Mohammadreza Hafeznia; Fatemeh Janahmadi; Ahdiyeh Atashi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
A state is an administrative organization which is established based on the public will and consent in a special human group. Hence, a state with its all kinds is an administrative, political and military set whose special functions are realized in the frame of political ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
A state is an administrative organization which is established based on the public will and consent in a special human group. Hence, a state with its all kinds is an administrative, political and military set whose special functions are realized in the frame of political management of the space.
The state of Muhammad, Prophet in Medina, was the first Islamic state in the history of Islam. This state which was based on a monotheistic worldview and charismatic leadership of the Prophet transformed the classic structures of Arab Peninsula and framed a new form which has been the latter states’ main principle. In fact, the emergence of Islam and the establishment of an Islamic state by the Prophet in Medina put an end to tribal hegemony and started a new Islamic sovereignty which had not been experienced by the Arab Peninsula people.
Fundamental evolutions in social actions and behaviors, changes in the forms of social classes, break of the norms of the ignorance era, the establishment of Quran-based social values, evolution from ignorance discourse to Islamic discourse resulted from the establishment of Islamic rules, and the establishment of a just Islamic state in Medina as well as toleration of the writers and creation of dialogue between the civilizations and neighboring powers are the main motivations of doing this study which intends to find out how the political management of the space in the era of Prophet Muhammad was and what the facets and indices of his management were; the facets which were famous among Islamic statesmen as political behaviors of Muhammad Prophet.
Method
This research is an interdisciplinary one done in the domains of history and political geography. Thus, historical references related to the issue are listed after the preliminary studies in the research background section. Using a historical method and analysis of proposed statements from the references, the research is intended to infer, explain, and generalize the data and answer the research questions.
Results and Discussion
In this research, we investigate the criteria for the political management of space in the era of the holly prophet of Islam. Assumptions of this investigation are aligned with the main question of the research in three components, namely, political facets of the space, defense and security facets, and foreign policy facets. Each issue has been analyzed and investigated using library and historical documents.
Three facets of political management of the space in the era of the Prophet Muhammad and its principles are investigated as follows:
Political facet of the space: In this section, different levels of political management of the space (local, regional and central) in the era of the Prophet, and the duties and responsibilities of each level are extracted and explained from historical references.
Defense and security facet: In this facet, political and security strategies of the Prophet Muhammad are studied and expounded. Strategies like avoiding from prejudice in relation with internal opponents, establishment of peace treaties like Sahif al-Nabi treaty, treaty of lack of encroachment, Hodaibie peace treaty and brotherhood contract are all studied.
Foreign policy facet: The main principles of foreign policy of the Prophet Muhammad are as follows: mixture of tolerance and decisiveness, the superiority of invitation over war, peace, development of peaceful relations and foreign relations, respecting other states’ rights, rejection of non-Muslims hegemony, and principle of diplomacy and negotiation.
Conclusion
Investigating the state pattern of the Prophet regarding three facets of political management of the space showed that in spite of being novel, his state was a preliminary and optimal kind of political management of the space. He could manage all of diverging forces in tribal organization and formed a united society called Ummah by the division of labor and social orientations. The political frontier of the Islamic sovereignty was recognized and a civilization structure called Medina al-Nabi, which was distinguished from Yasreb, was established.
Rather, Prophet could provide security and multilateral defense by creating a united military force, and he could reach a balance of power with rivals and enemies by establishing diplomatic relations with great powers. He administrated the state with a unitary decentralized pattern; a type of political system based on which the united Arab Peninsula and consequently Ummah were established and a new mechanism was framed which was a pattern for latter governments and agents.
Mahdi Bazargan; Mohammad Rahim Rahnama; Mohammad Ajza Shokouhi; Seyyed Hadi Zarghani
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction
Today, robbery, as one of the most widespread and abusive kinds of crime in most of the countries including Iran, has become a widespread and serious problem that has various social, economic and security dimensions. Over the past few decades, with the advent of advanced ...
