Iran in an Emerging New World Order: From Ahmadinejad to Rouhani

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Acknowledgements Praise for Iran in an Emerging New World Order Contents About the Author List of Acronyms List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction (A) Studying Iran’s International Relations Amid Changing International and Domestic Power Relations External Dialectic: Exploring the International Geography of Power (World Order) Brief Account of International, Domestic and Regional Arenas Discussing Iran’s International Relations Beyond the Iran–U.S. Stand-off (B) Structure of the Book Bibliography A B P Official Documents (Excerpts) Chapter 2: A Critical Geopolitics of International Relations: A Theoretical Derivation Introduction Iran’s Geostrategic Location: A Salient Spot of Geopolitical Rivalry Broad Consensus in Iranian Foreign-Policy Studies: Interplay Between Structure/Culture and Internal/External (A) Engaging with the “Constructivist Turn” in IR Theory: On Constructivism and Critical Geopolitics Blind Spots on the Realist Radar Critical Geopolitics: Critically Investigating Geopolitical Representations Constructivism: The Social Construction of National Interests The Construction of Interests: Primacy of Ideational or Material Underpinnings? IR Scholarship in the IRI: Geopolitics and Constructivism (B) Outlining a Critical Geopolitics of International Relations: Defining the Agent–System Arrangement Summary The Agent: The State and Its Foreign-Policy Élite The System Level: An Increasingly Multipolar International System—From Unipolarity to Imperial Interpolarity Theory The Dialectic Construction of Foreign-Policy Culture Agent: The State and Its Élite The State–Society Complex The Élite The Power Élite: Some Conceptual Clarifications Élite Consciousness Methodology: Towards Investigating Geopolitics as Structure and as Culture Geopolitics as Culture Defining Geopolitical Imaginations and Geopolitical Culture Geopolitics as Structure Summary and Conclusion Bibliography A B C D E F H K L M N O P R S V W Y Chapter 3: Iranian Geopolitical Imaginations: A Critical Account Introduction Prelude: On the Need to Reach Beyond Conventional Framings of Iran’s Foreign-Policy Behaviour (A) The Roots of Modern Iranian Political Culture: From “Anti-colonial Modernity” to the Islamic Republic “Anti-colonial Modernity” as Iranians’ Collective Historical Experience and the Shaping of the Three Politico-ideological Formations of Nationalism, Socialism and Islamism The Islamization of Post-revolutionary Political and Foreign-Policy Culture How the Iranian Revolution Was Transformed into an Islamic Republic: Towards Islamizing State and Society Islamizing Foreign Policy Independence via Non-alignment as Grand-Strategic Preference Bipolar Political Power-Structure and Foreign-Policy Orientations: The Roots of National-Security Discourses in the IRI Theoretical Insights (B) Iranian Political Cultures and Geopolitical Imaginations: On the Geopolitical Significance of an Identity Marker Nationalism: The Determining Ideology of Modern Iran and the Prime Geopolitical Orbit Persian Ultra-nationalism and the “Aryan Myth”: Importing Racial Nationalism Made in Europe Nationalism-Based Geopolitical Imagination Nationalism and Islamism: Mutual Exclusivity, Amalgam and Continuity Mutual Exclusivity: Western Nationalism vs. Eastern Islam(ism) Iranian Blend: Shia Islam as Religious Nationalism Iranian Grandeur as Nationalist Continuity from the Monarchy to the Islamic Republic Islamism(s): The Shia and Pan-Islamic Geopolitical Circles Shia vs. Pan-Islamic Geopolitics Pan-Islamism’s Third-Worldism Third-Worldism: The Fountainhead of the Independence Leitmotiv Third-World Nationalism Third-Worldism and Islamism in the Face of Imperialism: From Revolutionary Alliance to Imperialist Triumph The Revolutionary, Anti-colonial Impetus Incongruity of Islamist Anti-imperialism Reappraising the 1953 Coup: Third-World Nationalism as Thorn in the Side of Imperialism and Islamism Independence as Leitmotiv: Distillate from the Triad of Ideational Sources Conclusion Bibliography A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P R S T V Z Official Documents (Excerpts) Chapter 4: The Islamic Republic of Iran: