https://rahbord.csr.ir/ Strategy en daily 1 Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_236188.html The subject of this article is the influence exerted by the United States and Europe with the aim of creating social change in Iran. In the current context, where the U.S. and Europe have failed to achieve tangible outcomes through strategies such as sanctions and inciting unrest, they are pursuing efforts to undermine and hollow out the core values of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic through the strategic implementation of infiltration projects. The aim of this research is to explain the efforts of the U.S. and the West to infiltrate the Islamic Republic of Iran through the mechanism of social change. The research method is descriptive; the research type is developmental in terms of purpose, employing a qualitative approach. Data collection methods include both documentary-library research and interviews. For data analysis, thematic analysis and MAXQDA software were utilized. After coding the interview transcripts, the researcher identified one overarching theme, six basic themes, and thirty organizing themes. The findings indicate that the strategies of the U.S. and Europe for infiltrating Iran via social changes have focused on developing cultural and social capacities and promoting globalized education. The use of the concept of the "global citizen" as an infiltration tool by Western countries—through embassies, cultural institutions, and artistic and educational programs, particularly via public and digital diplomacy—has emerged as one of the main soft power strategies used in Iran in recent years. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_240157.html As the main legislative body of the country, the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament of Iran) requires the adoption of modern approaches to enhance transparency, accountability, efficiency, and public participation. In this regard, public empowerment and smart governance serve as two complementary strategies that can pave the way for transforming the country's legislative system. This study aims to present a macro-level vision for the smart transformation of the Iranian Parliament, with a particular focus on citizen participation systems. The research was conducted using content analysis and focus group discussions. A total of 13 experts—including specialists in public policy, public administration, parliamentary studies, and smart governance, as well as managers and researchers from the Parliament Research Center and experts from the Parliament's Legal Affairs Department—participated in the focus group sessions. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and the process continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The findings indicate that by classifying citizen participation into three levels (awareness, consultation, and engagement) and five main domains (problem identification and prioritization, law drafting and formation, evaluation of legislation, monitoring implementation, and advocacy/representation enhancement), a clear operational model can be designed to achieve the intended transformation. For each level and domain, the study specifies proposed actions, required infrastructures, and institutional/organizational divisions of responsibility. Implementing this framework will enable systematic and maximum utilization of public and expert capacities in the legislative process, ultimately improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_241881.html Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a critical driver of economic development, contributing to technology transfer, project financing, and productivity growth. Despite possessing significant geopolitical advantages and abundant natural resources, Iran faces a substantial gap between its investment potential and actual FDI inflows due to persistent institutional and structural constraints. This study examines the impact of a problem-oriented approach to improving the business environment on FDI attraction, with particular emphasis on the dimensions of good governance within the framework of Clause 8 of the General Policies for Investment Promotion. Using a quantitative methodology with a deductive approach and a descriptive–survey design, data were collected from 100 managers involved in foreign investment, selected through stratified random sampling from a population of 130 respondents. Data collection was conducted via library research and structured questionnaires, and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The validity of the instruments was confirmed through content, face, and construct validity, while reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability. The results reveal that a functional governance approach and authoritative centralization exert a direct and statistically significant influence on improving the business environment. Furthermore, economic predictability plays a pivotal role in enhancing investor confidence. Improvements in the business environment positively affect investment guidance mechanisms and the formulation of a strategic roadmap for FDI attraction, while international sanctions impose a negative moderating effect. The findings underscore the necessity of transitioning toward good governance, emphasizing transparency and political stability https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_241308.html This study employs a qualitative meta-synthesis approach to analyze the relationship between internet-based social media and political participation in Iran. The research examines how social media influence political participation in Iran and how these influences vary across different political periods. Thirty-five scientific research articles meeting specific criteria (publication in peer-reviewed journals, use of empirical methods, coverage of the period 1380–1402 in