Strategic Studies Quarterly

Abstract Intelligence organizations, with their expertise and experience in clandestine and covert actions, are a crucial channel for establishing secret diplomacy between countries. This helps guide and reassure politicians and diplomats. The goal of secret diplomacy is to assess the true intentions of other countries and create a conducive environment for establishing official diplomatic relations and future cooperation. Understanding the real intentions of the other parties, particularly their reliability, is a key application of secret diplomacy. This links intelligence and diplomacy together, based on the necessity of measuring reliability, without the intelligence agency monopolizing this task. However, the primary research question is: what is the relationship between intelligence and diplomacy, and how and when does secret diplomacy promote cooperation and trust between competitors? The hypothesis is that intelligence and diplomacy have a two-way and mutual relationship and intelligence-security organizations play a role in interacting with the diplomatic apparatus through secret diplomacy to discover the real intentions of the negotiating party/parties. The results indicate that the continuation of secret cooperation depends on the long-term interests of cooperation outweighing the benefits of intelligence disclosure. The research method is descriptive-explanatory in nature and employs a qualitative methodology based on the type of data. Data collection techniques include library research, internet research, objective observations, and field studies.
 

Abstract This article studies the role of legislature branch in creating security and recounting the causes and roots of inefficiency of parliaments in performing their securing functions and recognizes the necessary conditions for parliament to govern national security and how to achieve these conditions. In this regard, the role of the Islamic Consultative Assembly in good security governance in Iran will also be discussed. Parliaments need institutions such as free, fair and frequent elections, freedom of expression, alternative sources of information, independent organizations, and integrated citizenship to consolidate national security. Economic progress, the absence of a wide gap in economic and social inequalities, the existence of democratic cultural foundations (such as tolerance of dissent, consensus on the democratic method, etc.), non-preference of individual, ethnic and group interests over national interests and lack of foreign intervention are some tools for the continuity and proper functioning of parliament in order to strengthen national security. Until the aforementioned conditions and equipment are provided, no parliament, including the Islamic Consultative Assembly, will be able to perform its functions optimally in order to increase the national security coefficient.

Abstract This article argues that although critical thinkers such as Yoram Peri, Oren Barak, and Gabriel Sheffer point to the independence and influence of Israel's army in the civil area, they disregard large parts of these interferences, which results in ignoring key issues in the relations between the Zionist regime's government and army. Israel's army exerts influence on the government and civil society organizations through four major ways: providing the government with political advice and strategic intelligence, shaping the public opinion in Israel, the army ruling over the occupied territories under the pretext of fighting against the Palestinian intifada, and military officers assuming the most important posts in the political arena. This article brings this issue into the spotlight that although Israel's army has failed in certain periods to advance its agenda, it exerts profound influence on the regime's policies by using various mechanisms.
 
 

Abstract  Abstract: Given the recent developments in Turkey, the question is that how the clash between the government and the Kurdish opposition party as well as the failed coup de eta against Erdogan government will affect the internal gaps and future politics of the country. According to the hypothesis of this paper, the authoritarian and ideological approach of the AK party (nationalistic and Islamist), Especially of its leadership, i. e. President Erdogan,  and it's not willingness to solve the problems caused by the gaps between the Alavids, Sunnis, Turks and Kurds, welcome pie did domestic gaps more and more and so will extend and escalate the political crisis in Turkey.    

Abstract This article measures and analyses the relation between religious democracy and national security. Author explains these concepts from practical point of view. He describes and explains national security in religious democracy from Copenhagen approach, using qualitative content analysis method in analyzing the vision document of Islamic Republic of Iran. He concludes that the concept of national security in religious democracy is compatible with broad concept of national security in Copenhagen school. He claims that regardless of some strong points in societal, social and human security, there are tangible deficits in environmental, economic and social vulnerabilities which have negative security impacts. To restore the shortcomings in security aspect, author suggests national security annex for every policy, analysis of missions from security aspects, to socialize security which means to base security in society and at last to empower security research institutions.

Abstract This article tries to review the relation between democracy and national security in less-developed nations. Since there are some limits on civil and political freedoms in less-developed countries in the name of national security, and democracy has had some unpleasant impacts on national security in these kinds of nations, author tries to analyze this issue.  This article shows that democracy and civil institutions of democratic system can correct and facilitate the flow of data, match outputs and inputs in political system, and coordinate components of political system with its functional environment, and help to increase national security factors. This occurs through functions like making social cohesion, increasing political capacity, increasing the legitimacy of system, positive effects on nation building process, and adapting elites discourse with social discourse.    

Abstract The role of Intelligence in statecraft is one of the main issues of Intelligence studies and political science. This article with a focus on the role of intelligence in religious democracy as a kind of modern state, tries to distinguish the status of intelligence in this system. Authors argue that intelligence is a tool of expediency diagnosis and a tool of religious democratic rules consolidation. They also claim that there is no difference in intelligence functions among religious and non-religious democracies. Albeit, they argue, limiting rules and intelligence control practices in religious democracies are more that non-religious ones.    

Abstract Regime change could have different local, regional and international impacts. The more political, security and cultural ties of a regime, the more change impacts it cause. Although, the intensity and depth of regime's friendship and enmity, has a vital role in depth and scope of change impacts. This article assuming that regime change and democratization in Bahrain would have strategic impacts, tries to study these impacts in different levels of analysis. Shia power in Bahrain, increases of Shia power in region, changes in geopolitical structure of region, transformation of friendship and enmity models in Persian Gulf, are among impacts of regime change and democratization in Bahrain.

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Future Iraq is a resultant of past and present situation, tendencies and trends of the effective internal and external actors, the future chances and challenges and their positive and negative internal and regional effects. This essay tries to give a strategic assessment of the future Iraq through criticizing the idealist scenario which tells us about the new Iraqi constitution and the strategic aims defined by it for the future: creating democracy inside Iraq and peace seeking in its foreign policy. The writer has used the structuralism approach to investigate this scenario and to give a strategic assessment of the future Iraq. According to this approach, the history, geography, culture and political economy of Iraq confines the idealist scenario and causes a struggle between ideals and realities.

Abstract Geography of elections is one of the most relatively old concepts of the science of political Geography that assesses the interaction between space and place, electional processes, variety of decisions and vote results of voters of different regions, effectiveness of space differences of political behavior and shaping of polling stations.   Deviding territory to Polling – stations with specific borders and in proportional with geographical charactristics, general acceptance and electorial laws are preconditions of election and appointing the representatives of the people. This geograplical limites as a context for electing representatives in various local, regional and national levels, have an certain effect on the combination and founction of political institutations of the state. Thus, dividing territory to polling – stations based on numerus territorial, cultural and populational factors and applying geographical information systems, is the main focuse of Geography of Elections.

Abstract After Occupation of Afghanestan andIraqfollowing september 11 events, Unintentionally United States has enhanced the Position of Islamic Republic of Iran in the region. This unintentional consequence and Iran's attempt for achiving to nuclear energy, has forced America by overstating the threat of Iran for the region, to exploit from existed divides and paradoxes in the middle east for containment and underminng Islamic Republic of Iran. Accordingly, there woruld be a kind of convergence between America, Europe, Isreal, Arab States and sunni foundamentalists opposit Iran and shitte groups in Iraq and south lebanon that it is a threat against interests and national security of Islamic Republic of Iran.