The Fundaments and Principles of International Relations in Islam
Ali Akbar
Alikhani
Associate Professor University of Tehran
author
text
article
2011
per
As the most perfect and the last divine religion, with around one a half billion followers in about fifty countries in the world, Islam must have provided Muslims with instructions and principles, or there must be rules and principles in Islamic texts, which Muslims can put to use in their interactions with other nations. This article aims to infer and present the Islamic fundaments and principles of conduct and interaction in the international system from the Quran, Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, and conduct of Imam Ali. First, each fundament is discussed briefly, and then the principles deriving from the corresponding fundament are presented, without any explanation. By fundaments we mean the unchangeable Islamic teachings and ideas which constitute the infrastructures of Muslims’ belief and thought; and by principles, we mean the major grand strategies which are inferred from fundament and can be put into practice in different eras. Although these principles may be fixed in each era, they can be interpreted and modified in different eras depending on the socio-political circumstances of each epoch.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
11
38
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41879_3ac615a57f1dbc83ae0d5be5b816a1e5.pdf
The United States' economic crisis: From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street
Hossein
Daheshiar
Assistant Professor in International Relations at Allameh Tabataba'i University
author
text
article
2011
per
The US under Obama has been experiencing the third financial crisis in the post-agricultural era. Financial crisis during the Grover Cleveland administration led to progressive movement against exclusively capitalist economy. The Great Depression during the presidency of Herbert Hoover had weakened the Keynesian economics and government intervention on the fifty-year basis. The economic crisis facing America has brought both sides of the political spectrum to the scene. Economic conservatives who support the Republican Party are demanding a significant reduction of government intervention through the tax cut in order to create opportunities for the mechanism of competitive capitalist economy. The Tea Party movement was formed to influence the orientation of the federal government. The liberals, who have controlled the Democratic Party, are calling for greater federal intervention in economic affairs of the country by offering economic stimulus package and, consequently, tax increment within organized capitalist system. The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to shape the Obama administration's economic policies in this framework. These two movements, which are the symbol of neoclassical economic (conservative) and Keynesian (liberal) thought, do not want to replace the capitalist economic system, but they are seeking to reform the system in the context of their desired economic principals.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
39
68
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41880_cbde1745c464683b215778928e79ab02.pdf
Islamist Movements, Western Attitude and Hezbollah's Integration into the Lebanese political system
Reza
Simbar
Professor of Guilan University
author
Mehdi
Zibaei
MA in International Relations, University of Guilan
author
text
article
2011
per
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the last decade of the twentieth century, and incidents such as the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the victory of Islamist movements in order to seize power in Islamic countries during two last decades, the term second Cold War has been used by some Western thinkers. In this new cold war, the opposing parties are Political Islam and Western Secularism ideology. Meanwhile, Westerners have tried to connect the activities of the Islamic movements to terrorist actions by ignoring many aspects of theiractivities and reduction objective. But the above-mentioned view could not justify the social activities of the Islamic movement. In this paper it has been attempted to explain the definition of Political Islam and describe the rise of this concept in International Relations, concentrating on the use of this approach by Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a social, political and military organization on domestic policy of Lebanon. In this respect, this article will demonstrate the shortcomings and contradictions in aforesaid thinkers view about Political Islam and the Islamic movement activities.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
69
96
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41881_5ae206834dfd1eb6068e44d308310f8d.pdf
Political Language of Islamic Resistance in International Politics
Zohreh
Poustinchi
Assistant Professor at Roudehen Islamic Azad University
author
Ebrahim
Motaghi
Professor, University of Tehran
author
text
article
2011
per
Islamic identification is considered as the new reality of international politics. Identity would be formed while signs of culture, discourse, and political literature are created. The political language of Islamic Resistance can be considered the rise of Islamic literature in politics and international relations. The remarkable point is that, Michel Foucault’s interpretation of the Islamic revolution in Iran as a first postmodern revolution reduced the effectiveness of positivist methodology in international politics. We are now witnessing the emergence of a new approach that are inspired, directly or indirectly by the methodology and approaches behind the Iranian revolution in a postmodern sense. In the mid-1980s, theorists such as Barry Buzan, Wior, Alexander Wendt, Kratovil sought to put critical approaches to the agenda. They emphasized the importance of norms, values, attitudes, cultural, and social symbols in international politics. Orientalism focuses on sign and symptoms of superiority of the West over other countries. The approach is based on humiliation in the position of outreach. In such cultures, inspiration from third world approaches is considered apostasy. This is why, despite many similarities of the proposed approaches in the mid-1980s after the Iranian revolution, there are no citations of them. This article seeks to explain the semiotics of Islamic identification in terms of language as political resistance in international politics. These types of signs are considered the essential core of change in analyzing the influential forces on regional and international policy. The Islamic revolution and holy war could be the main focus of the Islamic Resistance. Thus, political language of Islamic Resistance in the 1980s has became much more practical and widely used in dealing with positivist approaches of Constructivist Realism and objective symbols in international politics.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
97
130
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41882_0f5f38597d8c36a78b792bef5548229c.pdf
Iran's Balance of Power Analysis in Realism and Neorealism Approaches
Abbas
Mossalanejad
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Tehran
author
text
article
