Iran as a Cusp State

2014-01-01
This chapter argues that the notion of cuspness not only helps to explain the critical puzzles in Iran's foreign policy, but also permits analysis that displaces Iran from this 'irrational' place and relocates it to a new space where it might become comparable to other Cusp States. It does so by first revisiting critical turning points in Iran's international relations in the twentieth century and in the second part by focusing on the current puzzles in Iran's international relations. Iran is 'still' in a state of suspense, 'not having evolved into a solid alternative' of its former self; the reasons lie not in the 'uniqueness' of Iran but in it being a Cusp State, whereby it shares a great number of features with other Cusp States but navigates them differently in different regional and international settings. In many ways, modern Iran is the creation of twentieth century developments in the region and in the international scene.

Suggestions

Debating nuclear proliferation and international security nexus: the case of İran
Öncel, Rıfat; Tür Küçükkaya, Özlem; Department of International Relations (2019)
The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the consequences of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in terms of international security and to propose a more comprehensive and coherent theoretical framework through a critical review of the current approaches through the Iranian nuclear crisis. Nuclear weapons have always been an important source of debate in the international security literature, due to enormous impact of their emergence and proliferation on international politics. In this thesis, optimistic and ...
Iranian foreign policy in the 2000s : a neo-realist perspective
Gedikli, Gürsel Fırat; Tür Küçükkaya, Özlem; Department of Middle East Studies (2014)
This thesis aims to analyze the foreign policy of Iran in a historical perspective in the 2000s. In this context, the details of the 9/11 attacks to the US, its foreign policy change as a response to the terrorist attacks and the region-wide uprisings called as Arab Spring were underlined and their effects towards the Iranian foreign policy were discussed. The thesis argues that Iranian foreign policy in the 2000s can best be explained via neo-realist theory by attaching highest importance on the country’s ...
Iran's relations with the United States and Western Europe between 1997-2001
Bostan, Ayşe Ömür; Altunışık, Meliha; Department of International Relations (2002)
The objective of this thesis is to analyse Iran's relations with the United States and Western Europe between 1997 and 2001. Accordingly, the thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part of the study, a historical background of the foreign policy of Islamic Republic of Iran is outlined. In this context 1979 Islamic Revolution, impacts of the Revolution on the foreign policy and Iran's relations with the West are examined. After the Islamic Revolution, relations with the United States have deterior...
Iranian nuclear crisis and its impact on Us-Iranian relations between 1953-2008
Üzmez, Sena; Tür Küçükkaya, Özlem; Department of International Relations (2010)
This thesis analyzes the U.S.-Iran relations in accordance with Iranian Nuclear Crisis from a historical perspective. Analyzing the U.S.-Iran relations since 1953 until 2008, it is possible to see that as the two countries’ perceptions towards each other change, their policies towards the nuclear issue change, too. While nuclear developments were not a threat for the two states that were close allies during the Shah Era, the perceptions totally changed after the Islamic Revolution. However, even if US and I...
Russian-Syrian relations since the Arab spring: a strong alliance
Şen, Ayça Hüma; Tür Küçükkaya, Özlem; Department of Middle East Studies (2020)
This thesis analyzes the relations between Russia and Syria since the Arab Spring within the framework of small state foreign policy behavior and alliance formation mechanism built upon by Syria. By doing so, historical background of the relations, major challenges, vulnerabilities as well as strenghts were pointed out within the prism of Russian-Syrian relations in the region and its regional and international effects and consequences tried to be evaluated under a Russian-Syrian alliance.
Citation Formats
D. Göçer Akder, Iran as a Cusp State. 2014.