"We belong to the future, the tyrants belong to the past" : the Islamic Republic of Iran's regime's foreign policy discourse and behaviour in the period 2005 until 2011

Abstract

The foreign policy ideology that is communicated by the rulers and foreign policy makers of the Islamic Republic of Iran between 2005 and 2010 builds on the identification of Iran as a changed nation through the 1979 Revolution, and presents Iran as an example for other nations in a changing world. This dissertation shows how Iran's foreign policy behaviour can be made sense of in the context of this ideology. For this purpose, Iran's foreign policy behaviour, regionally and internationally, is discussed against the background of the ideology as communicated by Iran's president and supreme leader as to show this behaviour was made possible in the context of the discourse. Also, the dissertation provided two case-studies, one on the nuclear issue and one on the 2009 events, to show how the discourse on these specific issues stands in relation to foreign policy behaviour, and how this fits with Iran's broader discourse. It show's how the Islamic Republic's foreign policy behaviour is not only made possible in the context of ideology, but ideology is also reinforced through foreign policy. Particularly, as Iranian leaders are engaged in an active shaping of the international order to the advantage of the Iranian regime and the goals they see for the Iranian nation.