Abstract
The transition of power in the Islamic Republic of Iran is not only a change of guards in the different political and executive institutions during each electoral cycle but it also radically redefines the fundamental aspects of self-identity and the very definition of national interests and priorities and even how they should be defined. Upon the assumption of power by President Hassan Rohani in Iran, foreign policy of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been exposed to tremendous developments. Prevalence of conservatism over revolutionary mindset, nationalism over trans-nationalism, and structuralism over agent-oriented trends are considered as the three main pillars of these developments. In Rohani’s administration there is no longer any trace of the revolutionary behavior of Ahmadinejad’s era. This turnaround in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy is not a new phenomenon. We have witnessed such a shift in Iranian foreign policy after the end of the 8-year war with Iraq, albeit with different dimensions. An assessment of this issue would greatly enhance our understanding of the country’s foreign policy. Accordingly, assessment of the real roots of these foreign policy shifts is the main objective of the present article. Evidently, the shift in foreign policy, more than anything else can be attributed to changes in the definition of the concept of national interests, and how each administration defines such national and transnational interests. Any shift or transformation in this concept, as the guiding principal of foreign policy, creates a context for the shift in the national priorities, orientations, and strategies in its interaction with its external environment. By highlighting the three concepts of “circulation of elites”, “perception towards national identity”, and “structural developments”, the present article endeavors to review the causes of differing understandings of the concept of national interests in a specific period of the I.R. of Iran’s foreign policy.
Highlights
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, various perspectives have been raised over the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic
Despite the fact that more than three decades has passed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, differences of opinions over the concept of national interests has never subsided and advocates of each of these two camps have presented their specific definitions of the national interests and have shaped their foreign policy behavior based on their peculiar definitions, and objectives
As one of the most important policy-making arenas for interacting between internal and external environments of countries, foreign policy has always been influenced by the kind of definition and progression that they provide for the concept of national interests
Summary
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, various perspectives have been raised over the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic. Despite the fact that more than three decades has passed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, differences of opinions over the concept of national interests has never subsided and advocates of each of these two camps have presented their specific definitions of the national interests and have shaped their foreign policy behavior based on their peculiar definitions, and objectives Considering this disagreement over the concept of “national interests”, the present article argues that such a conceptual disagreement over theoretical foundations and practical representations has resulted in the adoption of fundamentally differing objectives, priorities, and orientations in foreign policy perspectives by different administrations. By adopting a combined outlook, we would, be able to review foreign policy shifts and developments based on the following three elements
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