RAHBORD
Year:2010 | Volume:19 | Issue:56 (SPECIAL SECTION ON FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES)|Papers Count:13

This article tries to study great powers' experiences, methods, and styles for international crises management in the past and the uses of them in the transition period of the international system and the complicated situation of the post - Cold War period. Obviously, experiences and approaches of the great powers regarding international crises management result from their respective military, political, and economic power and also their strategic culture. But what is important here is the developments in the structure of the international system. This article tries to answer the question that whether the structure of the international system has any effect on the great powers' decision-making structure regarding international crises management. This article examines the two characteristics of the crises occurred during the post-Cold War era: diversity of their range and their frequency. On the other hand, there are specific complexities in the great powers style of crises management in terms of their competition as well as cooperation for settling the crises. Finally, the commonalities and differences between crisis management methods employed by each great power during the post-Cold War era, are discussed. The driving force of great powers' special style for international crises management is their own interests and goals.

This study examines the relationship between foreign policy and economy in Iran within a futures study approach. It attempts to answer the question that how the relationship between economic development and foreign policy can be understood and explained in the context of "Iran's 2025 Perspective Document"? In response to this query, using constructivist framework in international relations, the paper argues that "the 2025 Perspective Document" is attentive of the inseparatability of economic development and foreign policy. Thus to achieve the set goal of superior regional power, the foreign policy of Iran needs to be economic development oriented. Such a foreign policy orientation requires simultaneously paying attention to domestic needs and positive interaction with international environment.

The end of Cold War opened a new chapter for security studies. Given the dramatic developments occurred in the international system, traditional approaches to study and analyze security dynamics including the definition, scope and analysis level of security were extensively reconsidered. The need for theoretical rethinking and appropriate explanation of the different dimensions of security in the new scene of international politics led to the emergence of different theoretical schools. Copenhagen School are among the schools which presents a wide and multi-dimensional definition of the concept of security and pays attention to regional level of analysis has found a prominent place in the scientific field of security studies during the past two decades. In the process, the theory of Regional Security Complex is one of the most important achievements of this school advanced by Barry Buzan, a famous figure of Copenhagen School, to explain security dynamics in the different parts of the world. Given the status, importance and claim of this theory in the better explanation of security developments in the postcold war era This article tries to test the basic principles of the theory of Regional Security Complex by using the security developments and dynamics of the South Caucasus as one of the most turbulent and challenging regions of the world during the past two decades. It aims at obtaining a better understanding of the complicated security developments in the south Caucasus while evaluating the abstract assumptions of this theory against the facts through the empirical critique of this theoretical approach.

The International identity of the European Union has been characterized with different conceptual narratives such as civilian power, normative power and so on. The post-modern power Europe is an important narrative which signifies the transition of the European Union beyond modern politics. Robert Cooper, the British diplomat and Robert Kagan, the American political Analyst, have been representatives of this dominant narrative in English world.The paper addresses one question in this regard: How post-modern narrative contributes to the definition of a European identity? The main argument of this paper is as follows: The post-modern Europe narrative plays a significant role in the identity construction of the European Union through othering, discursive representation and differentiation between Europe and its non-European others in world politics.After a brief review of the philosophical and sociological foundations of post-modernism as it developed in Europe over the last years, the paper analyses the post-modern turn in European politics, Robert Cooper and post-Modern Europe, Robert Kagan and Kantian Europe and the role of Post-Modern Europe in world politics on the basis of post phenomenological tradition. It concludes that in the absence of complete identification between theory and reality, the post-modern narrative of European identity is more normative discourse rather than phenomenological explanation of European international politics.

This paper focuses on the changes in Russian federal system, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin had created some kind of coalition with the regions’ governments to confront Gorbachev's power and after the independence of Russia, he continued this policy. He had established a kind of real distribution of power with the regions of the Russian Federation, which the Constitution approved it. However, the process of increasing demands of the regions for more autonomy created the fear of repetition of the collapse of the Soviet Union scenario. Based on the condition made by the spread of terrorist attacks and aforementioned factor, Putin tried to make Russia's political- administrative structures centralized again. In this essay, the author examines the policies of these two leaders of Russia, in dealing with the challenges of democratization and federalism in this country.

Hegemonism theory is one of the influential theories of international relations, which is considered an effective way for becoming familiar with various aspects of hegemonic powers' function. Among many views which have examined this issue from military, economic and political aspects, Gramscianism school especially what has been reflected in its recent interpreters' views (post-Gramscianism) presents a particular innovation; an innovation which has roots in emphasis on the role of non-material sources in emerging, empowering and survival of such actors, and depicts their behavioral model in the image of intellectual ideals and goals. Based on different angles of post-Gramscianism and Hegemonism theory, this article tries to explain how the power's non-material sources are used in hegemonic behavior of the most important imperial powers, especially Britain and United States; and what has led to the formation of the acceptable picture of their "intellectual Hegemonism" among other governments.

