Neighborhood Policy

The importance of the historical study of the Russian and Ottoman neighborhood policy lies in the fact that, in addition to the importance of these two countries in geographical, social, cultural, political and economic dimensions, a large number of Iran's neighboring countries were somehow under the control of these two empires before independence. In this research, the historical process of Iran's relations with these two important neighboring countries has been studied using the descriptive method and discourse analysis of Lacla and Moufe with the approach of historical institutionalism. The results show that during the lifetime of the Ottoman Empire until the disintegration of this empire, coinciding with the Safavid to Qajar governments, we witness two neighboring discourses. The discourse of the first period, the discourse of structural divergence, later with the change of political, economic and social geography and the requirements of the world system, this discourse turns into the discourse of minimal convergence. The discourse of "structural divergence" was formed on the centrality of the neighborhood policy based on the tyranny of the kingdom. The discourse signs of structural divergence included geographical dominance, expansion of religious ideology, political divergence, economic divergence, and world trade. The minimal convergence discourse is based on the centrality of the political signifier based on the court's understanding of global realities. The semantic system of this discourse is based on the main signs of acknowledging the existence of the neighboring country, the unbalanced weight of different aspects of the relations between the two countries, and the continuation of divergence alongside convergence. However, in comparison, the central sign of the discourse of the neighborhood with Russia is tsarist imprudence and court tyranny, and the main signs are passivity against Russia's expansionism, "military weakness in exercising territorial sovereignty, weakness in attracting the Iranian peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and giving in to disgraceful agreements." they give. With the formation of the Soviet Union and the beginning of a new discourse, Russian expansionism in Iran in its territorial form ended and the chapter of ideological confrontations between communism and capitalism began. The discourse of Iran's neighborhood policy with the Ottomans and Russia is like two pieces of a puzzle that are both complementary and effective on each other's growth. If Iran's neighborhood policy regarding Russia and Ottomans had the same importance for Iran's ruling body, it is possible that a different historical path would have been established for the region and Iran.

Neighborhood policy can be explained by various strategies throughout different eras and actors, important states like China, the European Union (commonly referred to as "neighborhood policy"), Turkey with its "zero tension with neighbors" approach, India under the "Neighborhood First" policy, and Iran, which has developed its own "Neighborhood Policy." Essentially, neighborhood policy is defined as a strategy that prioritizes relationships with neighboring countries within a nation’s foreign policy framework. This article seeks to address a key question: Is Iran's implementation of its neighborhood policy a strategic choice or a short-term necessity stemming from specific challenges, such as sanctions? The hypothesis of this research posits that Iran's adoption of this policy is primarily a functional necessity in response to pressing foreign policy issues. However, it also suggests that this policy could evolve into a long-term strategic framework if it expands into other areas.

Due to external factors (like sanctions) and internal issues (such as poorly managed privatization and banking), the country's economic performance has been disappointing over the past decade, with economic growth averaging less than 2%, inflation over 20%, and negative 5% fixed capital formation. Consequently, the country now falls into the category of low-income nations in international reports. Additionally, the loss of the golden era of revenues from crude oil sales has increased restrictions on the government's access to programmable financial resources. Therefore, to address these challenges, Iran must reconstruct its trade flows and explore new economic activities, particularly through economic diplomacy with neighboring countries. This effort should also involve defining new areas for economic activities. For this reason, while it is possible to view economic diplomacy through conventional political definitions as a means to enhance a country's standing in the international arena by promoting foreign trade and creating new markets, in our country, economic diplomacy should be regarded primarily as a strategy to navigate the current challenges facing the national economy. Within this context, among other states, Russia is identified as a key partner for enhancing trade. The conclusions of this research identify the most significant trade obstacles between Iran and Russia as follows: A) Inadequate business infrastructure, B) poorly organized foreign trade activities, and C) The complexities of international political economy. Conversely, the principal solutions to enhance trade levels include A) strengthening infrastructure, B) fostering joint investment opportunities rather than solely focusing on exporting goods, C) enhancing the information and marketing sectors, and D) diversifying the range of exported goods.

In the context of efficient governance, all the pillars of any political system in the 21st century use their capacities to secure and guarantee national interests as facilitators and complements of the state, whereas in the past this was the sole responsibility of the states. The role of parliaments in this field, which is referred to as parliamentary diplomacy, falls within the aforementioned framework. In this regard, the of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, as an active parliament in the field of multilateral parliamentary diplomacy, has participated in the establishment of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC). In addition, by constantly attending the meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, it has emphasized its importance in international relations. Therefore, in the present article, using documents and library resources by reading texts in an exploratory method in response to the question of what achievements the Islamic Parliament of Iran has made in the framework of parliamentary diplomacy, This hypothesis is examined based on the rational choice institutionalism, Although the Islamic Parliament of Iran has turned to multilateral parliamentarism in recent years, efforts to strengthen it as a complementary and facilitating diplomacy through cooperation with the parliaments of neighboring countries are a constructive step.