Studying Iran's foreign policy is one of the most interesting topics among the people and the academic community. This behavior is not specific to Iranians and can, also, be seen among other foreign researchers concerning Iran's foreign policy. Luciano Zaccara is one of the authors who has surpassed her counterparts in addressing this issue and has edited a book on the “Foreign Policy of Iran under President Hassan Rouhani’s First Term”. The lack of translation of the book into Persian encouraged the author to introduce the work and critique it in terms of content and form. What makes the book prominent is the participation of some well-known authors in writing the chapters, addressing some areas that have received less attention in Iranian research, such as relations with Africa and the pathology of Hassan Rouhani's foreign policy. Lack of theoretical framework for the discussions, incoherence between the contents of the chapters, and ignoring the scientific neutrality by some authors of the book are among the weaknesses of the work.

This article aims to study the foundations of change in Egypt’s foreign policy. From the Second World War onwards, the Egypt’s foreign policy has undergone at least four eras. Each era has its own distinctive context, principles and objectives that can be studied separately. Predominance of distinct identity elements in different eras has led to perceptible differences in the Egypt’s foreign policy. Jamal Abdel Nasser’s Pan-Arabism, Sadat’s patriotism, Mubarak’s dual identity and subsequently the Islamic identity of Morsi’s administration has given different identities frameworks and worldviews to the Egypt’s foreign policy decision makers. This argument is significant in terms of its explanatory value as well as in providing a framework for future examination of Egyptian foreign policy and other Arab countries. The present article, is an attempt to address the following primary question: what are the reasons for significant differences between the four main periods of Egypt’s foreign policy in objectives, tools and approaches to the outer world? In response to this question, the article argues that identity developments account for transformation of foreign policy and each identity development at the level of ruling elites give rise to change in Egypt’s foreign policy.

The increasing importance of Iran along with its unique regional position has motivated many Western thinkers and researchers to recommend Western and especially American politicians to grasp more precise knowledge about this country. This article argues that the U.S. needs to have a sound understanding of Iran's foreign policy which is based on great enthusiasm for independence and resistance to domination of foreign powers. On the other hand, Iranian people's historical memory remembers how Western countries, especially the U.S., despised them during the years before the advent of the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, the author argues that Iran does not accept any pressure or threat during negotiations and is ready to negotiate in an atmosphere of mutual respect. The U.S. should also recognize the legitimacy of Iran's revolution and have an objective assessment of Iran's power in the Middle East. The U.S. administration should revise its reliance upon the policies seeking containment and sanctions, because these policies do not affect Iran's government, rather they punish Iranian people, which the U.S. claims supporting.

One of the main concerns in policy making in general and foreign policy making in particular is the problem of inappropriate decisions, i. e., a decision that is unlikely to lead to set objectives and may even result in negative consequences. There is no guarantee for the success of decisions due to feedback aspects and the multiplicity of other actors whose actions and reactions are not totally predictable. Yet it is possible to reduce the possibility of irrational/inappropriate decisions through recognizing the factors that can lead to bad decisions. This article suggests a rational model of decision making in foreign policy and then, on the basis of IR theories and theories of foreign policy shows the factors that can interfere in rational policy making. It is argued that cognitive factors are more influential because most other elements can be reduced to cognitive ones.

The identity policy of the sects in Lebanon has been organized in line with their recognition and respect. The identity of Lebanon is pluralistic, heterogeneous, and contradictory. The polarized identity in Lebanon and the attempt for retaining and increasing the sectarian interest have facilitated the interference of these transnational players. Therefore, Lebanon's state has a pluralistic foreign policy. Each of these sects represents the interests of a foreign state. Lebanon has become fragile due to the overflow of regional issues, the deadlock in the domestic policy, the transnational militias, and extreme sectarianism. Thus, the state cannot act independently in policy making, decision making, and national independence, and the behavior and definition of national interest is a function of such concept for these sects and foreign states. The methodology of these study is analytic-explanatory based on the positivistic approaches. The method of data collection is library research using the published papers and websites. The research question is: 'What is the effect of sectarianism in Lebanon on Lebanon's foreign policy? ' And the hypothesis of this study is: 'Sectarianism, dominance of sect identity over national identity, and forming a fragile state in Lebanon have influenced the definition of national interest and the foreign policy orientation, and have caused the state to activate in the international policy arena along with these sects. Therefore, instead of national interest, the sectarian interest is considered.

This paper deals with the importance of regionalism in Iran's foreign policy. Some of the existing outlooks view the characteristics of Iran's power structure and politics in such a way that make any security - political, economic and cultural coalition and cooperation difficult in the region. But the author holds that political, security and geopolitical changes in the Middle East region after the September 11th events have reinforced the place of regionalism in Iran's foreign policy. Indeed, Iran's strategic value and role in boosting regional factors are related to such factors as strong nation-state, geopolitical identity and dynamic Shii ideology. In this relation, the author defines two concepts of traditional regionalism and new regionalism in Iran's foreign policy orientations, each of them seeking to secure Iran's national interests and security with a different outlook. The author concludes that the Islamic Republic of Iran has to resolve political-security dilemmas with trans-regional powers including the United States by redefining elements of its national power at the regional level, establishing economic opportunities and sustainable development

Identifying and explaining "foreign policy behavior" is a way to understand the practical issues in international relations. Therefore, this study aims to provide a new expression of why and how to change the behavior of the Iranian foreign policy toward Israel in historical intervals of 1948-1951 and 1951-1953, by searching first-hand sources, within the framework of the theory of "foreign policy role” . "Mohammadsaed Maraghei" administration recognized Israel on a de facto basis in 1949, but Mohammad Mossadegh closed the Iranian consulate in Jerusalem in 1951. The main research question is why this change in behavior happened? Based on the main hypothesis of the role theory, foreign policy behavior of the government arises from "concepts of policy makers' national role" and variations of those concepts led to behavior changes in foreign policy. The hypothesis of this study is also affected by the above-mentioned assumptions, the change of Iran's behavior in the face of Israel was caused by the change of concepts of Iranian policy makers' national role. For research hypotheses, the sequence of historical events which formed the concepts of Iranian policy makers' national role toward Israel, has been examined by using the "tracking process".

Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, different theories have been used by scholar to explain the nature, process and behavior of Iran’s foreign policy. In the author’s view, conventional theories in international relations and foreign policy analysis cannot explain the foreign policy behavior of the Islamic Republic. In his analysis, the failure stems on the one hand, from the context–bound nature of conventional foreign policy theories, and on the other, from the peculiar Islamic identity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, an adequate explanation of the foreign policy of an Islamic state requires a different theoretical approach anchored on the nature and identity of that state. This article tries to explore into an “Islamic theory for foreign policy” capable of adequately explaining the foreign policy behavior of an Islamic state, and for the case at hand, that of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Since the occurrence of political-military developments in the region, especially in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been studied from various perspectives. This research aims to investigate new dimensions of Iran's presence in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and the role of the axis of resistance in these developments by using Nedlibo's cultural theory and emphasizing the principle of dignity. In this research, the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is analyzed on the basis of prestige and the axis of resistance, and it is hypothesized that Richard Nedlibou's cultural theory, relying on concepts such as seeking honor and prestige, can reveal the neglected dimensions of Iran's foreign policy towards the axis of resistance. enlighten us The results of the research show that the historical past as well as Islamic and revolutionary teachings have caused the motivation of the spirit to be the basis of the foreign policy behavior of this country, and concepts such as "honor" and "self-respect" have shaped Iran's positions and behavior in the international arena. . The topics of this article analyze Iran's foreign policy towards the axis of resistance in a descriptive-analytical way.