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Introduction
Today, robbery, as one of the most widespread and abusive kinds of crime in most of the countries including Iran, has become a widespread and serious problem that has various social, economic and security dimensions. Over the past few decades, with the advent of advanced tools, crime mapping has become a major issue for scholars and thinkers in analyzing and distributing geographic spatial distribution of crime, in order to examine the spatial perception of criminals with greater spatial accuracy. Crime analysis, and in general, geographic crime studies look for spatial representation of criminal acts to know how to disperse crime, and identify mass crime cores. The main purpose of this kind of attitude and analysis of crime is to provide patterns to reduce the incidence of crime in the urban space. Studies show that some urban spaces have higher rates of crime due to their physical, social and economic characteristics, and vice versa, some spaces prevent and deter crime within themselves. On the other hand, it has been proven that criminal offenders often make logical choices and seek the simplest, least risky and most suitable opportunities and conditions for the time and place for committing crime. Accordingly, the study intends to identify and analyze the spatial masses of burglaries in the Mashhad metropolis.
Therotical Framwork
Theft is to steal something secretly. The crime center is the area where the average crime rate is more than the periphery. This place can be a house, a street corner, a shop or any other place.
Unprotected urban spaces are areas of cities that are more suitable for crime than other physical urban areas. The occurrence of crime in one place produces an outline map, in which the spatial distribution of offenses is well represented. It also shows the flow of basic crime patterns in the region. Time-based patterns of crime can be displayed seasonally, monthly, weekly, and day-to-day. The most important spatial patterns of crime are as follows: A) Scattered pattern: In this pattern, crime is spread throughout the study area and is not clustered or concentrated like the status of houses that are located across the scope of the robbery due to the inadequate design features of these locations. B) Cluster Pattern: These types of criminal events are clustered in one or more special spaces within the scope of the study. For example, sports stadiums can be be the focus of a myriad of offenses related to vehicles. C) Point pattern: This particular type of crime conforms to a particular criminal location. For example, shopping mall parkings in the center of a busy city can be of such kind where all delinquency events are created in a special place.
Method
The method of research in this research is purposeful, applied and descriptive-analytical. ArcGIS and Surfer softwares were used to analyze the data. The statistical population of the study, including theft crimes, occurred in the time period from 2011 to 2016 (9152 cases) in Mashhad, the information was obtained from the awareness police of Khorasan Razavi province.
4 .Results and Discussion
The results of the research show that between 2011 and 2016, the highest rate of theft occurred was in the year 2015 and the lowest rate was in the year 2012. Among the areas of Mashhad, zone 11 of Mashhad with 0.26% in 2015, the lowest level of theft and zone 2 with 17.16% in 2011, has the highest rate of robbery. Also, the highest rate of robbery is in Samen area. The results of the standard deviation test indicate that the depth and direction of development of theft in the city of Mashhad stretch from the northwest towards the southeast. After investigating the spatial distribution of high crime scenes during 2011-2016, Khawja Rabih area was identified as the main center for theft.
5 .Conclusion
In the new millennium, due to the expansion of urbanization and the emergence of metropolitan areas, a variety of urban issues including increased crime rates have become particularly evident. Crime is a phenomenon in which human beings with all the facilities and scientific advancements have not been able to control it and increase it.. In fact, delinquency is a very complex social phenomenon that can be seen in different social environments. The source of delinquency must be sought in the social and economic structures and the disadvantages they derive from them. In the case of a spatial and temporal context, the grounds for crime and its repetition are provided, and over time, a geographic environment becomes a mass crime center.The results of the present study show that corrupt crime pillars in Mashhad are often located in defenseless urban spaces such as marginalized areas and worn out texture. Thus, plans must be made to control and reduce crime in these areas.
Isa Piri; Leyla Hashemi
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction
Sanction is conceptualized as the restricting trade and economic activities of a society or political unit in order to put it under pressure in the course of compliance and control. Gilpin (2003) maintains that economic sanction means intervention in economic relationships ...