2011
per
Regional balance is considered as one of the most important issues for international and national security scholars. Each scholar has attempted to explain several aspects of balance of power. Some believe that without balance, the international system will not last. While the other hold the opinion that emphasis upon the issue of regional balance by superpowers means ignoring the necessities of the regional countries behavior, therefore, great power intervention in the process of regional balance makes theoretical and analytical indicats of this theory inefficient. On the other hand, geopoliticians also focus on the manner of geographical, political and strategic interaction. They argue that geopolitical changes will come naturally from changes in the above mentioned factors of defence and security policy. This will change the regional balance of power. If the changing balance of power continues, there will be regional conflicts. So geopoliticians like international relations theorists are emphasizing the need for balance of power in maintaining the regional balance and stability. Regional fields are considered as mid-level geopolitical area. Thus, the balance of power requires that actors of international system should match and any increase in a rival's power could change the balance condition.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
131
158
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41883_95bd415359ba28bb811c9d1c69709cb1.pdf
The Future of Political Islam in the Age of Globalization
Reviews on Different Perspectives
Mohammad Ali
Tavana
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yazd University
author
Amir
Roshan
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yazd University
author
Monije
Biglari
Master of Science in Political Science, Yazd University
author
text
article
2011
per
In recent years, two main views of political Islam have been shaped; one view argues that political Islam is a modern and peaceful phenomenon that compromise is possible between Islam and the western modern concepts. This means political Islam is not only a traditional phenomenon, but also accepts the logic of western modernity. Another view believes that political Islam is a violent, non-democratic and traditional phenomenon. This means political Islam seems like an old-fashioned phenomenon that does not have any purpose except to refuse modern relationship and destroy the status quo. According to the first view, political Islam will finally merge into western modernity formulated, meaning that the superior logic will eventually accept western modernity. In the second approach War and conflict between political Islam and Western modernity is inevitable, and the end of this war is destruction of political Islam against western modernity’s superior power. Conversely, this paper will suggest a third view. According to this view, the nature of Islam is not violent and undemocratic, and is not necessarily inconsistent with the western modern concepts. Although political Islam is a modern phenomenon, it has a deep root in tradition. Hence, it can be considered as a traditional-modern phenomenon which refers to the ideal of Islam in one hand, and the realities of the modern world on the other hand. The nature of political Islam is not violent, but it based on reason of divine wisdom which comes only from God. In this case, what will happen to Islam’s future? This view holds the opinion that in the future, political Islam - according to his intellectual nature - will not merge into western modernity, nor overcome the discourse, but it will take advantage of the relationships governing international relations, and become a discourse among others. In other words, political Islam in the age of globalization, postmodernism (Decentralization) and multiculturalism will follow its own logic. The result is that political Islam as a traditional-modern phenomenon will not only attract negative context, but also there is a need for affirmative action; meaning that it will reproduce its own socio-political context which called religious democracy.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
159
182
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41884_27895840e1c598cb64b1baf078777ce2.pdf
Relativism of human rights and religious extremism
Hossein
Aghababaei
Assistant Professor of Law Department of Guilan University
author
text
article
2011
per
One of the fundamental debates regarding human rights is its universality or relativity. The vision of universal human rights argues that rights enshrined in human rights documents, especially the first generation of human rights which is reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and some regional documents, are general and universal law. For instance, human dignity and the right to life are rights of human beings regardless of their region or territory. In contrast, the front view does not accept the nature of universal human rights due to the origin, culture and dominant ideology which have shaped the UDHR. So it is accepted relativityas a human rights standard. Each of these approaches will naturally lead to different effects on practice level and society. In this paper the right to life as one of the fundamental human rights has been explored from the perspective of both approaches, and the relationship between religious extremism and these views has been studied. The main research question is that what is the relationship between relativism of human rights and religious extremism? Research hypothesis is that religious extremism and terror, resorting to the name of religion, can be related to relativism of human rights.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
183
206
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41885_69f5dfd53edccb4344378166e7e7ed9f.pdf
Parties and Political Cultures in Egypt
(The Case Study: Islamism)
Amir
Niakoee
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Guilan
author
Ziaoddin
Sabouri
International Relations Researcher
author
text
article
2011
per
Egypt is consideredas the cradle of thought in the Arab worldand one of the leading Countries inthe Islamic worldwhich hashad profound effects on other Arab Countries.Over the last century,there have been a number of different types of parties and political culture, including Secularism and Islamism, in this country. After Mubarak’s fall and the expansion of political freedom, the effects of political parties have been increasing and aseverecompetitionexists between the parties. This articleseeks to examine the most important political and ideological trends in Egypt after Mubarak.Accordingly, the authors have tried responding to this question: what is the role and place of various parties and political cultures, especially Islamism, after Mubarak’s fall? The findings show that due to religious context inside Egypt,Islamism which has different representatives with various interpretation of Islam is undoubtedly the most important trend in Egypt and it seems Islamistswill come to power through free elections.
International Relations Researches
The Iranian Association of International Studies
2251-8444
1
v.
1
no.
2011
207
235
https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_41886_b12131e1776c137a20914d7dcb393fac.pdf