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Iran and the World: Some Contemporary Developments
Editor: Bahram Navazeni
Date Of Publication: Jul 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2221-3
Isbn: 1-4438-2221-3
Both Iran and the World had witnessed changes which have had profound effects in their past, as well as current events. Despite its long history, rich oil and gas resources, and the strategic position in the Persian Gulf, Iran has enjoyed stability in its blend of religion and politics of social affairs in the face of profound change. Contemporary international relations, known for its dominating principles of equal sovereignty and self-determination, are also undergoing change, the most obvious ones being the Soviet collapse, the “new world order,” and globalization, all of which have affected Iran.

This book aims to emphasize recent developments in Iran and the world, study their interaction, thus attracting the attention of think tanks in international relations, political science, and other experts in various scientific fields. Subjects covered are the developments in mystical vision of the Islamic Revolution in the discourse of Martyr Mortaza Motahhari, legal and ethical issues of the human right to democracy, nation-state system and Islam, Iran's religio-constitutional institutions in the 20th century, Iran's addmision policy of international students, Obama and the policy of changing relations with Iran, Arab-Israeli conflict, development strategies in Iran and Algeria, Shanghais Cooperation Organization.

Bahram Navazeni is Professor of International Relations in the Deptartment of Political Science at Imam Khomeini International University. He obtained his PhD from the Australian University of New South Wales in 1991, and has so far authored and translated eight books and more than fifty articles and papers published in academic journals and conferences. His recent book published in Iran is "Export of the Islamic Revolution" (2010, Iran). He was Head of the International Office at the Imam Khomeini International University from 2007-2009 during which IKIU joined the international associations of IAU, FUIW and ACSSU.

The chapter entitled 'Development Strategies in Iran and Algeria: A Comparative Study,' begins from the assumptions that the state, which plays a major economic and social developmental role in both countries, as well as both countries’ reliance upon the petrochemical sector to generate growth and development, would lead one to assume that the results of these strategies would be similar in terms of economic and social development. Using the new comparative economics approach (NCE), Nouibat revealed that the similarities and differences in the two countries’ development strategies and their results can be explained by the state’s management of economic and social affairs and/or the similarity in their resources endowments, as well as by the changes in their development strategies along with the type and seriousness of internal and external economic and political constraints and pressures.

-Abdelkader Nouibat’s, University of M’Sila, Algeria

The chapter on 'Different Paradigms: The Nation-State System and Islam,' asserted that intensified globalization has weakened the Westphalian notion of the nation-state system as a universal political unit. Actually, this has never been true in the non-western world. In the wake of the cold war and Huntington’s infamous 'clash of civilizations' thesis, the Muslim world emerged as the West’s 'other' because both civilizations have different political, economic, and cultural paradigms. Ataman stressed that since the concepts of nation and nationalism are alien to Islam and Muslims, their expansion within the Muslim world has caused an identity crisis. Nationalism caused cultural insecurity and has been one of the main bases of Islamic revivalist movements against the West. Therefore, a conceptual evaluation of the nation-state system, ethnicity, and the Islamic approach to politics is required to understand relations between the West and the Muslim world.

-Muhittin Ataman’s (Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey)

Conventional wisdom states that human history is no more than the succession of human and social conflicts punctuated by wars and other forms of violence. In his case study of the six decade long Arab-Israeli conflict, which remains a stumbling block to the Middle East peace process, he maintains that in many respects it has become even more complex and intricate. Asghar traced the historical roots of Arab-Israeli conflict, examined the fundamental thorny issues bedeviling the disputants’ relations, analyzed the development of several dimensions of conflict (keeping in view the implications of great power influence), and discussed the various peace and other initiatives. He also mentioned how the recent eruption of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza demonstrates the importance of finding an immediate and durable solution to this ongoing problem taking the region’s unfolding demographic situation into consideration, he highlighted the significance of the two-state solution.

-Nauman Asghar (Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan

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