scholarly journals Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC): More Than A Branch Of Armed Forces

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAMZA DEMIREL
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Military Force ◽  
State Security ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Long Run ◽  
State Sponsorship ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
State Sponsorship Of Terrorism

This study aims at analyzing the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) extraterritorial activities in attaining Iran’s foreign policy goals. The regime has deliberately supported several armed non-state actors to achieve the goals, particularly as seen in its relations with Lebanese Hezbollah and Shia groups in Iraq, the IRGC has served as a node in providing a broad range of state support. Although the IRGC has the characteristics of conventional armed forces, its extraterritorial activities contradict the legal frame of ‘use of military force’ and mostly fit the characteristics of ‘state sponsorship of terrorism.’ Moreover, these activities challenge international norms and provoke other regional actors. This condition creates an obstacle to Iran’s integration into the international system which is increasingly globalized and interconnected and an environment which is costly to live within and leaves it isolated. These attitudes paradoxically place Iran in a situation that challenges the goals of ‘state security and survival’ and ‘becoming the regional power’ in the long run. Thus, it is argued that the real reason behind the regime’s insistence on this strategy is preserving the current political system and the power of current ruling elites; in brief, it is labeled ‘regime survival’ in this study.

scholarly journals The Limited Role of the Japanese Military: The 2003 Iraq War and the War on the Islamic State

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mieczysław P. Boduszyński ◽  
Christopher K. Lamont ◽  
Philip Streich
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Security Threat ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Defensive Realism

What determines Japan's willingness to flex its limited military muscle abroad? While analysts and scholars closely watched Japanese "militarization" under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012-2020), Japan had already deployed its military overseas over a decade ago in support of U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. By contrast, in 2014, Japan was unwilling to support U.S.-led operations against the Islamic State (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria. This presents a puzzle, as the fight against ISIL offered the kind of international legitimacy that the 2003 Iraq invasion lacked, and Japan traditionally seeks. Moreover, ISIL had killed Japanese citizens. This paper explains Japan's varying policies in Iraq in 2003 and 2014, thereby shedding light on the determinants of Japanese national security policy more generally. Our argument focuses on domestic political factors (especially the pluralist foreign policymaking) and strategic thinking rooted in realism. We argue that Japanese policies are driven by domestic politics, profound suspicions about the utility of military force and fears of becoming entangled in a seemingly never-ending conflict. While Koizumi may have had more room to manoeuvre despite long-standing public opposition to overseas military deployments when he dispatched the SDF to Iraq in 2003, it is precisely such deeply-entrenched popular anathema that many blame for the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) historic and devastating loss in the 2009 election. Abe was unwilling to repeat such a risky venture in 2014. We also highlight the role of realist calculations on both Japanese elites and the public, who by 2014 had come to see China rather than state or non-state actors in the Middle East as a primary security threat. We thus confirm Midford's finding that "defensive realism" tends to drive Japanese foreign policy thinking. Japanese citizens are not pacifists, as conventional wisdom might hold. Instead, Japanese public opinion supports the use of minimum military force when and if Japan is attacked to defend Japan's national sovereignty and territory but is much more suspicious of such power when it comes to deployments and the pursuit of other foreign policy goals.

Some Facts and Processes Related to the Turkish Population in the Razgrad District from the Late 1950s and in the 1960s and 1970s through the Documents of the Bulgarian State Security

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-286
Author(s):  
Dimitar Petkov
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Turkish Population ◽  
Central State ◽  
State Security ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Intelligence Services ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
State Archives ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War

From the late 1950s and in the 1960s and 1970s of the XX century the Bulgarian communist party pursues a policy in Bulgaria of detachment of the Turkish population in the country from its fundamental religious and cultural environment. This article discusses some facts and processes from this policy of the Bulgarian communists in the Razgrad district. Basically, this is done through documents of the Bulgarian state security (from the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Armed Forces). Documents from Bulgarian central state archives were also used. In this region among the Turks operates the Turkish intelligence services. The Turkish propaganda is very well developed here. The Bulgarian government and Turkey use the Turkish population in the Razgrad district (also in whole Bulgaria) for their own purposes. In the long run this population, not only in the Razgrad district, but also in the entire country becomes “a burning issue” in the political relation between Bulgaria and Turkey – two countries separated by the ideological conflict of the Cold War.

scholarly journals Refugees and National Security: Two South Asian Case Studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-55
Author(s):  
Partha S Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South Asian ◽  
International System ◽  
Afghan Refugees ◽  
Host State ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Host Nation

Among non-traditional threats to security, the problem of refugees is an important one. Because of political turmoil in several parts of the world, refugee flows are going beyond the capacity of the international system of handle. In South Asia, because of the ongoing conflict between two major nations, India and Pakistan, the issue assumes a serious dimension. We can understand this by studying the following two case studies: the Bangladesh war and the Afghan war. In both cases, the number of refugees was massive and in both cases, America was the principal external actor. But while in the case of Bengali refugees, the host state tried to take advantage of the situation for promoting its foreign policy goals, in the case of Afghan refugees, the host nation tried to use the situation to promote its foreign policy as well as domestic political goals. Although every host state had to face unforeseen consequences, in the long run, it underlines the relevance of the discourse of the refugee-security interface.

scholarly journals Iran's Foreign Policy Toward Iraq Crisis After 2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Zohreh Ghadbeigy ◽  
Masoumeh Ahangaran
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
International System ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Major Player ◽  
Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽  
National Power