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Extended abstract
Introduction
Sanction is conceptualized as the restricting trade and economic activities of a society or political unit in order to put it under pressure in the course of compliance and control. Gilpin (2003) maintains that economic sanction means intervention in economic relationships with a political import. To put it another way, economic sanction is the hegemonic action of a higher power against a subaltern country, and a reaction to a behavior undesirable of the hegemonic player. In the context of finance capitalism and transformations of a globalizing economy, the US and the EU are the main players and activists in the geography of central capitalism and usually make use of economic sanctions as a means of changing the political behavior of countries Geography of capitalism as the role model of socio-economic order emanated from the free market economic system, and also from the hidden hand of supply and demand of goods, services, and desirable price entails inequality and a win-lose game. In other words, center-periphery capitalism results from a hierarchical system of economic power. Economic sanction thus indicates the non-coordination of the political and economic spheres of neo-liberalism in the foundations and principles reflected over by political and economic groups in the course of moving from governmental capitalism and Keynesianism toward unorganized capitalism and neo-liberalism in the 1980s.
Theoretical Framework
The transformation of capital circulation’s nature from production spheres of goods and services to finance capitalism, fanatic stock trading, and so forth is rooted in neo-liberalization of economy and political governance, indicating deregulation, privatization, a minimum interference of state in the market, and an increasing appreciation of private ownership institution. Shrinking government means leaving more room for private sector and multinational companies, which more than ever employ political sovereignty. Nation-state hegemony was achieved through investing public resources in the course of marketing of their own products and also producing a new geography for company’s capital circulation. The advent of neoliberal theory in 1947 owes to Mont Pelerine Society spearheaded by Friedrich August von Hayek and the membership of renowned scholars like Ludwig von Mises, Frank Knight, George Stigler, Karl Popper, and Milton Friedman (Harvey, 2005). Neo-liberalism maintains that maximizing the range of transactions’ achievements based on market and increasing such transactions’ number would maximize community benefit; hence, it makes an effort to engage all human actions in the market domain. One of the main paradoxes of finance capitalism is the systemic risk whose proportions could be extended and made more comprehensive by the economic sanction challenge. Systemic risk reflects the fundamental paradoxes of capital accumulation.
Method
Concerning the four main methodological paradigms of the humanities, it should be asserted that the present study is critical. Therefore, it adopts an explanatory approach with a documentary and library study design.
Results and Discussion
The transformation of capital circulation’s nature from production spheres of goods and services to finance capitalism, fanatic stock trading, and so forth is rooted in neo-liberalization of economic, political governance, indicating deregulation, privatization, a minimum interference of state in the market, and an increasing appreciation of private ownership institution. Neo-liberalism is basically a reaction to contemporary welfare-promoting government, especially in the power structure constructed by trade unions and governmental bureaucracy which are caused by destructing market system (Hettne, 1995). There was an increase in the OPEC oil production in the wake of Arab oil embargo of 1973 and also the accumulation of the capital generated from the petrodollars of oil-exporting countries in the US banks that provided the U.S. and U.K. banking system with a vast resources of wealth, which were desperately in need of new opportunities for investment and consumption markets beyond the crisis-stricken borders of welfare-promoting government and Keynesian geography. The capital circulation in the international setting and free trade, which ultimately culminated in the replacement of the GATT[1] with WTO was, thus, rooted in the same need of big and multinational companies. The establishment of the EU in 1991 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, the legal system of visa, Schengen citizenship, and the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were intended to encourage and promote neo-liberalism in socialist or social-democratic East European or Latin American countries in the 1980s in a way that it serves to extend the circulation of company capital geography and globalizing financial asset. However, the economic sanction of Iran reveals the paradox of the political system and economic one in the context of such a geographical resolution. In our view, the subject marking sanction, in general, and the Iranian sanction, in particular, as a representation of the paradox of two political and economic systems in finance capitalism is the issue of capital circulation.
