Political International Researches
Year:2016 | Volume:8 | Issue:27|Papers Count:9

The profound changes that have occurred in information technology, communication, industrial technology and internet have great impact on human individual and social life. Nowadays understanding the world politics, culture, economy and society is not possible without understanding the role of internet. That is why researchers and writers in various disciplines of knowledge are doing serious research about the impact of internet on different aspects of life. The impact of this technology on the emergence and spread of new forms of social interaction between different groups of a society is very important. The present article tries to explain why different groups of the society have welcomed interaction in cyberspace. The paper also examines the facilities and opportunities as well as threats and challenges which have been created by the use of internet. This question finds importance in view of subjects like principle of national identity, national solidarity and national sovereignty.

Public diplomacy, a word which entered into international relations from 1960s has been used to describe new aspects of international diplomacy. It is also part of a chain of evolution of diplomacy in different period of time. The United States is one of the big powers which from the beginning of its entrance into international community made use of public diplomacy. The United States has always used new apparatus and innovative methods for achieving its ends. The present paper pays special attention to vast experiences resulted from applying public diplomacy during Cold War as well as the last decade of 20th century. But what have been more emphasized are the years after September 11th. The paper tries to focus more on qualitative as well as quantitate aspects of George Bush junior and Obama administration’s approach in applying public diplomacy in fight against terrorism. The question raised by the present article is “what has been the impact of September 11th events on development process of public diplomacy of the United States?” The underlying hypothesis is that during the Bush junior administration greater importance had been attached to public diplomacy as compared to earlier periods. The methodology used in the paper is descriptive-analytical and the collection of data is from library material.

Dependence of the countries on each other has a great impact on geopolitical weight and type of their behavior. The relations between Iran and Azerbaijani Republic, from the beginning of 1990 when the latter gained independence have been with ups and downs and challenges. Nakhchivan which is a part of Azerbaijan Republic is separated by Zangezurmargi corridor from mainland and after the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Iran has been the only connecting path between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan Republic. Due to tensions and challenges that had aroused in relations of Azerbaijan Republic and Iran over the years and also lack of territorial continuity between Azerbaijan Republic and its exclave unit (Nakhchivan) this has led to the biggest problem for Nakhchivan. Here Iran can use Nakhchivan's dependence on Iran to shape Azerbaijan's posture towards Iran. The present paper by a descriptive-analytical method and by use of library material and questionnaire wants to identify the priorities of economic program which have maximum impact in depending Nakhchivan on Iran. The finding of the study shows the increase in the volume of transportation and transit through Iranian territory, improving the communication infrastructure, increase in the volume of oil and gas swaps and expanding power generation plant, have the most effective impact on depending Nakhchivan on Iran.

In the decentralized international system and the non-existence of central authority, the first objective and priority of states is safeguarding national security and preservation of their interests. Since olden times preservation of durable national security was conditioned to preparedness in three fields: 1.Military preparedness 2.Political strength. 3. Economic strength. By the end of Cold War the economic determinant of national security found greater importance. During post-Cold War era, national security of the oil exporting countries depends on boom and flourishing of oil industry. In fact security is having five dimensions viz. military, economic, political, cultural and ecological. The present article addresses economic dimension of national security because achieving national security depends on improvement of economic conditions and the outcome of all security indexes depends on accomplishment of economic security. The obvious fact that the oil factor which Iran depends on its revenue for the past hundred years is interwoven greatly with Iran’s national security shows the importance of oil revenue. Also the economic growth of Iran and the bulk of investment in national projects depend on foreign exchange revenue coming from oil export. Any fluctuation in oil revenue will jeopardize the economic security of Iran particularly that in recent decade international sanctions has badly affected the flow of oil revenue.

Security is the vital and important subject in international relations. Theories of international relations provide different view about the state of creating secure condition or emergence of insecurity. Therefore, the question of security is the preoccupation of most theorists in this field. The question raised by the present article is "What homogeneities and heterogeneity exist between postmodernism and neorealism in security field?" The underlying hypothesis is that regarding the positivist and post positivist approaches of the two, neorealism and post modernism show different views about security. The paper by using comparative approach deals with the issue of security from neorealist and post-modernist viewpoints to show their similarities and differences. The finding of the study shows that neorealism has strengthened the position of super-government in the field of security. However the common basis of all postmodern beliefs is that, the state is not the main and exclusive actor in the established positivist approach.

One of the controversial issues in territorial integrity of the countries is the territorial and border disputes. In South East Asia, most of the countries have differences of opinion over the possession of a set of islands located between their countries and China. These countries are South Korea and Japan. With the discovery of oil and gas in these disputed islands, the attempt to solve these problems has remained unresolved. Since countries like South Korea cannot confront with China, they have sought the support of the United States and this has resulted into the expansion of the latter's influence and arms race and instability in the region. With this background the question raised by the article is "What has been the impact of tension between Japan, China and South Korea over the disputed islands on stability of South East Asian region?" It seems that the tension in relations of these countries have led to increase of arms race, instability and the expansion of the influence of big powers like the United States in the region. The methodology used in the paper is historical and documentary and the analysis of the data is descriptive-analytical.

Many theorists in the field of security are of the opinion that Iran does not adhere to the logic of security equation in the region and the world and this has led to political problems for the regional countries and Iran as well. The article by an analytical-explanatory approach intends to examine the major determinants and performance of Islamic Republic of Iran in BARJAM (joint comprehensive plan of action) agreement within the framework of securitization and non-securitization. The present article tries to emphasize on the impact of BARJAM before and after this important agreement. BARJAM with its features led to a considerable change in the position of Islamic Republic of Iran. BARJAM showed Iran's position has been accepted by international community. The Iranian government has placed in the agenda normalization of her relations with West, so that it enables her to reconstruct her position in the region and the world.

Theories and theorizing in the discipline of international relations have always faced with ups and downs in a way that in this field of study, there is diversity of opinions. With the emergence of critical approaches in international relations studies and the need to understand the existing international order and offering the desirable model of international order, the importance of introducing normative theories were felt. In this direction the efforts of international relations scholars in different parts of the world for providing indigenous theories of international relations are noteworthy. Islam by having universal principles favorable for realization international justice and international order has attracted the attention of scholars. The question raised by the present article is, “Can Islam offer a normative theory of international relations?” The assumption is that Islam by its comprehensive principles has the potentials of being an alternative normative-Islamic theory of international relations. In Islamic theory of international relations attention to order is pre-condition of international social life and the main path of for reaching international justice. In fact, Islamic theory of international relations considers the existing international order as inconsistent with ideal order. The present paper wants to examine the dimensions of four principles of Islam (rule of invitation and Jihad, revolt against oppression, domination of infidel over Muslims, dignity and sovereignty of Islamic faith) and their connection with the important issues of international relations. The methodology used in the paper is descriptive-analytical.