State–Society Complex and the Political Elite’s Political and Geopolitical Culture Introduction (A) The State–Society Complex in the IRI: Exploring the Military–Clerical–Commercial Complex The Supreme Leader: A Supreme Position of Power and Influence A Short History of the Rise to Power of the Shia Clergy: On State–Clerical–Commercial Relations Supreme Leader Khamenei and the Clerical–Commercial Complex The Military: The IRGC Becoming the Central Body for Élite Recruitment Khamenei and the IRGC The Political Economy of the IRI: The State and Para-statal Actors Concluding Observations The Political Economy of the IRI’s Longevity: Populism and the Continuity of Class Rule The Supreme Leader: Neo-sultanism and State–Society Relations (B) The Political Elite’s Political and Geopolitical Culture Post-war Governments and Their Agendas The Reconstruction and Reform Period: 1989–2005 The Neo-conservative Period: 2005–2013 Factionalism and Social Bases The Traditional Conservatives The Centrists: The Pragmatic Conservatives The Reformists (1997–2004) The Neo-conservatives (2005–2012) Political and Geopolitical Culture in the IRI: The Élite’s and State’s Identity Constructions and Interests “Islamic Iran”: Élite Consensus in the IRI “Islam Is the Only Way”: Constructing the State’s Political Culture and Its Ramifications The Global Failure of Socialism and Liberalism—And the Triumph of Islam(ism) Disqualifying Socialism as a Way to Preserve the Capitalist Political Economy of the State Khamenei’s Islamist Eclecticism: The Worldview of the IRI’s Top Ideologue Conclusion Bibliography A B C D E F G H J K M N O P R S T W Y TV Broadcasts (Excerpts) Expert Interviews With Chapter 5: Foreign-Policy Schools of Thought and Debates in the IRI Introduction (A) Foreign-Policy Institutions The Role of Think-Tanks Implications for Foreign-Policy Making (B) Foreign-Policy Schools of Thought Islamic Idealists Pan-Islamism and “Islamic unity” Deficiencies and Strengths Regional Power Balancers: Offensive and Defensive Realists Revisiting Neo-Realist IR Theory Iran’s (Neo-)Realists: Common Denominators Iran’s Offensive Realists Triumphalist Account of Iranian Power Paradoxical Account of U.S. Power: Powerful but Vulnerable The Dual National-Security Threat: War Threats a Bluff, but “Soft War” Serious Iranian Responses: The Primacy of the IRI’s Ideological Sources of Power “Hard” Responses: Asymmetrical Warfare, Proxy War and So On Projecting “Soft Power” in the Face of U.S. “Soft War” Iran’s Defensive Realists Global Balancers and the “America Question” Rejectionists: Survival of the “Islamic Revolution” Through Anti-Americanism Accommodationists (C) Foreign-Policy Controversies Among Schools of Thought The Pursuit of “Strategic Depth”: Which Sites to Prioritize? Perception of Iranian Foreign Policy: Whose Perception Counts? Framing the Nuclear Conflict with the West Controversy over Nuclear Diplomacy On Categorizing the Ahmadinejad Administration’s Foreign Policy An Unsettled Conflict: How Offensive Realists Hold Iran’s Geopolitical Successes to Their Credit Conclusion Shifting Tendencies Rather Than Clear-cut Change The Modus Operandi of the IRI’s Foreign Policy: The Three Realms The Maslahat Principle: Or the Primacy of Regime Survival Bibliography A B D E F G H K L M N O P R S T V W Z Chapter 6: Iran’s International Relations in the Face of U.S. Imperial Hubris: From “9/11” to the Iraq War Introduction Theoretical Considerations on Outside–Inside Dynamics (A) Guiding Principles of Iran’s Policy Towards Afghanistan and Central Asia: Regional Stability as Precondition for Security and Economic Development (B) The Evolution of National Security and Foreign Policy (Late 2001–Early 2004) From Toppling the Taliban to the “Axis of Evil” Speech: The Rise and Fall of Defensive Realism Iranian Security Dilemma: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend? The Brief Moment of Defensive Realist Triumph The “Axis of Evil” Speech: Imperial Hubris and the Weakness of the Defensive Realist Strategy (C) Towards Iran’s 2003 “Grand Bargain” Offer: Intra-élite Consensus in the Face of a Dual Threat to National and Regime Security 2002: Internal and External Threats Looming Time for Maslahat: Towards Intra-élite Consensus in 2002 Iran’s Post-Iraq