Abstract:
International relations in Iran is characterized by plurality and complexity of discourses. This paper aims to introduce IR "discursive complex" in Iran, its formation, and its dynamics especially during the post-revolutionary era. Five major discourses – realism, Islamism, anti-imperialism, critical dialogism, and international society – are analyzed in terms of the narrative they make about the "reality" of contemporary international life, the main binary opposition on which they build their narrative, their "authorized producers", their various articulations in the course of time, the identities they construct, and their hegemonic or counter/hegemonic position in foreign policy circles and academic life in different periods.
Machine summary:
Five major discourses – realism, Islamism, anti-imperialism, critical dialogism, and international society – are analyzed in terms of the narrative they make about the "reality" of contemporary international life, the main binary opposition on which they build their narrative, their "authorized producers", their various articulations in the course of time, the identities they construct, and their hegemonic or counter/hegemonic position in foreign policy circles and academic life in different periods.
Keywords: Iran, IR Discourses, Realism, Islamism, Anti-Imperialism, Critical Dialogism, International Society Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Tehran.
Communism in Iran introduced the discourse of anti-imperialism with its political economic understanding of international relations.
A realist discourse implies the recognition of international power structure, the significance of maintaining or enhancing the power position of the nation, the priority of security in foreign policy agenda, and regarding idealist, legal, and/or moral assertions in the international scene as pure instrumentalities especially in the hands of the most powerful states (see Carr 1962; Morgenthau 1985; Waltz 1979).
Universal aspirations such as Islamic solidarity or supporting the oppressed of the world (see below) were seen by many, including many of International Relations scholars in Iran, as being against the national interest of the country.
On the occasion of giving honorary doctorate to Khatami in 2005, the University of Tehran published a three volume series on the idea of dialogue of civilizations in which major works by Iranian and non-Iranian scholars with regard to this idea and its theoretical foundations in critical theory was introduced to the public (Moshirzadeh 1384c [2005c]; Mostaghimi [1384 [2005]; 1384 [2005]).