Iran's Science Diplomacy in the South Caucasus Case Study: The Republic of Azerbaijan

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

university of tehran

Abstract

 
During the years subsequent to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Islamic Republic of Iran has been experiencing many new opportunities and threats in its immediate neighbourhood, of which, South Caucasus is a complicated and geopolitically important part. Major transformations on the global and regional scenes have affected the ways and tools at the disposal of policymakers to realize national interests. Now it is widely acknowledged that science diplomacy can play an effective role in achieving foreign policy goals. Most of the regional and transregional rivals of Iran have made science diplomacy a part of their Caucasian policy. In the following article we will address this question: What role has been played by public diplomacy in the relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan & how it can contribute to this relationship in the future? Our main hypothesis is that considering the remarkable capacities of Iranian universities and research centres the science diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the South Caucasus has not been formed in an active way.

Keywords


1. ابراهیمی، شهروز، طالب ابراهیمی و صفی‌الله شاه‌قلعه (1393)، «بررسی تأثیرهای ژئوپلیتیکی روابط ترکیه و اسرائیل بر منافع ایران در حوزۀ خزر»، مطالعات اوراسیای مرکزی، دورۀ 7، شمارۀ 2، صص 195-218. 2. خبرگزاری جمهوری اسلامی (2/7/1390)، «رییس آکادمی اکو انرژی باکو اهتمام ایران به دانش را ستود»، < http://www.irna.ir/fa/NewsPrint.aspx?ID=2000136839> (تاریخ دسترسی: مرداد 1395). 3. خبرگزاری جمهوری اسلامی (19/12/1394)، «قدردانی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی جمهوری آذربایجان از دانشجویان ایرانی»، http://www7.irna.ir/fa/News/81997007/ (تاریخ دسترسی: مرداد 1395). 4. خبرگزاری فارس (7/6/1395)، «دیپلماسی علمی رژیم صهیونیستی، ابزار و اهداف»، http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13950606001780 (تاریخ دسترسی: شهریور 1395). 5. دیپلماسی علم و فناوری (5/12/1393)، http://www.techdiplomacy.ir (تاریخ دسترسی: مرداد 1395). 6. سایت جامعه‌المصطفی (29/4/1393)، «گزارشی از اقدامات نمایندگی المصطفی در جمهوری آذربایجان»، http://miu.ac.ir/index.aspx?fkeyid=&siteid=1&pageid=161&newsview=52121 (تاریخ دسترسی: مرداد 1395). 7. سایت خبری-تحلیلی قفقاز (30/8/1392)، «امضای توافق نامه همکاری بین دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران و دانشگاه طب جمهوری آذربایجان»، < http://qafqaz.ir/fa/?p=4242> (تاریخ دسترسی: مرداد 1395). 8. عباسی، مجید و سید محمدرضا موسوی (1392)، «روابط جمهوری اسلامی ایران و جمهوری آذربایجان، بسترهای همگرایی و زمینه‌های واگرایی»، مطالعات اوراسیای مرکزی، دورۀ 6، شمارۀ 2، صص 80-61. 9. عطایی، فرهاد (1391)، «ایران و کشورهای قفقاز جنوبی»، مطالعات آسیای مرکزی، سال پنجم، شمارۀ 10، صص 136-119. 10. کولایی، الهه (1389)، سیاست و حکومت در اوراسیای مرکزی، تهران: سازمان مطالعه و تدوین کتب علوم انسانی دانشگاه ها (سمت). 11. کولایی، الهه (1389)، «جمهوری اسلامی ایران و ژئوپلیتیک قفقاز جنوبی»، فصلنامۀ ژئوپلیتیک، سال ششم، شمارۀ اول، صص111-75. 12. کولایی، الهه و شیوا علی‌زاده (1395)، جستارهایی پیرامون مسائل دریای خزر، تهران: مرکز آموزش و پژوهش های بین‌المللی وزارت امور خارجه. 13. مهدی‌اف، رامیز (1390)، جمهوری آذربایجان: مطالبات دوران جهانی شدن، ترجمۀ رضا جلیلی‌نیا و رعنا فرامرزی، قم: انتشارات نوید اسلام.
1. Alili, Ahmad (2015),‟Azerbaijan and Iran after the Sanctions: The Pathways of Advanced Engagement and Confrontation”, http://www.cesd.az/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Azerbaijan-and-Iran-after-the-Sanctions.pdf (Accessed on: Aug. 2016). 2. Caucasus University Association, http://www.kunib.com/ (Accessed on: Aug. 2016). 3. Committee on Global Science Policy and Science Diplomacy; National Research Council (2011), ‟U.S. and International Perspectives on Global Science Policy and Science Diplomacy: Report of a Workshop”, available at:< http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13300> 4. Demir, Cennet Engine & Co-authors (2000) ‟The role of Turkish schools in the educational system and socialtransformation of Central Asian countries: the case of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan”, Central Asian Survey,Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 141-155. 5. Embassy of the United States in Baku (2016), (Accessed on: Oct. 2016). 6. European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (2013), ‟Azerbaijan: Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013”, 7. Fedoroff, Nina V (Jan. 2009), ‟Science Diplomacy in the 21st Century”, Cell, No. 136, pp. 9-11, available at:< http://ac.els-cdn.com/S009286740801636X/1-s2.0-S009286740801636X-main.pdf?