Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs2008822131020121101Modernisation in Russia and Iran: Toward an Autonomous and Adaptive Developmental Trajectory123410ENGhoncheh TazminiJournal Article19700101Iran and Russia are experiencing their own modernity at a time when the very paradigm of modernity is being radically questioned in the west, its place of origin. Having passed through the labyrinth of social contradictions, both Russia and Iran have reached a point where they are transcending the logic of development of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Russian and Iranian modernisation represents a unique interaction of universal value patterns and specific cultural codes – a trajectory that can be qualified as an autonomous and adaptive modernity. As such we need a broader cognitive space to allow the emergence of ‘multiple modernities’. The era of fixed, Euro-centred, and non-reflexive modernity is reaching its end – modernity, as an epistemological category, is transcending the totalising narrative in whose grip it has been enchained. The ethnocentric west needs to acknowledge the heterogeneity of the modernisation experience, and accordingly subdue its impulse to ‘homogenise’ and ‘orientalise’ the ‘other’. It needs to move away from a unilateral logic toward a genuine cross-cultural encounter that takes a much broader view of the modernisation process by placing it in the long-term context of cultural adaptation of civilisational complexes to the challenge of modernity.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs2008822131020121101Iran and Democracy Promotion in the Middle East123411ENFarshad RoomiJournal Article19700101Democratic governments tend to cooperate with each other positively. By establishing a framework, democracy controls politicians’ political behavior, preventing them from pursuing imbalanced and improper policies. Popular revolutions in the Middle East have overthrown a number of authoritarian regimes allied with the United States. With the independent democratic governments being formed, we see Iran’s regional and transregional rivals and adversaries challenged. Making efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East can serve as an important factor in strengthening Iran’s influence in the region. Therefore, given that the rule of the game in the Middle East is one of zero-sum, the Islamic Republic of Iran should reinforce its national security level and enlarge its national security realm by explicitly supporting and articulating the demands of the regional nations. Also, the presence of the Shi’a in government is closely related to the promotion of democratic trends, support for the democracy-seeking wave in the Middle East.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs2008822131020121101Social Movements in the Middle East: A Sociological Analysis123412ENKhalilollah SardarniaJournal Article19700101The prevailing outlook among analysts before the advent of the recent social movements in North Africa and a number of Arab Middle Eastern countries indicated that the region will continue to resist the wave of democratization. The fall of several authoritarian regimes and continuity of social movements has generated serious doubts in this outlook, leading to the appearance of promising horizons for democratization. This paper argues that these social movements originate from the exacerbating legitimacy crisis of authoritarian governments and rising political, social and economic dissatisfaction of the general public, including the youth and the modern middle class. This work seeks to answer the question: what are the major sociological origins and precipitating factors influencing the advent of social movements in the Middle East and North Africa? In response, it can be argued that the advent of social movements in a number of Middle East and North African countries is rooted in the legitimacy crisis, as well as rising political, social and economic dissatisfaction of the general public, the youth and the modern middle class in recent decades. The web-based social networks and cell phones acted as precipitating factors in the massive mobilization and integration of mass protests and those of the modern middle class and the fall of a number of authoritarian regimes. These movements are notably characterized by being comprehensive, Islamic, democratic, anti-despotic, independence-seeking, and highly reliant on new information and communications technologies. The web-based social networks served as a precipitating factor in massive mobilization of the aforementioned strata within the context of an exacerbated legitimacy crisis and the gap between the state and the society rather than as a structural deep-rooted factor.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs2008822131020121101The Security of the Persian Gulf after the Arab Revolutions123413ENAhmad SoltaninejadJournal Article19700101The Arab revolutions have changed the political and security landscape of the Persian Gulf. The upheavals have altered the sources of threats states used to feel from those emanating from outside the internal ones; the unrest in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia has proved that the sources of tension for the Arab states are quite societal. As a result, the old Arab tactic of attribution of domestic challenges to alleged Iranian interventionism is now obsolete. The traditional role played by the regional powers is also affected and the regional alignments are in flux. The overthrow of the Mubarak regime along with the U.S middle of the way approach during the Arab revolutions have elevated Iran’s stance in the Persian Gulf at the expense of the U.S and the GCC. Moreover, the security interdependence of the Persian Gulf states, particularly among the GCC, is tightened and in the face of increasing security challenges, the monarchical bloc is revitalized with the aim to buttress Arab regimes. All the said developments are the subject of examination in this article through application of the regional security complex (RSC) theory.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs2008822131020121101International Law, Islam and the Universality of Human Rights Perspective: an Iranian Perspectiveحقوق بین الملل، اسلام و چشم انداز جهانی حقوق بشر: نگاه ایرانی175197123414ENMahmood JalaliSafoura Bani-NajarianUniversity of IsfahanJournal Article19700101From the beginning of human life on earth, human needs have been<br />crystallized in their relationship and interaction with each other. As a result<br />of such an inter-relationship and interaction, it has been necessary for a<br />body of law to exist that would specify humans’ duties and obligations<br />towards each other. Even though different regulations concerning human<br />rights have been codified, human beings have not taken benefit from these<br />rights on an equal basis. In fact, we see that throughout history, the<br />oppressed have fought oppressors. In these protracted struggles, human<br />beings continued to seek transcendental rights; rights they wanted to enjoy<br />regardless of power and wealth, skin color and race. Based on this<br />argument, if we look at the objectives and activities related to human<br />rights, we can suggest that monotheistic religions also played a crucial part<br />in promoting human rights. According to the findings of this research,<br />although international law and Islamic international law both believe in the<br />universality of human rights, without any doubt their nature and<br />foundation differ. Nonetheless, there are numerous shared grounds and<br />points between the two aforementioned bodies of law for whose study<br />and utilization international human resources have to be used to forge<br />unity and to protect world peace and security.