The Foreign Policy Discourse of the Islamic Republic: An Analysis of the Link between Islamic Idealism and Political Realism in the Thought of Imam Khomeini (RA)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Kermanshah University of Technology, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract
This research, using the approach of "discourse analysis" (Laclau and Mouffe model), examines and reconstructs the structure of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the thought of Imam Khomeini (RA). The main issue of this article is to identify the elements, principles, and constructive concepts that articulate the foreign policy discourse of the Islamic Revolution around the axis of "political Islam" as the central signifier. The findings of the research show that foreign policy from the perspective of Imam Khomeini (RA) is based on fundamental principles such as the indissoluble bond of religion and politics, the principle of invitation, the rule of negating the mustache, the rule of renunciation and excommunication, the unity of the Islamic world, the composition of hearts, and the preservation of the interests of the system. The major goals of this discourse include the realization of divine values, the fight against the system of domination, the support of the oppressed and liberation movements, the issuance of the message of the revolution, and the preservation of the independence and security of the Islamic Republic. The article explains that this discourse, while having an idealistic and justice-oriented nature, has the necessary flexibility to face the realities of the international system through the principle of "system interest". Finally, Imam Khomeini's (RA) thought in foreign policy presents a model of "realistic idealism" in which the preservation of the system and the survival of the Islamic state are systematically organized alongside transnational and ideological goals. This qualitative and interpretive research shows that the Imam's (RA) foreign policy discourse is an Islamic, independence-seeking, anti-hegemonic, and at the same time dynamic discourse in managing global interactions.

Keywords

Subjects