Conclusion
To address the innate drawbacks and move away from the systemic risk and periodic crises of capital accumulation, national and international neoliberalism were suggested by a set of politicians (Margaret Thatcher Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon, 1980s), Homo Academicus (Mont Pelerin Society spearheaded by Friedrich August von Hayek and the membership of renowned scholars like Ludwig von Mises, Frank Knight, George Stigler, Karl Popper, Milton Friedman, and The Chicago Boys), urban spheres scholars (David Harvey, who was designing neoliberal spaces in urban planning in New York in 1960), Bankers like Lewis Powell (a strong band of investor bankers of New York who refused to extend the installments pay up and its liquidation, asked by the federal government in 1975, following their announcement that they would only withdraw their refusal upon the establishment of new institutions in the city’s budget), international institutions (such as the World Bank, FMI, and Bank for International Settlements), institutional tactics (deregulation, privatization of public services, shrinking government maneuvering space, and the vast financialism of economic activities), and fundamental thoughts like protecting Wall Street in the face of main street. Main Street means usual, ongoing, and public economic activities and functions of the city. By the way the neoliberals believed in the case of any problem arising from the relationship between the Main Street and the Wall Street, the government should take the side of the Wall Street. The fundamental principles of neo-liberalization were deregulation, privatization of public sphere services and national economy, financialization of capital, shrinkage of action sphere and jurisdiction of nation-states, etc. It is worth mentioning that all such efforts were intended to circulate capital freely and avail of the vast potential consumer market in the neighboring countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The free circulation of capital and removing political, economic, cultural, and geographic obstacles seem to fall short in the face of periodic crises as it is the case in the Iranian economic sanction representing the fact that besides other innate paradoxes challenging neo-liberalism and finance capitalism, there seems to be some type of non-coordination deep-seated in the political system relationships and a capitalist economic system. Whilst economic system seeks to open more geographic territories and borders for free circulation of capital and earning more benefits from far-off geographic areas, political system, imposing economic sanction on Iran, closes the opened borders to transnational companies and also fuels and deepens the debt crisis and stock market crash of the Wall Street and real estate crisis mostly emanated from the formation of investment bubble.
[1] General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Mahmoud Vasegh; Seyyed Abbas Ahmadi; Mohammadreza Hafeznia; Seyyed Mohammad Isanedjad
Abstract
Extended abstract
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the term geopolitics is widely used in various fields of study, and is used to analyze and explain political and geographical events at different levels. Unfortunately, despite the widespread use of this term, due to the dominance of the functionalist approach ...
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Extended abstract
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the term geopolitics is widely used in various fields of study, and is used to analyze and explain political and geographical events at different levels. Unfortunately, despite the widespread use of this term, due to the dominance of the functionalist approach in geopolitical studies, theoretical and conceptual dimension of geopolitics has been neglected and has not been considered so much by the experts. Therefore, some questions like what geopolitics is and what its notion is remain unanswered. The purpose of this article is to provide answers to the above questions through paying attention to the theoretical and epistemological dimensions of geopolitics, and due to the lack of theoretical research in this field, this article intends to provide a meaningful explanation of the nature and meaning of this term.
2 .Theoretical Framework
When we talk about science, of course, we must be in the realm of philosophy. In other words, what is stated, if be meticulous and exploratory, needs to be in the realm of philosophy of science. From the perspective of the philosophy of science, the new science has two logico and empirico attributes. Indeed, two pillars of the new science are logic-rationality and observation-experience. The problem is the inception of science. Science in the solution of the problems grows through the creation of hypotheses. The absence of problems equals the lack of science.
Every epistemic is knowledge of something, but epistemology is a cognition of self-knowledge. Epistemology is a cognition which, by deliberation of knowledge, discusses about the possibilities, types, ways, realms and the validity of it. The most important topic of epistemology is the discussion of the value and validity of knowledge and truth or falsity of propositions.
The term geopolitics was first introduced in 1899 by Johan Rudolf Kjellén. Historically, since Aristotle, the influence of geographic factors on politics has been considered. In the medieval, thinkers such as Montesquieu and in the Islamic civilization, Ibn Khaldūn and others have discussed about this issue. In general, it can be told that geopolitics studies international relations and conflicts from a geographical perspective.
3 .Method
This paper, because of its philosophical nature, is a fundamental-theoretical research, and in terms of purpose, it is a part of the problem-solving study (solving the philosophical - mental problems). According to its theoretical nature, the sources used in this paper are document and library resources. This paper has been developed within the framework of studies on the philosophy of science with a realistic approach and in the form of logical and epistemological descriptions and analyzes. The methodological accost to developing this research is critical rationalism. It is clear that this paper is written in the form of scientific-research articles.