Invasion 2003 Secret “Grand Bargain” Offer: The Revival of Defensive Realism and Renewed Rebuttal Due to U.S. Imperial Hubris (D) Ramifications on Iran’s Foreign Policy and State–Society Complex: Towards Radicalization Foreign Policy Offensive Realism Taking the Wheel of Iran’s Regional Policies Emboldened Global Rejectionists Paving the Way for the “Look to the East” Policy State–Society Complex: Externally Aided Para-militarization Conclusion Theoretical Observations on “Mutual Constitution”: The Issue of Disjointedness Bibliography A B C D E F G H J K M N P R S T V W Chapter 7: Iran’s International Relations in the Face of Imperial Interpolarity: The “Look to the East” Policy and Multifaceted Impact of Sanctions Introduction (A) Iran’s “Look to the East” Policy and Imperial Interpolarity The “Look to the East” Policy Iran’s Increasing Alienation from Europe The “Look to the East” Policy’s Underlying Logic: Asia’s Rise and U.S. Decline Iranian Assumptions About Bases for Cooperation in Eurasia Imperial Interpolarity: Concept for Grasping the Emerging New World Order After Unipolarity Summary Implications of the Uneven Distribution of Global Power: Adding “the Imperial” and Qualifying Interdependence The Unrivalled Means of Power at the Hands of a Single State Acting as the Imperial Power Multiple Faces of Interdependence Sketching the Configuration of Imperial Interpolarity The Iran Sanctions Regime: A Prime Example of U.S. Unilateral Power Imperial Interpolarity in the International Iran Conflict: Through the Prism of World Order The Primacy of Relations with the U.S. The Case of Russia The Case of China The Case of India The Question of Status and Tiers in the World Order: Preserving Hierarchy The 2010 Brazil- and Turkey-Brokered Tehran Declaration: The UNSC Repudiating Aspiring Powers Iran’s Bid to Join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Keeping Iran at Bay Conclusion on Iran’s “Look to the East” Policy: Misjudging International Realities The Emerging New World Order and Implications for Iran as Regional Power: An Iranian Viewpoint Critical of Offensive Realism (B) Multifaceted Impact of Sanctions Geo-economic and Geopolitical Costs Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change Ramifications on the State–Society Complex A Magic Wand to Decapitate Evil? The Political Narrative of Empowering Sanctions The Political Economy of Sanctions: Crippling the Economy and Cementing the Authoritarian State Sanctions and the Weakening of Civil-Society Actors Women Students Labour Malign Effects of Sanctions: The General Academic Literature and the Need for an Iranian Case-Study Prolonging Authoritarian Rule Furthering State-Sponsored Repression Conclusions Conclusion and Some Observations on Iran’s Development Bibliography A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z Official Documents (Excerpts) Chapter 8: Conclusions Summary Empirical and Theoretical Findings On the Role of World-Order Constellations and Its Perception in Shaping Iran’s International Relations Ideational and/or Material? On the Material and Geopolitical Significance of Identity Constructions External–Internal and Internal–External Dynamics: Impacting the Trajectory of Iran’s International Relations and Its State–Society Complex Reflections on the Study’s Findings: Prospects for Iran’s Development and Independence The 2025 Outlook: Template for a Twenty-First-Century Grand Strategy Developmentalist Foreign Policy: Objectives and Requirements Economic Development, National Security and Foreign Policy: A Critical Reading of the Proposed Development Model Is There a Way Out of the Imperial Interpolar Trap? Developmentalist Foreign Policy and the Fate of the Independence Leitmotiv Ideas for Future Research Bibliography A B C E F G H I J K L M P R S T V W Y Z Official Documents (Excerpts) Bibliography Note on Foreign-Language Titles Note on Author Affiliation A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z TV Broadcasts (Excerpts) Official Documents (Excerpts) Expert Interviews With Expert Meetings under “Chatham House” Rules on Iran and the Wana Region List of Sources: Journals, Newspapers, News Agencies, Websites etc.: Sources on Iran Other International Outlets Covering West Asian and International Affairs Index