Based on the history of international politics, rising powers have always acted aggressively. Therefore, in the theoretical literature of this field, those actors are generally portrayed as challenging and revisionist actors. But china’s behavior as a rising power in the post-Cold War era is not consistent with the traditional behavior of rising powers. This country not only has not challenged the international community, but also it has acted cooperatively in different fields. The author believes that selecting economic development as the strategic choice of the Communist party, on the one hand, and the positive response of international community to the cooperative will of this country, on the other hand, is among its strange strategic behavior.

This article tries to answer the question that which realist theory can provide a more comprehensive and more appropriate conceptual framework for explaining the foreign policy of countries. Along these lines, the author, while mentioning the common foundations of realist views and their internal debates, describes how classical realism, structural realism, and neo-classical realism look to the notion of foreign policy. The emphasis of classical realism on the power-seeking nature of the man, the characteristics of states, and its insufficient attention to systemic factors, on the one hand, and the lack of attention of structural realism to the factors of unit level and its mere emphasis on systemic grand variables, on the other hand, are among the deficiencies of these two theories for explaining foreign policy. A more important point is that in neo-realism, the main dependent variable the theorists are to explain, is international implications of an event or a phenomenon, and studying foreign policy does not constitute their main preoccupation, while neo-classical realism posits foreign policy as its dependent variable. This theory, in the first instance, is a theory for explaining the foreign policy of the states. The main argument of this article is that neo-classical realism can provide a more comprehensive conceptual framework for explaining foreign policy compared to classical and structural realism because of its simultaneous attention to system level factors as intermediate variable, and also positing foreign policy as the main dependent variable.

This article studies internal developments of Yemen and challenges facing this country in the domestic scene as well as reasons for increasing attention paid to them y he international community. It tries to make a link between Yemen’s internal problems and challenges and its unique geographical status, on the one hand, and their implications for security at the regional and international levels. The authors mostly focus on Yemen’s developments during the first decade of the 21st century, but sometimes to explain better some problems refer back to earlier periods in the 20th century. The authors first advance a theoretical framework, and after addressing internal situation of Yemen, they study the challenges facing the country and the interaction model used by the international community for countering the problems resulted from Yemen’s domestic politics.Finally the authors conclude that Yemeni statesmen intend to use the possibilities provided by regional and international powers for changing their society.

The theoretical transformation of American foreign policy following the fall of the Wall in the center of Europe became inevitable. Liberal consensus based on liberals as referral in shaping American global policies came to an end. Legitimacy of liberals for intellectual leadership in Foreign policy realm came from their emphasis on fight against communism and lifting American position as world leader. Arthur Schlesinger, American historian, shaped the historical-philosophical logic of the vital center. During the era of the Cold War, it was the roadmap for American decision makers. As the world changed liberals as referral, because of American domestic characteristics and international conditions, were relegated to the periphery, and unipolar moment with emphasis on the necessity of offensive and foreign policy came to the scene. Charles Krauthammer formed the philosophical and theoretical logic regarding American mission in the world arena. Change in the mental basis of American foreign policy from power oriented liberalism to idea oriented conservatism became a reality. The vital center of the Cold War era was based on the use of force if necessary in defense of national interest. Unipolar moment puts emphasis on ideas, the enormous importance of power and global character of American heritage.

Futures studies and their uses in universal dimensions during the last two decades have become prevalent in developing countries. As a result, to set goals and to formulate strategic planning, many workgroups consisting of involved thinkers and experts have been formed. Also, during the history of life on earth, many factors have played a significant role, but among them, the three elements of man, energy and environment have been more essential. This article tries to analyze the changing trends of these elements over the time and their mutual effects, drawing upon statistical reports published by international organizations in energy, environment, natural disasters, population, water, food and security sectors. It is followed by an estimate of the world situation in the near future, taking challenges, inadequacies and possible dangers into consideration. Finally, efforts made by international organizations to provide for a sustainable, balanced and supportable future have been discussed and in conclusion, some solutions and recommendations have been presented.

Human resource has been taken into account as the most valuable capital of each country and its development basis. In order the country’s growth and development to be fulfilled, there is a need to a precise planning for such a valuable capital. Therefore, approaching the compilation of the fifth development plan for Iran and to fulfill the national vision document, human resource planning is a subject to be considered.Since Iran has been exposed to quick environmental changes and due to future changes, the main object of this research is to recognizing human resource requirements and subsequently making an appropriate planning based on these changes in order to assure its development trend.This article (taken from M. A. thesis) has planned some scenarios for Iran future circumstances using the method of “futures study” and then, after taking experts’ opinions into consideration, two of these scenarios which are more probable have been known and respectively, human resource requirements in the fifth development plan have been evaluated.