_tid=7c779268-4a26-11e5-877a-00000aacb35 f&acdnat=1440396666_eeba8e016def0ae68fd72995865769c2> 8. Flink, Tim & Ulrich Schreiterer (2010), ‟Science Diplomacy at the Intersection of S & T Policies and Foreign Affairs: toward a typology of national approaches”, Science and Public Policy, Vol. 37, No. 9, pp. 665-677. 9. Fominykh, Alexey (2010), ‟Projecting Soft Power: American and Russian Public Diplomacy in Post-Soviet Central Asia”, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Vol. 11, Issue 3, pp. 66-77. 10. Guseinov, Rashad (2008), ‟The Main Development Trends in Bilateral Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel”, The Caucasus and Globalization, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp. 41-48. 11. Jackson, Alexander (2011), ‟The Limits of Good Intentions:The Caucasus as a Test Case for Turkish Foreign Policy”, Turkish Policy Quarterly,Vol.9,No.4. 12. Koolaee, Elaheh & Mohammad Hossein Hafezian (2010), ‟The Islamic Republic of Iran and the South Caucasus Republics”, Iranian Studies, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 391-409. 13. Institute for War and Peace Reporting (9/2/2016), ‟Azerbaijan Continues Anti-Gulen Campaign”, 14. Ismailzadeh, Fariz (Feb. 2016), ‟A Breakthrough in Iran-Azerbaijan Relations”, http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/13330-a-breakthrough-in-iran-azerbaijan-relations?.html (Accessed on: Aug. 2016). 15. Marquardt, Kyle L. (2011), ‟Framing Language Policy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Political Symbolism and Interethnic Harmony”, Central Asian Survey, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 181-196. 16. Melissen, Jan (2005),‌ The New Public Diplomacy, New York: PalgraveMacmillan. 17. Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (2016), ‟ CIS Branches of the Russian Higher Educational Institutions”, < http://en.russia.edu.ru/zvuz/1067/> (Accessed on: Oct. 2016). 18. Motika, Raoul (2001), ‟Islam in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan”, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, Vol. 46, No. 115, pp. 111-124. 19. Nye, Joseph S. (2004), Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, New York: Public Affairs. 20. Peter Berg, Lutz (2010), ‟Science Diplomacy Networks”, Politorbis, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 70-74. 21. The Royal Society (Jan. 2010), ‟The New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy”, available at: < https://royalsociety.org/policy/publications/2010/new-frontiers-science-diplomacy>. 22. Tokluoglu, Ceylan (2005)‟Definitions of National Identity, Nationalism and Ethnicity in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1990s”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 722-758. 23. Turekian, Vaughan C. & Norman P. Neureiter (March 2012), ‟Science and Diplomacy: The Past as Prologue,” Science & Diplomacy, Vol. 1, No. 1, available at: http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/editorial/2012/science-and-diplomacy 24. Turekian, Vaughan C. (2012),‟Building a National Science Diplomacy System”, Science & Diplomacy, Vol. 1, No. 4, < http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/editorial/2014/educating-for-science-diplomacy> 25. Turekian, Vaughan C. & Tom C. Wang (March 2014), ‟Educating for Science Diplomacy” Science & Diplomacy, Vol. 3, No. 1, available at: http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/editorial/2012/science-and-diplomacy 26. Study in Turkey (2016), ‟International Students Mobility Statistics”, < http://www.studyinturkey.com/content/sub/mobility_statistic.aspx (Accessed on: Sep. 2016). 27. Emil Souleimanov & Maya Ehrmann (2013), ‟The Rise of Militant Salafism in Azerbaijan and its Regional Implications”, Middle East Policy Council, < http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/rise-militant-salafism-azerbaijan-and-its-regional-implications> 28. Souleimanov, Emil, Maya Ehrmann & Huseyn Aliyev (2014), ‟Focused on Iran? Exploring the rationale behind the strategic relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel”, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 14, No.4, pp. 471-488. 29. Tafuro, Eleonora (2014), ‟Fatal Attraction? Russia’s Soft Power in its Neighbourhood-Analysis”, Eurasia Review, http://www.eurasiareview.com/29052014-fatal-attraction-russias-soft-power-neighbourhood-analysis/ 30. Valiyev, Anar (July 2005), ‟The Rise of Salafi Islam in Azerbaijan”, The Jamestown Foundation, < https://jamestown.org/program/the-rise-of-salafi-islam-in-azerbaijan/> 31. Wagner, Caroline S. & Co-Authors (2001), ‟Science and Technology Collaboration: Building Capacity in Developing Countries”, Rand, Science and Technology Policy Institute. 32. Yanik, Lerna K. (2004),‟The Politics of Educational Exchange:Turkish Education in Eurasia”, Europe-Asia Studies,Vol. 56, No. 2. 33. Zewail, Ahmed H. (2010),‟Science in Diplomacy”, Cell, Vol. 141, No. 2, pp. 204-207.