DEFENSE STRATEGY
Year:2011 | Volume:9 | Issue:32|Papers Count:10

The Islamic-Iranian Pattern of Progress document is the country’s first long-term strategic document, which will not only determine the requirements of policy-making and national planning in the coming decade, but also transform all the existing short-term and medium-term documents such as those of Five-Year Development Plan and Outlook Plan. Among the most significant analytical aspects of this document are how and during what process the text can be formulated, where the defence affairs stand in the mentioned pattern, and what are the defence considerations in the planning of the pattern. This writing aims to explore the macro relationship between the set of recognized concepts, principles, and values employed in the formulation of Iran’s strategic documents, and also to illustrate the relationship between the progress pattern of Iran in 1490/2011 and the general policies of the Islamic Republic in defence affairs. The Fifth Plan of Development law has provided the necessary legal framework to formulate this document. Demonstrating flexibility and breadth of subject as well as vision, the document features maritime operations, sophisticated deterrence, all-out defence, production of ideas, and promotion of strategic culture as the most outstanding elements of the area of defence.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy doctrine has been informed by the experience of the Imposed War (1980-1988), the strategic importance and geographical position of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, and based on the principles of asymmetric and heterogeneous defence. Accordingly, the naval forces of Iran have selected a specific type of defence, which features defensive, rather than offensive, objectives and is intended to provide deterrence for the country in the face of hostile forces. Iran’s defence model also takes account of on the geographical situation and strategic significance of the Middle East region and stresses such concepts as Shiite martyrdom-seeking and fight against oppression. In this type of defence, special emphasis is laid upon the use of new technology and modern weapons when and where the enemy forces do not expect it. In response, the Americans are seeking to increase their military presence in the region, enhance the air defence capabilities of the Arab states, deploy NATO forces in the Middle East, and promote the regional security and military co-operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Every country’s national power is informed by such elements as military power, economic power, political and socio-cultural power, and technology, among which military power is of paramount importance, as the national security of states and nations depends, first and foremost, upon their military power.Thus, if security is ensured on the borders of a given state with other states and also within the state itself, then it becomes possible to provide the necessary security in other areas as well and to enhance the economic, political, and socio-cultural power of the country. With this equation in mind, the military power of a country derives from three factors: Physical elements of combat power or tangible elements, non-physical elements of combat power or intangible elements, and privileging elements of combat power. This primary aim of this article is to explain the theoretical components of non-physical factors impacting the combat power of military forces, which involves considering the training, educational, and professional needs of the people who work in military environments.

In a massive endeavour to develop their strategic advantages and beat their rivals, today’s pioneering organizations put the issues of developing human capacities and enhancing the organizational commitment of their personnel high on the agenda, and exploit all possible means and mechanisms to those ends. In this respect, the transformative leadership style has demonstrated its high degree of effectiveness as one of the most powerful relevant factors. In spite of this, the lack of familiarity with or non-consideration of the intermediary variables in explaining the indirect effects of transformative leadership style on the staff’s organizational behaviour is a chief concern of many scholars in the field. The present article seeks to study, with regard to the unique role of organizational culture in regulating the staff’s organizational behaviour, the direct and indirect effects of transformative leadership style upon the organizational commitment of the personnel in a defence organization, considering organizational culture as an intermediary variable. The results of data analysis show that transformative leadership style can influence the organizational commitment of the personnel by propagating and fostering entrepreneurial and hierarchical cultures within the organization.

Statesmen need valid and credible analyses to adopt appropriate decisions and strategies, and in addition to being informed of the feedback of policies formulated in the past, they should as well have the ability to choose suitable alternatives to their policies and programmes. Among the considerable mechanisms and platforms which can provide considerable help for states in the area of policy-making are think tanks. This article seeks to answer the question, what role can think tanks play in making security-defence policies? To answer this query, the article authors have compiled relevant materials by using the documental-archival method of data collection/research and drawing on valid Persian and English sources. The article has found that think tanks can help and facilitate the process of defence policy-making in various ways. The point that is raised at the end is that enhancing the capacity-utilization level and productivity co-efficient of think tanks in defence policy-making is contingent upon networking or, in fact, building networks between them. In other words, since strategic decision-making in the defence sector has a multi-disciplinary nature, unifying scattered think tanks in the country will enable us to succeed in realizing their potentials and utilizing their capacities more efficiently and effectively.

The Americaphobic tendency in the Islamic countries is one of the most important currents, which has impacted the trend of regional developments in recent decades and particularly since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. In this regard, it should be noted that the end of the Cold War and September 11 attacks have had a key role in highlighting and strengthening the theoretical and practical aspects of this phenomenon. As a result, the academic circles have become more sensitive to the growing trend of Americaphobia in the Third World, especially in the Islamic world, on the one hand, and the sweeping implications of this current have affected the bulk of political relations within the Middle East on the other, which is manifest in the interaction between the United States and the regional regimes and societies. This article will examine the development trend of anti-American approaches in particular among the populace and elite of the Islamic countries since 1950s until the recent years, and present a meaningful description of the root causes of this current as well as of the reasons behind its growth in different periods.

Iranian foreign policy in Central Asia has, on the one hand, considerable potential for influence and good opportunities for co-operation based on convergence factors in political, economic, and cultural areas, and faces threats and challenges due to the existence of divergence factors on the other. The sum total of this situation or combination of convergence and divergence factors has invariably influenced the orientation of Iranian foreign policy in the Central Asia region. This article seeks to address the regional security arrangements governing Central Asia. The authors believe that Iran’s contribution to the formation of powerful and competent states in the region that could manage conflicts and internal instabilities is of major significance. Moreover, promoting cooperation and interaction between the regional states and ensuring transparency and effective intelligence sharing can lead to the improvement of regional security. In these terms, limiting the influence and activities of trans-national powers in Central Asia’s security environment in order to help create an indigenous security system in the region is viewed as essential and important in the foreign policy approach of Iran.