4. Discussion
Geopolitik (Swedish equivalent of Geopolitics) is a solid compound noun. Unlike most compound words in European languages, it was not a bygone word, and it is not much older. Johan Rudolf Kjellén invented the term in 1899 under the influence of Friedrich Ratzel's doctrines. This word consists of two sections Geo (γη or γαια) and Politik (πολιτικα). Both sections are original Greek words and come from Latin to new European languages. However, how is this word from an epistemological perspective? As mentioned, this term is compound in nature, and consists of two distinct parts of Geo and Polytic. These two sections are different in nature. The first section, Geo, is a concrete, general, and essential phenomenon, but the second section, Politik, is not an essential phenomenon, rather it is an abstract and a dummy phenomenon (i.e., made by humans). According to this argument, the ratio of knowledge and value dominates between these two sections, and they relate to the subject of concrete and abstract theorems. Thus, in such a framework, the relationship between these two sections can be explained in this compound word.
5. Conclusion
But how we can analyzed geopolitics epistemological nature? The geopolitics concept is the product of three categories: Geographic Resources, At least two agents and the existence of a relationship of interaction, opposition, competition and domination between agents. All three cases are objective facts; however the concept of geopolitics is subjective and created in the mind.
In the context of Geopolitics’ conceptualization from the epistemological point of view, it must be said that this concept is created in the mind and with the help of reason by making a comparison between the three realities of Geographic source, at least two actors and the relation of interaction, opposition, competition and domination among them. Naturally, these three objective facets are concrete phenomena and make the geopolitics’ conceptual structure a rational abstract phenomenon.
The result of concrete and abstract combinations is nothing but an abstract combination. Due to the dual nature of the geopolitics’ components, (i.e., the concrete Geo and abstract politik), the combination of two parts of geopolitics itself will be an abstract phenomenon.
Ahmad Bakhshi
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction
Security and development are among the most prominent issues and concerns of countries and political players. In this regard, economists believe that free trade among countries can act as the impelling force in both development and security. Nowadays, especially ...
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Extended abstract
Introduction
Security and development are among the most prominent issues and concerns of countries and political players. In this regard, economists believe that free trade among countries can act as the impelling force in both development and security. Nowadays, especially after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the bipolar system, the expansion of external trade in the globalized world bears an exclusive position, whereas the release of trade markets has turned into the globalization symbol. Indeed, the regional integration process was shifted and strengthened to meet the needs and objectives of the various groups and regions, and in the realm of activity, a significant number of regional economic organizations were formed and demonstrated during this period.
Signing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and turning it into the World Trade Organization indicates the role of free trade and causing dependency among the countries. The regional convergence trend changed its direction in order to provide for the needs and purposes of groups and different geographical areas. As it was strengthened, practically a considerable number of regional economic organizations were established during this era showing that the economic power has become an important constituent element within political power, and even the military power in the international scope. The supporters of convergence believe that the opportunity provided by trade for a poor country, with the purpose of making up for the internal shortages, overcomes the losses due to the small size of the internal markets, accelerating its economical level of learning. In this respect, countries have focused on the principle of tending to regions as a result of the principle regarding the neighborhood and similarity and with the target of reducing the damages of globalization. They assume this is in line with the principle of becoming powerful.
Method
This research survived the impact of trade rules and regional economic convergence through the case study of Southern African Development Community (SADC) with an analytical method combined with statistical data.
3 .Results and Discussion
Africa is one of the world's richest regions, despite all its problems and challenges. According to numerous experts, Africa's broad sources are essentially vital for production of regional trending and globalization. The countries of this continent, just like many of the developing countries are keen on reducing their damages to the minimum level; therefore, they have considered regional convergence as a major tool in economic progress, intending to find a solution for their main concerns which are development, welfare and safety. The SADC goals in the first decade were to focus on political and security issues. Accordingly, the main goal was to reduce South Africa's dependence through regional cooperation and development. In the 1990s, with the end of apartheid and South Africa's membership, the issue of economic development was prioritized by SADC. In line with its economic goals and policies, the organization signed the SADC Commercial Code in 1996 and implemented it in 2000. This set of programs was launched in 2003 to accelerate economic convergence including strengthening interregional trade through trade liberalization, strengthening economic development in member countries, self-sufficiency in resources and establishing a free trade area. The relative liberalization of the SADC region has accelerated in comparison with other regional organizations of the African continent. For example, in 2013 the global export rate was about 20%, while that figure for South Africa and the South African Customs Union was 30%. This figure shows trade liberalization towards the 1990s.
