Suchergebnisse

Der Beitrag untersucht die Entwicklung der iranischen Umweltbewegung sowohl auf der zivilgesellschaftlichen wie auf der staatlichen Ebene, erörtert das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen diesen beiden Zweigen und geht dann besonders auf den Umweltaktivismus zum Schutz des Kaspischen Meers ein. (DÜI-Hns)

Citing the UN's designation of the year 2001 as a year for promoting dialogue between civilizations & the present-day proliferation of globalization literature, a reexamination of Samuel Huntington's (eg, 1993) "clash of civilizations" thesis is presented. It is contended that Huntington's hypothesis has denigrated Third World nations' role in causing change & encouraging dialogue in international institutions. Moreover, Huntington's assertion that competing religious perspectives will be responsible for combat between civilizations is challenged. An alternative perspective, identified as "civilizational parallelism," that perceives cultural & religious differences as nonthreatening to various civilizations is advocated. It is noted that several prominent world religions have presently advanced platforms for increased interreligious dialogue; however, it is acknowledged that interreligious dialogue is merely a part of the larger global dialogue. The need for current theological leaders to recognize similarities between religions is articulated. J. W. Parker

Searches for a useful & accurate definition of Islamic movements in the Middle East. The often-used term "theocratic populism" is incorrect, as it incorporates concepts used to the explain events in other parts of the world. Similarly rejected are the ideas of Michel Foucault, who observed the 1979 Iranian Revolution first hand. He argued that it was neither antimodern nor populist, but rather, the injection of the spiritual into political life. In his romanticizing of the revolution, however, he downplayed repressive aspects of it & failed to understand the authoritarian cult of the personality. The ideas of Jurgen Habermas can also be used to understand the defense of the life world in the Middle East against further enroachments by the world system. It is argued here, however, that a historical understanding of the development of the Iranian state, Islam, foreign intervention, & nationalism must be pursued. The analysis emphasizes the need to retrieve the strain of participatory democracy in Iran from the demagogic populism of the power elite in order to check the rise of religious fascism, which threatens a more liberal path for the Middle East. J. Cowie

With the advent of the Trump Administration, relations between Iran and the United States have become increasingly conflictual to the point that a future war between the two countries is a realistic possibility. President Trump has unilaterally withdrawn the US from the historic Iran nuclear accord and has re-imposed the nuclear-related sanctions, which had been removed as a result of that accord. Reflecting a new determined US effort to curb Iran's hegemonic behavior throughout the Middle East, Trump's Iran policy has all the markings of a sharp discontinuity in the Iran containment strategy of the previous six US administrations. The regime change policy, spearheaded by a hawkish cabinet with a long history of antipathy toward the Iranian government, has become the most salient feature of US policy toward Iran under President Trump. This turn in US foreign policy has important consequences not just for Iran but also for Iran's neighbors and prospects of long-term stability in the Persian Gulf and beyond. This book seeks to examine the fluid dynamic of US-Iran relations in the Trump era by providing a social scientific understanding of the pattern of hostility and antagonism between Washington and Tehran and the resulting spiraling conflict that may lead to a disastrous war in the region.

This book focuses on the final nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1 great powers, the ensuing debates around it, and its global and regional ramifications especially in the Middle East. The first section analyzes the agreement through the prism of international relations theories, using a constructivist-critical theory approach. This is followed by an overview of the intense debates in Iran, the West, and other parts of the world, on the nuclear agreement and its various pros and cons, not to mention the connected, yet separate Iran-IAEA agreement. The second section covers Iran's foreign policy and its various priorities, looking in particular at the impact of the nuclear deal on the country's external relations and orientations, contextualized in terms of pre-existing issues and concerns and the profound influence of the nuclear agreement on the perceptions of Iranian power in the region and beyond. The third section then examines the issue of a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone and the likely consequences of the Iran nuclear deal on this prospect, which, in turn, raises the issue of regional proliferation and counterproliferation. The last section explores some possible various scenarios and the challenges of implementation as a relatively long-term agreement, providing specific policy recommendations for the regional actors and the external powers that are stakeholders in the volatile Middle East

Introduction 1. - Chapter 1: The Road to the Geneva Agreement 9. - Chapter 2: The Breakthrough Agreement 41. - Chapter 3: The Question of Enrichment 59. - Chapter 4: The Rocky Road to the Final Agreement 73. - Chapter 5: The Regional Implications 93. - Chapter 6: U.S.-Iran Détente: Moving Beyond a Troubled Past 109. - Chapter 7: Nuclear Issue and Iran's National Security 127. - Chapter 8: Iran, the Geneva Agreement, and the Future of the NPT 153. - Conclusion 169