis of this article is that China's rise is perceived as a spoiler in regional U.S. led order in Asia Pacific, and in response, the United States has taken a central role in rebalancing China. In this article, an explanatory method has been used and the discussion has been guided by the balance of interest’s theory.

The European Union claims that introducing human rights clause in trade agreements is of much importance. Along these lines, the European Union in concluding trade agreement with other countries, mostly developing countries, has introduced a clause regarding the observation of human rights principles. If any party does not comply with the agreement, it will face suspension and other limiting measures. This article aims at studying the performance of the EU in protecting human rights based on methods adopted by it. Also, the authors seek to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures in the improvement of human rights situation. The questions posed by the authors are as follows to what extent these trade agreements could be effective in protecting human rights? Can these agreements essentially be useful in addressing the issue of human rights? To what extent countries that are parties to such agreements are satisfied with them? The findings of this research show that the countries which intend to conclude such agreements should analyze these new conditions considering their own situation to be able to make appropriate decision regarding the acceptation or rejection of such agreements.