4.Conclusion
Trade liberalism in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in comparison with another regional organization in Africa had accelerated. For example, in 2013, the world export rate has been 20 percent, but this data in SADC Region shares was 30 percent. In other words, the trade trends from 1995 until now show the increase of SADC Region share in the world trade from 1.5 to 2.1. It must be noted that this development originated from the attempts of South Africa after apartheid and change of geopolitics of war into the geopolitics of peace.
Mohammad Hossein Afshordi; Esmeil Alamdar
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction
West and Southwest Asia are the most turbulent geopolitical regions of the world. Over the past half century, this region has been the area of competition and the interests of major global and regional powers. Because of the special geopolitical situation in the western ...
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Extended abstract
Introduction
West and Southwest Asia are the most turbulent geopolitical regions of the world. Over the past half century, this region has been the area of competition and the interests of major global and regional powers. Because of the special geopolitical situation in the western part of Syria, the country has become an area of rivalry of powers. The Syrian crisis is different from other crises in the region in terms of gender, causes and outcomes, and the geopolitical factor plays an important role. However, recognizing the geopolitical interests of each of the actors is a key interfere.
Theoretical Framework
Geopolitics is the study of the interactions between geography, power and politics, and the actions arising from the combination of these elements with each other. Geopolitics presents a large picture and proposes a method for linking local and regional developments with the system and the global system as a whole. One of the basic concepts in geopolitics is geopolitical interest, which is supposed geographical and supra-geographical supplements across borders, which are structurally and functionally homogeneous to meet the needs and shortcomings of a country. Geopolitical interest somehow forms the basis of national interests and profits of countries. In geopolitical crises, interventionist countries seek their own national interests, which can be analyzed in the framework of the theory of balance of power. In other words, such countries in a critical geopolitical region are looking for their geopolitical interests based on their national interests; these variables can be analyzed in the framework of the theory of balance of power.
Method
The method used in this research is based on the descriptive-analytic approach and is a type of applied-development research. Regarding the nature and type of subject matter of the study, the collection of data and information has been carried out in a variety of ways and in general based on the library method and has been used from internal and external sources in this field. This research tries to explore the geopolitical interests of the most important actors in the above-mentioned levels in the form of a multi-level model with a descriptive-analytical method.
Results and Discussion
The geopolitical interests of Iran as the most important regional actor are maintaining and expanding the circle of resistance and expanding its geopolitical area in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, destroying the terrorist groups and cutting off their ties with the West-Arab-Turkish axis and defending the Shi'ite ideology. In contrast, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel, with the USA support, are also seeking to reduce the geopolitical and the geostrategic role of Iran and disassociate these resistance movements and their destruction. In addition, on the regional level, Turkey has a dynamic and complex position in its active presence in the West Asia and Syria. However, this instability in the regional policy of Turkey has made a confusion for its geopolitical interests. This has not made Turkey a success in pursuing its other geopolitical interests except for the hydrophilic Forat. Meanwhile, at a global level investigating this geopolitical crisis, Russia seeks to have a naval base and its hegemony overcome in West Asia, and on the other hand, the United States seeks to maintain its own interests in the Middle East and compensate for unsuccessful experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since each of them seeks to increase their global hegemony and expand their perspectives, their geopolitical interests are not close to the Syrian issue.
Conclusion
In the Syrian geopolitical crisis, the most important foreign actors on the regional level are Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, and Russia and the United States on the global level. These countries, while having common interests, have their own geopolitical interests. Iran, as one of the most important foreign actors, in addition to its ideological goals in Syria, has sought to achieve such interests as placing the Zionist regime in a geostrategic bottleneck and expanding the area of power of the ring of resistance with the help of Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the end, two points can be acknowledged: firstly, the main source of insecurity in the West and Southwest Asia is the Zionist regime, which, with its unshakable support, is trying to get rid of the geostrategic bottleneck and seeks to eliminate the flow of resistance with the support of the Western-Arab Front. Second, the issue of the Syrian geopolitical crisis, more than any other period in the history of the relations between Iran and Russia, brings together the geopolitical interests of the two countries and directs the two countries from a tactical alliance to a strategic alliance.
