STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY
Year:2018 | Volume:21 | Issue:1 (79) |Papers Count:8

Using an analytical descriptive method, this study aims to identify the patterns of cultural consumption among the middle class shaped by the cultural policies adopted by the Islamic Republic under three consecutive administrations from 1989 to 2013. The article concludes that the status of the middle class has exponentially increased in the cultural policies of the Islamic Republic despite the decline in their economic status in the country's major policies to the extent that their cultural consumption over the eight years from 2005 to 2013 has been more than the preceding 16 years since 1989. This means that the middle class has been influenced by a range of factors beyond the traditional economic factors such as income, employment, and education, and has become a force to reckon with in the cultural field.

This article aims to analyze the components of the deterrence policy adopted by Lebanon's Hezbollah and explains how it has been influenced by the crisis in Syria. The researcher argues that the Syrian crisis has led to an increase in the tactical and operational capabilities of Hezbollah, which, coupled with its enhanced technological and military power, has enabled it to present a greater threat. This means that the group's policy has the three main elements of deterrence, namely the ability to pose a threat, credible threat and the conveyance of a deterrent message. Israel's refusal to wage a war against Hezbollah shows that the movement's deterrence strategy has been successful. However, Hezbollah, due to the asymmetric nature of its strategies and tactics, needs to increase its deterrence posture in the face of Israel. The research adopted an analytical descriptive method and a library-based approach was used to gather the data.

The study is aimed at investigating the attitude adopted by the Chinese toward the issue of security. The main question is what approach and methods China has employed in recent decades to provide security in the country. The researchers argue that the new generation of Chinese leaders have realized the ineffectiveness of a negative attitude to security in this era and have adopted a positive stance in this regard, which calls for a comprehensive security approach and cooperation with the international community to address security challenges and ensure security. This way they have managed to deal with many of domestic and foreign security challenges at a lower cost.

This article explores the factors that have led Germany to play a new and more serious security role in West Asia and looks at the threats and opportunities that such an approach presents for the Islamic Republic of Iran. For the purpose of this study, the authors have first examined Germany's foreign policy and the driving factors behind it and have then discussed the country's foreign policy in West Asia and the relevant determinants. The paper reviews Germany's security objectives in the region and the means to achieve them based on its macro policies such as its national security strategy in 2016. In the end, the implications of Berlin's role in West Asia for the Islamic Republic of Iran have been studied.

This article explores the underlying factors behind the convergence and divergence of views of the United States and Europe on the Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition to investigating past trends and experiences, the authors have put forward the theory that the extent of divergence and convergence of the US and Europe on Iran depends on the level of Washington's success in presenting the Islamic Republic as a security threat to Europe. The more success the US has achieved in this regard, the closer their views have been on the Islamic Republic. Similarities in strategies and policies adopted by Europe and the US, the alliance between their leaders, the extent to which they approve of each other's policies under different administrations and the Islamic Republic of Iran's foreign policy are factors which determine whether Europe would align itself with the US that could eventually lead to either a transatlantic divergence or convergence on Iran.

This article seeks to study the institutional and legal measures taken by the European Union in the fight against terrorism since the beginning of the third millennium as well as the effectiveness and prospects of cooperation among EU states in this area as security issues are considered the greatest challenge to future convergence among the bloc's members. The study identifies the anti-terrorism policies pursued by the EU so far and examines the prospects of cooperation and convergence among the union and the role it can play as an international player in the campaign against terrorism. The article assumes that combating terrorism and ensuring the safety of European citizens would remain one of the major security objectives of the EU and would remain high on its agenda. The EU would pursue more active policies to give transnational institutions more leeway in the fight against terrorism and the potential of European institutions for cooperation on this issue will be further utilized.