Essay on Sharq Newspaper January 25, 2022 -
The original text is in Persian and the following translation was done by Ai.
One of the characteristics and features of our society today is the massification of the country's foreign policy. In the sense that society has become more sensitive to foreign relations than can be found in other societies or even in our own past. Of course, a large part of this sense was common following the Islamic Revolution and especially with the anti-imperialist spirit that prevailed at that time, but the reality is that the nuclear issue, especially since it was accompanied by economic sanctions, has made society more sensitive to foreign policy, and especially nuclear diplomacy.
Of course, it should be noted that, like any other specialized subject, international relations and foreign policy are the subject of academic disciplines and have nuances and subtleties that can only be taken step by step by equipping oneself with them: One of the aspects of foreign policy is that the diplomat is in the face of the most experienced teams in its sensitive confrontations and scenes, and therefore his technical expertise - not in the sense of rumor and simply being up to date on the issues - and being an expert in the matter, both theoretically and operationally, are essential for any success in this space. Along with this specialization, social feedback and possibly the support that foreign policy feels from the nation behind its actions can be one of the most important features and characteristics that, by the way, empower efficient diplomacy. From a specialized perspective and without partisan and current biases, it should be said that what is considered today as relations with the East (including China, Russia, India, Japan, etc.) is inevitable and, by the way, in the interest of national interests. China is the emerging reality of the current transitional period in international relations, and Russia, despite not having much economic and technological power, can play a suitable role in establishing security and military balances and providing us with weapons.
At the same time, it should be noted that one of the most important potential problems in today's foreign policy is the cognitive problem. The fact is that international relations today are in a transitional period and have a fluid and uncertain order. However, if this meaning is not taken into account in foreign policy calculations, it can cause problems at the strategic and operational levels.
There are three types of views in the world that are contrary to the transitional view of international relations: 1. A tendency that evaluates the prevailing order in international relations as still the Cold War and the bipolarity of East and West, 2. A view that believes in the hegemony of the power of the United States and tries to consider the order of the international environment as a stabilized and unipolar order after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and finally 3. A view that hastily sees the international environment as having a multipolar order.
But the reality is that the current era is an era that does not have the precise characteristics of any of the above arrangements. The East does not have the previous cohesion and Cold War relations: Russia does not have the economic power to confront the West, and China, which has great economic power, does not fundamentally dream of such a constant conflict, the United States has weakened and is no longer the security and technological hegemon of the world, and the European Union has not yet found its place in the international order. On the other hand, emerging countries and powers are on the horizon, whose role in many international equations cannot be ignored. The transition period, of course, has characteristics that are worthy of elaboration, but the reality is that the costs and benefits of policies adopted in the foreign relations of countries during the transition period are greater than in the period of established order. That is, mistakes made in a fluid international environment, due to the more expansive hand of countries, have more fundamental and lasting effects for that country, and vice versa.
What needs to be taken care of is especially the Cold War perspective on international relations and the country's foreign policy based on this. Especially in developing relations with the East, any kind of partisanship, as was customary in the era before the collapse of the Soviet Union, should be avoided and it should be kept in mind that basically the East itself, i.e. its major countries and above all China and Russia, do not look at Iran or the international environment within the framework of the Cold War. In fact, it should be kept in mind that the superpower of the East, i.e. China, is the largest trading partner of the United States and Europe, and this has largely pushed security and military relations down from the top of importance for this country. China is basically not burdened with the securitization of the international environment and its foreign relations: an arena in which the United States is trying to drag China into due to its relative superiority.
Therefore, the foreign policy of the country should be regulated in such a way that it is free from the influence of the irrelevant Cold War perspective and, in a comprehensive plan to secure the national interests of the country, establishes a balance between the major parties that, first, does not become a cheap partner for any party and, second, can ensure and reduce the cost of containing the high expectations of each party by the presence of the other party in the balance of its foreign policy equations. This is the type of foreign policy that medium-sized countries can adopt to exploit the maximum potential of the international environment in transition for the benefit of their national interests.
Meanwhile, creating an international space and establishing relations with multiple parties reduces this cost and becomes a tool for containing forces that may enter our foreign policy. This is of course a difficult task and requires special expertise and skills among both policymakers and diplomats.
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