Laleh Gomari-Luksch Phd Thesis
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REALISM, RATIONALISM AND REVOLUTIONISM IN IRAN'S FOREIGN POLICY: THE WEST, THE STATE, AND ISLAM Laleh Gomari-Luksch A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2018 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13719 This item is protected by original copyright Realism, Rationalism and Revolutionism in Iran's Foreign Policy: The West, the State and Islam Laleh Gomari-Luksch This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of St Andrews May 2018 Realism, Rationalism and Revolutionism in Iranian Foreign Policy Abstract Iran’s foreign policy is consistent and is fundamentally realist with a revolutionist vision while the means are rationalist is the main argument of this dissertation. I make use of the English Schools three traditions of realism, rationalism and revolutionism in analyzing the speeches of Iranian statesmen to identify the ways in which the dynamics of the three traditions have evolved since 1997 and what it means for interpreting the developments of Iran’s foreign policy ventures. I utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis in examining the speeches of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, the presidents since 1997. The quantitative method employs a customized software generating figures that represent the recurrence of realist, rationalist and revolutionist terminologies in all the documents downloaded from the official websites of the Iranian statesmen as well as the United Nations and select news agencies and affiliates. The quantitative phase of the analysis, meanwhile, carefully examined selected statements of the supreme leader and the presidents uncovering the foreign policy argumentations and justifications, which were studied alongside foreign policy actions and classified under the three traditions. The findings suggest that Iran’s foreign policy is the same as in the other states of international society – it is consistent and dynamic. It is simultaneously realist, rationalist and revolutionist with each tradition serving a specific purpose, which cannot be disentangled from the other two. 2 Realism, Rationalism and Revolutionism in Iranian Foreign Policy For my family 3 Realism, Rationalism and Revolutionism in Iranian Foreign Policy Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 8 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 9 1 Chapter One: Introduction and Related Literature Review .............................................. 10 1.1 Central Thesis ........................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Historical Background .............................................................................................. 12 1.3 Perspectives on Iran’s Foreign Policy ...................................................................... 13 1.3.1 Identity-based Perspectives .................................................................................. 14 1.3.2 Interest-based Perspectives................................................................................... 19 1.3.3 The Holistic Perspective Approach ...................................................................... 23 2 Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 27 2.1 The English School Approach .................................................................................. 28 2.2 The Three Traditions ................................................................................................ 31 2.2.1 The Realist Tradition ............................................................................................ 32 2.2.2 The Rationalist Tradition ..................................................................................... 35 2.2.3 The Revolutionist Tradition ................................................................................. 37 2.2.4 The Three Traditions Together............................................................................. 41 2.3 The Contemporary International Society: Norms and Institutions .......................... 46 2.3.1 Sovereignty ........................................................................................................... 50 2.3.2 Non-intervention .................................................................................................. 52 2.4 Institutions of International Society and the Three Traditions ................................. 54 2.4.1 Diplomacy ............................................................................................................ 57 2.4.2 Balance of Power ................................................................................................. 59 2.4.3 International Law ................................................................................................. 61 2.4.4 Great Power Management .................................................................................... 63 2.4.5 War ....................................................................................................................... 64 2.5 Joining the Three Traditions and the Classic Institutions ........................................ 67 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 67 3 Chapter three: Methodology ............................................................................................. 69 3.1 The Political Discourses of Iranian Statesmen ......................................................... 70 3.2 Digital Data Gathering and Mixed-Methods Analysis ............................................. 72 3.3 The Quantitative Phase of Analysis ......................................................................... 74 3.3.1 Establishing the key phrases from the theory ....................................................... 74 3.3.2 The Software: Compount ..................................................................................... 76 3.3.3 Deriving the percentage values of each of the traditions ..................................... 78 4 Realism, Rationalism and Revolutionism in Iranian Foreign Policy 3.3.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Quantitative Analysis Method................. 79 3.4 The Qualitative Phase of Analysis ........................................................................... 80 3.4.1 Choice of Texts .................................................................................................... 80 3.4.2 Potential Bias ........................................................................................................... 81 3.4.3 Questions for the qualitative analysis phase ........................................................ 82 3.4.4 Connecting the discourses with Iran’s foreign policy actions .............................. 82 3.4.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Qualitative Analysis Method................... 83 3.5 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................ 84 4 Quantitative Analysis ....................................................................................................... 87 4.1 General Overview of Sample ................................................................................... 87 4.2 Speeches of the Presidents and The Foreign Minister ............................................. 92 4.3 A closer look at the Datasets .................................................................................... 97 4.3.1 The Khamenei Dataset ......................................................................................... 97 4.3.2 The UN Dataset .................................................................................................. 102 4.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 106 5 Khamenei’s Foreign Policy Discourse ........................................................................... 108 5.1 The West versus Islam: the realist pretext for revolutionism ................................. 110 5.1.1 Hegemony of the West: The Evil realists ........................................................... 111 5.1.2 The Power of the Islamic Revolution and sovereignty ...................................... 114 5.2 Follow Iran – the champion of self-sovereignty and rationalism ........................... 116 5.2.1 Iran’s Democracy and Diplomacy ...................................................................... 119 5.2.2 Criminality of the Great Satan: breaking international law ............................... 122 5.2.3 Iran’s leadership ambition .................................................................................. 126 5.3 The Dawn of an Islamic Awakening and revolutionism ........................................ 128 5.3.1 A United Islamic Front ....................................................................................... 131 5.3.2 The Hajj as Training Grounds ............................................................................ 134 5.3.3 The Attack of the West ......................................................................................