Ehsan lashgari Tafreshi
Abstract
Extended abstract
1. Introduction
In geographic sciences, one of the most important schools of methodology is the school of positivism. This school has had a special function in conceptualizing geographic sciences, including political geography. Political geographers affected by the positivism ...
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Extended abstract
1. Introduction
In geographic sciences, one of the most important schools of methodology is the school of positivism. This school has had a special function in conceptualizing geographic sciences, including political geography. Political geographers affected by the positivism school believed that the interactions between politics and space will lead to particular spatial form and processes which can be studied only within the framework of this school. One of the consequences of applying positivism is to create the potential for classifying and enclosing space and constructing a geographic scale based on the performance of a government or country. In this research, has been struggled to introduce a new category of how to understand the relationship between politics and geographic space in the positivism methodology within framework of scale.
2 .Method
In this research that has applied the fundamental approaches in the philosophy of geography valid documents and bibliographic sources have been used to collect data. In this study, in the first step, the concepts of space and cognition were defined using descriptive and analytical approaches. Then, the definition of space has been accorded with characteristics of the positivism cognition school.
Results and Discussion
The conceptual content of politics has a special feature which makes it possible to achieve the recognition of space in a specific pattern of positivism. In addition, the political construction of a geographic scale of two national scale, including a state / country and transnational scale, including the transnational scale makes different patterns for studying the relationship between politics and space. The results of these approaches are as follows:
A- Political Geography as Territorial Governance
National sovereignty remains as the most influential force in knowing how national and sub-national areas operate. Because the prioritization and allocation of resources influenced by the ruling political institutions do not follow similar processes among different countries and generalization, inductive thinking about it is not feasible. Because with the change of political perspectives and with the advent of new leaders, gradually, the natural and human dimensions of the geographic space on the scale of the country are changing and evolving, this view sought to combine space studies with development topics and emphasize on the fact that spatial structures have discoverable features that can be used in spatial organization. But, one of the philosophical foundations of changes in various dimensions of space is the change and rebuilding of policies, and the replacement of new forces in decision making and implementation of these policies in all levels, especially, in the level of nation-state. This process is considered by studying political geography.
B- Geopolitics as a territoriality of sovereignty in transnational scale
In the territory of a country, the sovereignty is the highest power of ordering, which is based on the social contract theory to organize and control the territoriality behaviors of human and social classes in competition with each other. But, there is no such organizing force in the metropolitan area, and the victory in power-based competition determines the extent of state domination. In the international space, there is no such organizing force, too, and victory in competitions determines the limits of state domination. Thus, the most territoriality behaviors and objectives are organized by states. From this perspective, human-made and natural data in relations between countries can create the motivation for territoriality and these behaviors will not be stopped unless the other could be stopped from acting. Geopolitics provides the geographic framework for understanding the conflicts between countries and regional blocks and explains territoriality behaviors of countries based on natural and human geographic data, and finally, leads to studying the consequences of these processes. On the other hand, because of the geopolitical conceptual nature, geopolitical experts cannot necessarily use the empirical approach in recognizing this relationship. In other words, geopolitics in its content has not a quantitative nature and experts should use deductive approaches. Because, in recognizing the geopolitical importance of the regions, qualitative factors such as political economy, ideology and social origins of political leaders also have an effect that does not have the capacity to become quantitative indicators. Historically, the views of many geopolitical scholars have shown that their geopolitical explanations have been created by deductive approaches. Therefore, gaining more power by governments depends on how they pursue the appropriate geopolitical policies.
4. Conclusion
The findings of this research reveal that the element of geographical space has a systematic nature in the positivism, but two national and sub-national scales have different contents with transnational scale. In other words, in the context of positivism, the study of the political dimension of the geographical space is different from two national and transnational political scales. In a national scale, recognizing the relationship between politics and space within the borders of a country includes national and sub-national scales, but in the transnational scale, the relationship between sovereignty and space is the result of a kind of territorialism that exists between countries and builds geopolitical concepts and ideas. Moreover, since politics, both national and sub-national and transnational, contains elements and components that have little quantitative capability, consequently, researchers should pay more attention to positivism. Therefore, applied geopolitical studies have been more widely considered in the positivism methodology as the explanation in the methodological dimension takes on operational dimensions
