https://www.iisajournals.ir/ International Relations Researches en daily 1 Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_243046.html Cognitive science is a new science that studies the mind and mental processes. Despite the increasing expansion of cognitive science and the formation of interdisciplinary study areas between cognitive science and other disciplines, the relationship between cognitive science and political science has received less attention from researchers so far. However, the issue of the present research is how to establish a connection and intersection between political science and cognitive science? In other words, how can the achievements and findings of cognitive science be helpful in our understanding of politics? It seems that there are areas and territories in the field of political science that can be studied and examined with the findings of cognitive science; If we consider politics as “judgment and choice among different options before individuals”, we can say that the focal point that is actually the intersection and connection between these two sciences is the category of “reasoning, choosing and decision-making”, which, like political science, is at the center of attention of cognitive sciences, and the aim of this research is to examine the relationship between the two and discover the various and numerous angles of this relationship. In this research, to show the relationship between political science and cognitive science, the intersection of these two sciences, namely “reasoning, choosing and decision-making”, has been discussed and examined in four important interdisciplinary categories: cognitive map, environmental barriers, cognitive biases and the role of feelings and emotions. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_233119.html With the evolution in the logic of China's foreign policy, we have seen the development of economic-commercial relations and the control and management of border situations with India. Despite challenges, this process has had sufficient stability and continuity to benefit the people's welfare. The main question of this research is: what paradigm shifts has the logic of China's foreign policy undergone between 1978 and 2024, and how has this transformation affected the country's relations with India? In response, the main hypothesis of this article states that the paradigmatic shift dominant in the logic of China's foreign policy since 1978 has been the prioritization of the economic developmentalism paradigm. The Spartan Theory, which emphasizes the importance of leaders' beliefs and structural constraints, is used to analyze this matter. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and data collection is based on library and documentary sources. The perceptual framework of Chinese leaders is the independent variable, while the development of economic-commercial relations and the management and control of border situations with India are the dependent variables. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_233984.html The evolving geopolitical crisis in East Asia, coupled with China's rise as a global power, has prompted the United States to adopt the Buck-passing strategy to manage the regional security order in response to emerging challenges. This article examines the structure of the East Asian security order, analyzes the United States' approach to shaping this order, and explores the requirements and contexts reflected in the implementation of the US Buck-passing strategy. The study utilizes a descriptive-explanatory methodology, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Buck-passing and regional order theory. The findings suggest that the East Asian security order is shaped by requirements at national, regional, and global levels, encompassing military, political, and economic interests, the development of regional institutions, and the transition from a unipolar to a multipolar system. Furthermore, the implementation of the US Buck-passing strategy is grounded in the domestic capacities of regional states and the influence of regional and international institutions. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_238417.html this study, focusing on Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, the aim is to explain the role of strategic ambiguity and the multidimensional synergy of military, economic, cyber, informational and other instruments in facilitating Russia’s attainment of its political objectives. main research question is: in Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, how does the use of strategic ambiguity and multidimensional coordination among these instruments affect Russia’s ability to achieve its political goals? The research hypothesis is that the employment of strategic ambiguity and multidimensional synergy among military, economic, cyber, informational and other tools within the framework of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, by creating a gray zone between war and peace, complicating the direct attribution of responsibility, disrupting the opponent’s decision-making process, and strengthening Moscow’s levers of pressure and bargaining, overall facilitates Russia’s achievement of its desired political objectives. study adopts a qualitative approach and a descriptive-analytical method, and is based on documentary data, official reports, military doctrines and secondary analyses. The findings show that Russia’s hybrid warfare, through the systematic use of strategic ambiguity, the involvement of formal and informal actors, the integration of battlefield operations with information-cyber warfare, and weaponization of economic and energy instruments, creates a gray zone between war and peace in which it becomes possible to manage tensions, increase leverage and advance political objectives without relying on the classical model of conventional warfare. Accordingly, hybrid model grounded in strategic ambiguity and multidimensional coordination functions as an effective instrument for advancing Russia’s political objectives in the Ukraine crisis. