Abstract
Understanding religion’s role and influence on Iranian foreign policy is essential due to Iran’s Islamic Shiite identity and messianic character. However, religion does not act in vacuum; it may be constrained by power factors. Iran faces constantly and at certain moments, contradictions between its religious objectives and material interests, which oblige it to make a choice by preferring one of them. In order to understand this choice, this thesis applies a conceptual framework of the political interpretation of religious identity. This framework allows Iran to combine both religion and pragmatism while making its foreign policies in a way that preserve the Islamic Republic’s material interests according to Islamic concepts of expediency “Maslaha” and necessity. Nevertheless, Iran seems to prefer, at certain moments - prioritized religious objectives even against its material interests according to their, sacred value, legitimacy, and connection to Mahdism. This behavior is influenced by Islamic interpretations and Shiite historical political experience. Iran from this perspective is a strategic ideological actor; many cases are used to demonstrate that, Iran’s attitude toward Israel, supporting movements fighting against Israel such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Salman Rushdie case and the Chechen war
Main Chapters
Islamic Iran: A Challenge for International Relations Theory
Approaching Religion’s Role in Foreign Policy
Iranian World View and Strategic Culture
The “Mahdism” Role of Islamic Iran
Iran: More Than A State
The Supreme Leader as The “Gate Keeper
Iran’s Foreign Policy Overview
Study Cases
Conclusion
The full text is available at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/114195689/Iran-Foreign-Policy-Religion-and-Pragmatism-Final-Thesis4
http://www.scribd.com/doc/114195689/Iran-Foreign-Policy-Religion-and-Pragmatism-Final-Thesis4
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