FUNCTIONING Soft Power Diplomacy in Foreign Policy: Iran as a Case Study

Abstract

Objectives: The concept of soft power is considered one of the most important fundamental variables in the field of regional and international relations. Soft power played a major role in implementing the foreign policies of international regional actors, including Iranian foreign policy

The research paper aims to study the impact of employing soft power in implementing Iranian foreign policy by focusing on studying the foundations of Iranian soft power, the role of that power in Iran's foreign policy orientations and the opportunities that support its success

In order to move forward with the policy of Iranian influence in the Arab popular milieu, Iran established many cultural and social centers, in many African and Latin American countries, in addition to establishing many religious and cultural activities, and establishing many civil society organizations in Arab countries such as Iraq. Syria and Lebanon have many satellite channels, newspapers, magazines and radio stations, most of which are funded by Iranian embassies and consulates abroad, and most of them aim to market the Shiite image mixed with Iranian nationalism, and to attract many. Arab and African youth

Methods : The study adopts an analytical, inductive approach that relies on uncovering facts by starting from the details, then proceeds gradually to laws, general rules, and the college, where the parts of the conceptual framework of soft power will be discussed.

At the same time, we explained the challenges that stand in the way of escalating the role of soft power in Iranian foreign policy, and the recent scene in the reliance of Iranian foreign policy in the future on the concept of smart power as a strategy to face the challenges that hinder the achievement of Iranian foreign policy goals regionally and internationally

Results:  Our research treatment of the issue of the impact of employing soft powers on Iranian foreign policy as one of the main engines of implementing Iranian foreign policy

An objective analysis was carried out accompanied by a scientific investigation and logical conclusions based on the method of analysis away from repetition and repetition and came out with several conclusions, including the following:

Should Iran's strategy toward the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa be a strategy of military superiority only, or a bilateral strategy based on employing both soft and hard powers through deep engagement?

Conclusions : The debate about the success of the strategy of employing soft power in Iranian foreign policy is based on a logical and objective excuse that it lacks solid experimental ground

Including the dedication of two phenomena:

The first: Promoting the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih through public diplomacy in African and Latin American countries, and this was done through Iran's ambassadors abroad, as well as cultural consulates and political relations with Islamic organizations and movements, as they serve as important power centers in Iranian public diplomacy, and they reinforce the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih

After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the notion of velayat-e faqih was enshrined into the Iranian constitution, with Khomeini taking on the role of supreme leader until his death in 1989. Today, velayat-e faqih is the sole source of political and religious authority for Iran’s supreme leader, now Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei

The second: The religious factor was one of the most prominent obstacles in the way Iran uses its soft power, because (the principle of the jurisprudence of the jurist) was an obstacle to its goal of regional leadership or in generating sufficient soft power to enable it to achieve its regional leadership, or to achieve this goal without relying on hard power.

In fact, this element (the principle of the jurisprudence of the jurist) has often played a negative role in achieving the regional isolation of Iran, especially in the Arab Gulf region.

And when Iran intends to rely on the sectarian factor to mobilize the Shiite minorities in the region and is unable to prove that it does not deal with sectarian politics in many stations, and the tension in the Bahraini-Iranian and Saudi-Iranian relations is the best evidence of the rejection of Iranian proposals based on the principle of exporting the Iranian revolution abroad, especially In the Arab Gulf region

Rather, Iran failed miserably in Iraq and Syria as a result of its reliance on sectarian policies that were rejected by both peoples in these two countries and adhered to the principle of citizenship and loyalty to its homeland instead.

Keywords : FUNCTIONING . Soft Power Iran   . Diplomacy . Foreign Policy.

‫ * DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-6-02

Publication date:March 31^st 2021