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_239914.html This study aims to analyze the transformation of regional institutions in Latin America within the framework of liquid regionalism and the phenomenon of institutional "melting." The research is qualitative, employing an inductive approach and a comparative case study strategy. The population consists of regional organizations in Latin America, with ALBA, UNASUR, and the Pacific Alliance selected as purposive cases. Data were collected through official documents, academic articles, and analytical reports. Validity and reliability were ensured via triangulation and comparative analysis. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis based on the typology of liquid regionalism—consultation, cooperation, and integration. Findings indicate that institutional melting is a structural crisis driven by weak institutionalization, ideological fragmentation, and lack of sustained regional leadership. ALBA and Unasur have suffered the most, while the Pacific Alliance, despite trade growth, has failed to achieve deep integration. It is concluded that liquid regionalism is a structural shift toward temporary, consultative arrangements, and resistance requires stronger institutionalization and long-term commitments https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242658.html Following the heavy costs and ultimate failure of the interventionist foreign policy pursued by the George W. Bush administration (2000–2008) in the Middle East, the doctrine of offshore balancing gained prominence in American academic and policy circles. Barack Obama laid the groundwork for its implementation by revisiting liberal internationalism, but its formal execution occurred under Donald Trump. Accordingly, this study addresses the central question: What role did the doctrine of offshore balancing play in shaping and implementing the Trump administration’s Middle East policy? The findings indicate that Trump’s Middle East policy—through measures such as prioritizing cost reduction; avoiding entry into major, protracted wars; employing a strategy of delivering heavy blows with a light footprint in counterterrorism; distancing from liberal internationalism’s practice of aligning with democratic actors and suppressing rogue regimes; supporting proxy actors to build regional coalitions centered on Iranophobia; and focusing on nuclear nonproliferation in the Middle East—exhibited a high degree of convergence with the offshore balancing strategy. Pursuing a strategy of retrenchment without isolationism, Trump focused on preserving U.S. hegemony in the Middle East by leveraging the active involvement of regional allies. In this context, the Trump administration sought, through the Abraham Accords, to bring Arab states and Israel closer together and to shift the regional balance of power in Washington’s favor by delivering limited yet lethal strikes against anti-American actors and terrorist forces. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_234202.html The present study aims to identify the internal factors influencing the process of state–nation building in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2022, based on the perspectives of university professors and international relations experts. This research was conducted through in-depth interviews with 15 university professors and international relations specialists. The study is grounded in a conceptual theoretical framework that integrates concepts such as fragile state, social constructivism, elite circulation, and mosaic society. Using thematic analysis, the research identifies the most significant internal factors affecting the state–nation building process in Afghanistan from the viewpoint of academic experts and international relations scholars. The central question of the study is: which elements and components do university professors and international relations experts consider the most important internal factors in state–nation building in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2022? According to the findings, participants generally highlighted four major themes: the rapid growth of media, the formation of an electoral system, the social and political participation of women, and the emergence of civil society over the past two decades as key internal factors in the state–nation building process. However, respondents also noted that all these influential factors faced significant challenges, including a fragile state, lack of rule of law, administrative corruption, and dependence on foreign support. The results indicate that during the two decades of the republican system, the process of state–nation building was undermined and ultimately failed due to the intensification and . https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_186360.html Ukraine crisis is a reflection of the geopolitical competition of great powers to achieve global and regional hegemony. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not explicitly condemned Russia's military attack on Ukraine and has declared the West, especially America, to be the main cause of the crisis. In this regard, article seeks to answer the question, "Which ideas and components have shaped Iran's foreign policy approach to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine?"In response, it can be said that "the internal structure of the political system of the Islamic Republic and the perception of its decision-makers about the changes in the structure of the international system and the change in the position of its major actors have shaped the approach of Iran's foreign policy towards this crisis". Despite the declaration of neutrality, Iran has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine due to the dominant strategy of "orientalism" in foreign policy and with the aim of weakening the global position of Western countries. According to Iranian officials, Russia's invasion is the beginning of a transformation in the international system, which gives Tehran the opportunity to act in the world arena. The article examines Iran's foreign policy in the Ukraine crisis with a qualitative approach and using the method of analyzing events in Tehran-Moscow relations and the impact of structural changes in the international system and Iran's internal politics within the framework of the theory of neoclassical realism. