Strategic Studies Quarterly

Abstract The assumption that there exists a firm correlation between meanings and objective structures, and that aspects of various theories can be understood by analyzing structures shapes the foundation for this article’s analytical framework. The author tries to grasp a number of influential teachings in the discussion of Islamic security by investigating the pattern of the Prophet’s governments as a valid Islamic pattern in the realm of politics and government. In doing so, the author discusses the structure of the Islamic society under the Prophet from two perspectives including: the social structure perspective and the political point of view. While discussing social structure, the alternative pattern of Ummah as contrasted to the dominant pattern of tribe is studied and in the second discussion, the power structure based upon responsibility vis-à-vis the power structure founded on domination is offered. The critical and analytical considerations set out by the author presents certain Islamic teachings with respect to security. According to the author, this security can be referred to as the theory of Ummah security, drawing on the Prophet’s state model. This theory revolves around three premises including the amalgamation of belief borders and territorial limits, the combination of religious exigencies and territorial interests, and finally the mixture of statecraft and liberation.

Abstract National security refers to the states’ capabilities to maintain their independent identities and applied integrity (population, territory, and assets). Political geography constitutes one of the branches of human geography on whose objective aspect is emphasized in the filed of security studies. This field largely deals with the phenomenon of state or organized political sphere in general and examines the state apparatus, elements, characteristics and behavior. Hence, political geography focuses mainly on various dimensions of state including the causes of emergence, position, political center, territorial characteristics, nation, political system, political structure, space, spatial pattern of distribution of power, relationships between the state and other states, national strength, the management of territory model, and relations between various levels of the states and citizens in the administration of the country’s affairs. The literature on security in political geography has attracted the attention of political geographers as well as geopoliticians. The research conducted in this field is mainly characterized by its realist and state-centric outlook, while with the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of new actors like non-governmental organizations (active in areas of environment, human rights, and so on) and multinational companies as well as the importance being attached to discussions of minorities and tribes, the state has been challenged as the only actor active in the arena of national and international relationships.

Abstract Delving into Imam Khomeini’s views and thoughts, the author analyzes Imam Khomeini’s epistemological foundations which are either consistent or inconsistent with the territory-based concept of national security and the cognitive relationship between those two foundations. That is because it is of the utmost importance to explore the relationship between national security and the concept of territoriality that seeks to preserve society, population, citizens, and the political regime governing a specific territory, and universal religions and the thoughts of religious authorities who claim the management, direction and improvement of the world.   The author acknowledges that Imam Khomeini may not be simply regarded as a scholar of security studies, but he also believes that he still attracts the attention of political scientists, practitioners and intellectuals as a political leader as well as an intellectual reformer. Belief in his intellectual achievements and attachment to his political teachings continue to shine as an essential source in thinking and updated policy-making. Now the question raised here is what the place of territory-based concept of national security is in Imam Khomeini’s thought system. Furthermore, how can this concept be located in his viewpoints in a meaningful and justified way, and what are the epistemological bases of Ummah-centrist tendency and nationalism in his outlook?

Abstract The consistency of consolidated legitimacy with the continued power constitutes the basic presumption of security in modern states, and the rulers in the today’s world need the trust and popularity on part of the ruled. This correspondence is not of less importance in the Islamic Republic when compared to other regimes, because its focal point has not shifted from the inside to the outside yet. Hence, this article seeks to present a narrative of the process of legitimation within a strategic context, using a discoursive method. On this basis, discoursive change in the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy has formulated three main discourses on legitimation as follows: essential discourse, instrumental discourse, and procedural discourse. The analytical narrative of this article is founded upon the process of change in such discourses according to the articulation of such criteria as the degree of recurrence, limits of discursive shift, statement discipline, and the methods of rejection which in sum lead the author to the hypothesis that the current situation represents the end of legitimiation in the Islamic Republic’s system. In other words, having passed the stage of establishing legitimiation, the Islamic Republic of Iran has entered the phase of meta-legitimiation. The parameters providing the contingency of discourses in the new age include linkage character, the priority of utterances, and the recurrence of interpreted discourses. The inability to understand this level of discoursive shift and adapting to it results in the crisis and disruption of the state’s adaptive function. Moreover, empowerment in this area will promote the degree of recurrence and the level of discipline of legitimizing statements.

Abstract This article explains the principles and rules governing the restrictions on the application of rights and freedoms. The bases of such principles and rules are more possible to explain and analyze by exploring the history of the codification of human rights instruments on the one hand and their influence in the domestic law order on the other. Hence, the author tries to describe, define and explore the extent of the universal application of human rights category. Human rights can be viewed as rights that people enjoy simply because of their humanity. This moral outlook justifies their claim to universality, despite the existence of all cultural, social and economic differences among nations. Emphasizing this universality, this article extrapolates three principles specifying the restrictions placed on the application of rights and freedoms by the states in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which include: “provided for by law,” “pursuing a legitimate objective,” and “necessary for a democratic society.” Although there can be found certain cases restricting human rights and the principles governing their application in the important international instruments, the aforementioned provisions have been formulated more clearly and suitably in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Abstract Human security describes conditions in which the grounds are provided for the removal of material and spiritual human needs simultaneously and constantly. This attitude was included in the agenda of institutions and individuals when traditional outlook on security failed to respond to the challenges in this area as insecurity increased at the national and international levels with the expansion of world developments. The discussions raised regarding human security (topic, issues, challenges, and the quality of evaluating and enhancing it), in spite of useful theoretical explanations, have heightened its conceptual ambiguities. Stressing on the practical aspect and placing the idea of human security at the center of foreign policy discussions, this article rethinks the concept of human security. While offering a comprehensive, consistent, and precise definition, it provides the possibility of measuring and reinforcing it. Writers, with coining and defining the concept of ‘generalized poverty,’ have defined human security as “the number of years of future life spent outside of a state of generalized poverty.” This definition can be included in the academic and research agenda for assessing and enforcing human security in the areas of risk assessment, prevention, preservation and compensation of those risks’ consequences, through using quantitative and statistical instruments. This article mainly aims to recognize the threats to human security and to strengthen human security versus those threats.