Iran’s foreign policy ...
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Human security and a country’s position within global value chains have emerged as key instruments in building sustainable security. Yet the prevailing theoretical framework in Iran leaves out these concepts, effectively depriving the country of the opportunity to draw on such resources.
This framework also shapes Iran’s posture in international negotiations. An exclusive focus on certain issues without considering how to integrate into global value chains or forge regional alliances aimed at sustainable security cannot ensure genuine national security. In today’s world, security takes shape in countries that are embedded in global value chains, not merely through missile arsenals or military strength.
At various historical junctures, this fallacy has exerted a decisive influence. Whenever Iran’s foreign policy has been confined to survival alone, the country has been pushed toward periods of decline or deep crisis. The current situation suggests that once again the focus of foreign policy has been narrowed to mere preservation.
The result has been a widening gap between Iran and the realities of the international system, transforming the country into a passive actor that waits on the decisions of others and merely falls back on reactive measures.
A proper understanding of foreign policy and the safeguarding of national security therefore require a theoretical framework capable of enhancing statesmen’s ability to comprehend global dynamics and engage intelligently with the international system. Without revisiting and revising this framework, an accurate reading of global realities and the design of an effective foreign policy will remain out of reach.
In other words, preserving national security today demands recognition that foreign policy is not simply about survival. It requires active and intelligent engagement with global structures, participation in value chains, and regional cooperation — capacities that the current theoretical framework in Iran does not fully possess.