To achieve national objectives and interests, different countries adopt specific orientations and strategies according to their domestic needs and geopolitical conditions, and based on the structure of the international system. In this regard, Iran's national power components, including strong national government, geopolitical position, and ideological elements, provides this country with a leading role in regional issues. Iran's strategic and geopolitical position, attained through its connection to some issues in the Middle East, provides it a context for serving the role of a regional player. This focus of Iran's foreign policy on regionalism safeguards the country's national interests in the long run. Thus, the Islamic Republic of Iran not only acts as a major player in the Middle East, but also upholds decisions to strengthen its position and to promote its national interests. At present, Iraq crisis is one of the central issues of Iran's foreign policy decisions in the region. In this study, we intended to discover the performance of Iran's foreign policy in Iraq crisis based on the components of its national interests. The investigated hypothesis is developed based on a realistic logic from the perspective of Iran's national interests including political-strategic and economic-commercial interests, as well as development model of Iran-Iraq cooperation.

The President’s Constitutional Authority to Use Limited Military Force

1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip R. Trimble
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Presidential Power ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
United States Intervention

The United States intervention in Haiti concludes another chapter in the development of the constitutional common law of presidential power. The Haiti experience further confirms the constitutional authority of the President to deploy armed forces into hostile foreign environments, and to initiate the use of force without prior, specific congressional authorization. The facts of the situation limit the “precedent” to small-scale interventions where the risk of major military engagements, either initially or upon escalation, is negligible. The cases of largescale hostilities, like Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, are quite different in fact and perhaps also in law. But the Haiti “precedent,” coupled with the recent interventions in Grenada and Panama and innumerable examples earlier in history, strongly supports an unqualified presidential power to carry out small-scale military operations in support of foreign policy goals.

scholarly journals Bezpieczeństwo państwa — czynniki miękkie

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-180
Author(s):  
Henryk Spustek ◽  
Alicja Paluch
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
National Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
State Security ◽  
Important Message ◽  
Safe State ◽  
Soft Factors

NATIONAL SECURITY — SOFT FACTORSThis article is divided into three parts, in the first part it is explained what social capital is, and its role in national security is depicted. In the second part, the problem of the importance of social rules in the construction of social capital is discussed. The third part of the article is the culmination of the analysis and shows the role of soft factors in the process of building national security. The quality of social capital depends on how the society works. It is strongly related to other pillars of state security, including the armed forces. The most important message from the content of this article is the statement: a strong society means a safe state.

The Problem of Identifying and Modeling the Relationship between Monetary Factor and Inflation in the Russian Economy

2008 ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
A. Porshakov ◽  
A. Ponomarenko
Keyword(s):  
Money Supply ◽  
Money Demand ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Complex Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Supply Side Factors

The role of monetary factor in generating inflationary processes in Russia has stimulated various debates in social and scientific circles for a relatively long time. The authors show that identification of the specificity of relationship between money and inflation requires a complex approach based on statistical modeling and involving a wide range of indicators relevant for the price changes in the economy. As a result a model of inflation for Russia implying the decomposition of inflation dynamics into demand-side and supply-side factors is suggested. The main conclusion drawn is that during the recent years the volume of inflationary pressures in the Russian economy has been determined by the deviation of money supply from money demand, rather than by money supply alone. At the same time, monetary factor has a long-run spread over time impact on inflation.

The Role of Technological Change in the Long-run Global Economy Forecasting

2013 ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Apokin
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The World ◽  
National Economies

The author compares several quantitative and qualitative approaches to forecasting to find appropriate methods to incorporate technological change in long-range forecasts of the world economy. A?number of long-run forecasts (with horizons over 10 years) for the world economy and national economies is reviewed to outline advantages and drawbacks for different ways to account for technological change. Various approaches based on their sensitivity to data quality and robustness to model misspecifications are compared and recommendations are offered on the choice of appropriate technique in long-run forecasts of the world economy in the presence of technological change.

THE EFFECT OF THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR ON THE MILITARY MEN VALUE BASED ORIENTATION FORMING

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
ALEXEY ROMAKHIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Russian Army ◽  
Religious Factor ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Military

This article reveals the problem of the role of the religious factor in the formation of the value orientations of the military personnel of the Russian army from its inception to the present state. In the article, the author reveals the significance of the Church in the formation of the value orientations of military personnel. The problem of religious situation in foreign armies is considered. The article presents data from sociological studies confirming the increase in the number of religious servicemen in the modern Armed Forces. The concept of “religious factor” is revealed. The author suggests considering the influence of the religious factor on the formation of value orientations through the functions of religion. The article provides examples of the influence of religion on the formation of value orientations of military personnel from the time of the Baptism of Russia to the present. Examples of writers of Russian classical literature about the influence of religion on the morale of troops are given. Examples of religious participation in major battles and wars of the past years are shown. The significance of the religious factor in uniting the people and the army is shown. The work of officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation in strengthening values among military personnel in modern conditions is demonstrated. The role of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, General of the army S.K. Shoigu in strengthening the faith of the Russian army is outlined. Issues related to the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces and its impact on the public masses were discussed. In this study, the author aims to show the significant role of religion in the formation of value orientations in Russian military personnel. The analysis shows an increasing role of religion in the minds of military personnel in modern conditions.

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