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_239398.html Political akrasia, as the gap between recognizing the collective good and acting contrary to it, represents one of the fundamental challenges in modern governance. This article proposes an innovative solution to reduce this contradiction by drawing upon Socratic dialectics (the unity of reason and virtue through critical dialogue) and Popperian critical rationalism (the rejection of dogmatism and emphasis on institutional reform). The central research question is: How can the integration of these two theories help address political akrasia in modern governance structures? The hypothesis posits that process-oriented rationality (combining civic participation and critical institutions) can serve as a mediator for realizing the Socratic ideal in practice. Through philosophical-social analysis and examination of case studies such as participatory budgeting, this study demonstrates how dialectics elevates from the individual to the institutional level, transforming virtue into governance processes that reduce akrasia. The paper's innovation lies in connecting Socratic moral philosophy with Popperian social engineering - a connection previously overlooked in existing literature. The findings suggest that modern governance can only overcome this challenge by transcending one-dimensional approaches (whether purely ethical or technocratic) and embracing "institutional dialectics." https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242657.html English Abstract Given the increasing role of the media in geopolitical developments, it can be argued that media, through various methods and modern technologies, exert both direct and indirect influences on audiences’ decisions. On the other hand, the concept of power—which constitutes the foundation of geopolitical thought—has in the present century been shaped by information and communication technologies, artificial intelligence, and other technological paradigms. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine the relationship established between geopolitics and the media, and to elucidate the necessity of media literacy education from a geopolitical perspective in Iran. Considering Iran’s strategic position in the Middle East and the ongoing geopolitical transformations in the region, media literacy can serve as a tool to strengthen national security, counter soft warfare, and enhance citizens’ awareness in confronting both domestic and foreign media. This qualitative research, adopting a descriptive–analytical approach and relying on Persian and English library sources through a critical analysis framework, emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in media literacy education in Iran. Unlike previous studies, the distinguishing feature of this research lies in its geopolitical perspective toward media literacy. The findings confirm that, due to various factors—including the media’s influence on geopolitical perception, the shaping of public opinion and foreign policy, their impact on information warfare, their contribution to reinforcing national identity, and their role in directing geopolitical crises—it is strategically essential for Iran to adopt a geopolitical approach to media literacy education. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242909.html The presidency of Donald Trump during his two terms represents a pivotal point in the transformation of the political economy of the United States and its relationship with the global order. With the slogan “America First,” Trump not only directed the country’s economic orientation towards protectionism and the reproduction of economic nationalism but also adopted a critical stance towards environmental norms and international climate commitments. This approach marks a significant shift from multinational cooperation-based logic to a policy focused on domestic interests driven by power competition. Examples of this include the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, criticism of climate change, and cuts to the budgets of environmental agencies. The main question of this research is what relationship exists between Trump’s conceptual framework of economic protectionism and the neglect of internal environmental issues in the United States. The hypothesis of the study posits that the neoliberal mercantilist framework of the Trump administration, emphasizing positive trade balances and an increase in worker-centered domestic production, has led to a weakening and disregard for both domestic and international environmental rules and commitments. Trump prioritized increasing domestic production in industrial sectors and energy extraction. The findings indicate that Trump’s neoliberal mercantilist policies, by prioritizing economic growth and industrial independence, have resulted in the undermining of the United States’ environmental commitments both domestically and globally. This study is conducted using a descriptive-analytical methodology https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242910.html The Sadrist movement represents one of the most significant yet complex and understudied socio-political currents in Iraq. This article examines the identity and social factors that have enabled the movement to achieve notable success in mobilizing mass support and expanding its political influence. It tests the hypothesis that the movement’s distinctive identity features—including its leadership lineage, symbolic practices, and responsiveness to grassroots demands—have been crucial in consolidating its social base. The findings indicate that the Sadr family heritage, particularly its emphasis on martyrdom and solidarity with ordinary people, constitutes a core identity asset. Furthermore, the strategic use of religious rituals such as Friday prayers and shroudwearing, alongside political symbols like slogans and songs, has reinforced group cohesion and distinguished the movement from broader Shiʿi or Iraqi identities. Another decisive factor has been the movement’s capacity to address pressing social concerns, especially poverty and livelihood issues among marginalized communities, thereby fostering durable popular loyalty. These dynamics suggest that the movement’s ability to attract and retain supporters rests less on formal organizational structures than on its emotional and symbolic ties with its social base. The nature of this research is qualitative, and in terms of its objective, it is considered an analytical-explanatory study. Data collection was carried out using library and documentary methods, and data analysis was performed through qualitative content analysis.. