https://www.iess.ir/en/issues/political Fri, 25 Apr 2025 15:50:58 GMT /skins/default/en/normal/ch01_newsfeed_logo.gif https://www.iess.ir/ 100 70 en Copyright (c) Institute for East Strategic Studies, all rights reserved. Fri, 25 Apr 2025 15:50:58 GMT Political 60 https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3966/ The Iran-Tajikistan relationship presents several opportunities and challenges. The opportunities include the presence of a large majority of Persian-speaking and Iranian-origin populations, as well as the predominance of Muslims in Tajikistan, and Tajikistan’s geographical proximity to Afghanistan. This creates the potential for the establishment of a "geocultural axis" based on Persian culture and civilization, which could provide a strategic vision for both Iran and Tajikistan. ]]> Central Asia Wed, 05 Mar 2025 07:37:32 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3966/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3893/ General orientation of Trump’s foreign policy towards Central Asia reflects levels of both continuity and change in the region. The prominent feature of this strategy is its “pragmatism,” which could yield unfavorable outcomes in Trump’s negative approaches to Iran, Russia, and China in Central Asia. The experience of Trump’s previous presidency has proven that the only way to balance this pragmatic behavior is to respond with a similar pragmatic approach, which, within the framework of Iran-U.S. tensions in Southwest Asia, led to some results. In Central Asia as well, Iran will inevitably need to adopt greater pragmatism in the upcoming period. ]]> Central Asia Sat, 28 Dec 2024 07:44:50 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3893/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3835/ As the increase in the budget deficit, along with the increase in the military budget, has increased public discontent against the army in Pakistan, the Pakistan government and army are thinking of increasing the export of defense products, collecting revenue, expanding foreign relations, and reducing the import of weapons. But due to the diversity of Pakistan's defense needs, low technology level, limited foreign relations, and Pakistan's administrative and political problems, all these plans have structural limitations. ]]> Pakistan Mon, 14 Oct 2024 03:23:47 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/3835/ https://www.iess.ir/en/note/3778/ The 14th government is expected to maintain and strengthen the neighborhood policy approach of the 13th government towards Central Asia, while dealing with structural weaknesses, and implement a more pragmatic foreign policy (regardless of the interactions with the West or security developments in Southwest Asia) towards this region. Therefore, as a strategic implication, strengthening Iran’s pivot to Central Asia in order to compensate for the strategic backwardness in the last decade is very important. ]]> Central Asia Mon, 29 Jul 2024 07:23:05 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/note/3778/ https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/3755/ Today's international arena is very unstable. If the Zionists commit more heinous crimes in Gaza, or commit aggression against Lebanon, Syria or Iran, the situation may worsen. In this case, the ruling circles of Central Asia must choose which side they want to support: The Zionist regime and its Western allies; Or Iran, China and Russia (forces that are in favor of reforming the current international relations system). In any case, due to the adoption of a multilateral policy, these countries are unlikely to remain on the sidelines. ]]> Central Asia Sun, 16 Jun 2024 11:10:04 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/3755/ https://www.iess.ir/en/roundtable/3686/ IESS's specialized meeting on "Central Asia's view of interaction with Iran; Tehran's Opportunities and Challenges" was held with the presence of Iranian and non-Iranian experts. ]]> Central Asia Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:47:32 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/roundtable/3686/ https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/3559/ The strategic policy of the Central Asian countries is now affected by the developments in Afghanistan, and especially the Ukraine crisis. The escalation of conflict between Russia and the West, and the Taliban coming to power in Afghanistan, have forced many major players to pay more attention to Central Asia. Therefore, the popularity of the meetings in the form of 5+1 which is Central Asia plus the U.S / China / Japan / India, as well as Central Asia plus the European Union, and Central Asia plus the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states indicate the competition of influential powers in the region to increase their influence in Central Asia. ]]> Central Asia Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:14:30 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/3559/ https://www.iess.ir/en/roundtable/2543/ A roundtable discussion was held by the Institute for East Strategic Studies (IESS) about the tensions in the Saudi Arabia-Pakistan relations. ]]> Afghanistan Sun, 24 Jan 2021 06:41:55 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/roundtable/2543/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2408/ Following the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the collapse of the bipolar world, the US military invasion of Afghanistan provided a unique opportunity for the White House officials to pursue their dream of a unipolar world and show their superior power. The U. S interpreted the Islamic fundamentalism as opposed to its hegemonic power and defined its new enemies based on their relationships with the terrorist networks. That was why the U.S., with the aim of expanding its influence in Afghanistan (Which is of geopolitical importance), launched the war on terrorism and targeted the Taliban government due to their support of al-Qaeda. The importance of Afghanistan led the United States to use the concept of "ideological heartland" alongside the old concept of heartland (which had geographical features) in order to pursue its policies in the region, including in Afghanistan, as part of the Greater Middle East strategy. ]]> Afghanistan Thu, 31 Dec 2020 08:40:09 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2408/ https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/2501/ The replacement of US President Donald Trump by a Democratic candidate like Joe Biden would be a major change that will affect the US policies in various regions of the world, including Central Asia. Biden has repeatedly traveled to Central Asia during Barack Obama's presidency and is favoring close ties with some of the regional leaders. However, he is the candidate of the Democratic Party and we should expect strict policies regarding human rights, democracy, and political-economic reforms in Central Asia. On the other hand, the Biden administration's views towards the Afghan peace process can also influence Washington’s policy towards Central Asia. ]]> Central Asia Sat, 26 Dec 2020 06:38:57 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/interview/2501/