Nation branding concerns the overall perceptions toward a country at the international level. Different countries acquire different branding based on their positive characteristics and advantages, such as economy, culture, politics, governance, tourism, etc. The question that may be posed here is that, whether religious branding, as an important type of branding, can be identified and introduced to the world. Can religion branding be a positive and decisive element in raising a country's profile, enhancing its soft power, and subsequently spreading a positive image of a nation? Currently, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expanded its sphere of influence and power through religious branding, although this power is anti-systemic and at odds with the structure and norms of the international system. By analysing the religious dimension of the branding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, this article concludes that Iran has been able to develop its religious branding in the world, which has an Ummah-centered and global dimension. Such development of branding contradicts the dimensions and components of nation branding and internationally accepted norms, resulting in the international system regarding Iran as an anti-international order and revolutionary country.
The democratisation and economic growth of the Asian Tigers, specifically South Korea and Taiwan, brought structural changes to the academic systems of these countries, particularly in the fields of political science and international relations. The article aims to provide a comprehensive and hybrid view on the regularity of political science in the academic environments (university systems) of East Asian countries with a focus on South Korea and Taiwan through the observational analysis method and a historical-sociological mechanism. The findings are summarised, where it is argued that the pentagonal democratic citizenship system (legal, political, cultural, social, economic) as well as the establishing of structural and updated political-economic relations with the main powers in the international system are the two crtitcial factors that have contributed to the adjustment of political science in East Asian countries, including South Korea and Taiwan. The article concludes that, along with the international and domestic developments in South Korea and Taiwan, political science underwent structural changes and is becoming more regulated and structured. Keywords: South Korea, Taiwan, political science, democracy, institution
Four decades after the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the rise of the Islamic Republic (IR) system, several anti-IR groups have emerged. In the past, the disorganized structure of these groups, their flaws, and dissonance over a common criterion to support or oppose IR and its activities posed some obstacles to their unity. However, over the last decade, they have reached consensus over the subversion of the IR. As a decentralized and disorganized social movement emerging in the wake of 2017 and 2019 protests, this discourse has gained momentum among the political activists, and more people are joining this trend every day, and it is very popular on Persian language social media, especially on Twitter. Loss of faith in the reforms of the IR is one of the issues upon which this discourse movement has reached a general consensus. By exploring and describing the main signifiers of the disorganized subversion discourse in Iran, the article seeks to identify its major characteristics through the qualitative-descriptive analysis of Farsi Twitter content. The research method was the content analysis of Farsi Twitter hashtags of the most popular user accounts belonging to the subversive movement in Iran by extracting the main signifiers and their discourse analysis to examine the main characteristics of the subversion discourse in Iran after 2017.
The Sunnis in Iran are among the Muslim minorities with a specific internal, political, and social structure and relations. They play a significant role in Iran’s foreign and domestic policy. Many researchers have considered a link between the name of Iran and Shiism as well as the relations established by Shia groups in the Middle East. The paper aimed to examines and identify the internal relations and structure of Sunnis based on the characteristics of reform movements by focusing on Sunnis as a reformist social movement. This study identifying the internal structure and international interactions of the Sunnis in Iran based on two different political perspectives governing this minority. In addition, this paper considered the political orientation of the Sunni minority in Iran as an inclusive social movement and a social sub movement. As the Sunnis in Iran may represent an inclusive socio-religious movement with some radical tendencies, they can also be considered and analysed as a sub-movement related to the larger pro-democracy movement, due to their civic demands on the Shia regime ruling Iran.
Drawing on the theoretical framework of the Copenhagen School of Security Studies, the paper"s aim focuses on the role of the Nord Stream pipeline in the Russia-EU political and security relations, considering its securitization following the Ukraine crisis and Russia"s military intervention against this country. The paper, utilizing the comparative analysis method and securitization theory, argues that in the past, the Nord Stream pipeline significantly contributed to maintaining friendly relations between Russia and the EU, assisting the two parties in determining foreign policy positions and flexibility. However, following the Ukraine crisis and the subsequent development of mistrust and increased military threats, this pipeline has lost its position and stabilizing role, and it no longer fulfills its previous function of fostering relations between the EU and Russia. The paper concludes that after the Ukraine crisis, it became securitized, and rather than holding a constructive role, it has adopted a threatening role for the EU and its Western allies, especially the US.
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