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242911.html Following the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran has pursued a distinct approach to regional policy that departs from dominant materialist and geopolitically driven models of foreign policy. Rather than relying solely on calculations of power and interest, Iran’s regional engagement has been deeply shaped by normative, ideological, and identity-based principles rooted in the revolutionary worldview. such an ideationally driven approach has consistently encountered a range of structural and discursive challenges that constrain its effective realization. The purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical analysis of the challenges facing the regional policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the perspective of ideational politics. Accordingly, the central research question asks: How and at what levels do the challenges of Iran’s regional policy impose limitations on its ideational politics? In response, the study conceptualizes ideational politics as an idea-centered and norm-oriented framework of foreign policy analysis and examines the challenges confronting Iran’s regional policy across two analytical levels. At the regional level, Saudi Arabia’s Salafi-oriented Islamism, Turkey’s neo-Ottoman identity project, and the existential antagonism of the Zionist regime toward the Islamic Republic of Iran are analyzed as key sites of ideological and strategic contestation. At the supra-regional level, the penetration of Western liberal-democratic discourse, alongside the mechanisms of Iranophobia and Shiaphobia, is examined as part of broader efforts to contain and undermine Iran’s normative role in the regional order. This study adopts an analytical–interpretive approach and relies on library-based research and academic sources for data collection. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_242912.html This study employs a scientometric approach, utilizing data from the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), to examine the citation performance, inter-university collaboration, keyword analysis, authorship patterns, and co-authorship networks of articles published in the World Politics Quarterly. The primary objective of this analysis is to scrutinize the strengths, weaknesses, and content orientations of this journal as one of the knowledge-producing institutions in the field of Iranian international studies, thereby paving the way for its qualitative enhancement and greater impact. The research sample consists of 402 articles published between 2012 and 2023. According to ISC data, the articles published in this journal received a total of 786 citations, with an average of approximately 1.95 citations per article. Furthermore, the findings indicated that female researchers have a lower share of published articles in the " World Politics Quarterly " compared to male researchers. Additionally, the analysis revealed that most articles were published either by single authors or two authors, reflecting a relatively low rate of scientific collaboration in this field. The results also indicated that the most frequently used keywords in the articles were "Iran," "United States of America," and "Foreign Policy." Overall, considering the results of the co-occurrence analysis of the keywords used in the articles of "World Politics Quarterly" it seems this journal has successfully fulfilled its role as a forum for analyzing Iran's strategic issues within the international system (especially the Middle East). However, expanding its thematic scope to other regions of the world could enhance its richness. https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_246543.html Since 2011, Syrian crisis has evolved into one of most complex regional and international conflicts, marked by the collapse of central authority of Assad regime and the emergence of non-state and quasi-state actors. In this context, foreign support particularly from regional powers such as Turkey and Israel has played a pivotal role in shaping battlefield dynamics and political developments. This paper focuses on the post-Assad period and the rise of a new successor state under leadership of Ahmad al-Shar’a (Joulani) in northwestern Syria, offering a legal analysis of the successor state’s responsibility for consequences of prior foreign support to non-state actors. From the perspective of international law, study examines the principles of continuity of state obligations and the responsibility of successor states regarding past commitments and their effects. The article also explores responsibility of supporting states through lenses of concepts such as effective control and international responsibility, analyzing the legal implications of their actions. It further assesses the challenges related to legitimacy, international recognition, and successor state’s engagement with non-state actors, as well as the opportunities for consolidating authority and assuming responsibility. Findings indicate that, despite existing constraints, successor state bears legal responsibility for the consequences of foreign-backed interventions, and that supporting states also hold direct accountability for actions of their proxy groups. This study adopts a descriptive-analytical method, drawing upon international legal sources, United Nations documents, and a case-based examination of post-Assad Syria, contributing meaningfully to the understanding of successor state responsibility and foreign support in modern armed conflicts.