the Iranian calendar) were analyzed through a three-stage process: initial coding, categorization based on four political crisis periods (2009, 2017, 2019, 2022), and structural synthesis within the framework of the "network–power–trust interaction" model. Findings reveal that the relationship between social media and political participation in Iran is dualistic and context-dependent. Under conditions of relatively high political trust (periods 2009 and 2017), social media enhance formal participation (voting); however, under conditions of declining political trust (periods 2019 and 2022), social media primarily lead to increased unconventional participation (online protests). The findings also challenge the claim of "civil society expansion" and propose the concept of "transition from institution to network," wherein digital communicative action has expanded but remains in a state of "structural suspension"—expanded yet unstable, active yet without institutional consolidation. This structural suspension stems from weak bridging social capital, declining political trust, class and geographical digital divides, and Iran's digital governance structure. The "network–power–trust interaction" model is presented as an analytical framework that integrates three layers: global (Castells' network society), intermediate (political economy of platforms and Habermas' public sphere), and indigenous (Iran's digital governance and Putnam's social capital). The model demonstrates that social media in Iran function not as automatic engines of democratization nor as mere instruments of political passivity, but as mediating variables within Iran's networked power structure, whose effects are entirely shaped by macro-structural variables. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_243087.html The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the higher education ecosystem has fundamentally disrupted traditional paradigms of knowledge production and dissemination. While AI adoption rates among students have surpassed 90%, the absence of a coherent and native governance model in Iran has exacerbated risks related to the digital divide and ethical challenges. The primary objective of this research is to design a strategic framework for AI governance within Iran's higher education system. The research methodology is a "qualitative comparative study" utilizing a "three-level analytical framework" (Macro, Meso, and Micro) to examine the experiences of three selected countries: Singapore, India, and Germany. Findings indicate that global governance approaches can be categorized into three distinct typologies: 1) The "Centralized-Instrumental" model (Singapore), emphasizing efficiency and trust by design; 2) The "Developmental-Market" model (India), focusing on scalability and inclusion; and 3) The "Legal-Federal" model (Germany), centered on ethics and human dignity. Finally, by synthesizing these experiences and aligning them with Iran's upstream documents, a hybrid policy package is proposed. This model rests on three pillars: "Intelligent Authority in Regulation," "Digital Justice in Access," and "Ethical Protection of Scientific Authority." Key implementation strategies include establishing a National AI Commission (Macro level), creating AI Innovation Offices in universities (Meso level), and launching an AI Literacy Movement (Micro level). https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_243086.html With the increasing importance of the role of psychological factors in political decision-making, explaining and measuring the impact of psychological factors on political tendencies in different societies has been given serious attention. Accordingly, in this article, after explaining a framework for understanding and explaining the impact of psychological factors on political tendencies, its measurement and empirical testing have been carried out on students of Tehran universities as the statistical population under study. The main question is: what effect do psychological factors have on the political tendencies of students of Tehran universities? In response to this question, it is emphasized that there is a significant relationship between the personality type of students of Tehran universities based on the characteristics of personality dimensions and emotional intelligence and their political tendencies. To test the hypothesis, a self-made measurement model with a combination of the Goldberg personality dimension measurement model, the Bar-On emotional intelligence model, and the Eight Political Values Questionnaire has been used. Analysis of the results of 380 complete and valid questionnaires obtained shows that we witness an acceptable correlation (0.684) with a significance level of 0.316 between psychological factors and political tendencies of students at Tehran universities, which means a strong influence of psychological factors, especially emotional intelligence, on the political tendencies of these students. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_244264.html The present study explains why the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during the Gaza crisis (October 2023 to late 2025) proved unable to translate the concept of "collective security" into clear, binding, and enforceable constraints, and then examines the implications of this institutional pattern for the strategic recalibration of the Islamic Republic of Iran's regional policy through the lens of Offensive Realism. In the first part, the article draws on Stephen Krasner's theory of international regimes to conceptualize the Security Council as a regime-like institutional arrangement composed of principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures operating within (and conditioned by) the global distribution of power. On this view, the Council's limited efficacy is primarily structural rather than merely managerial. The argument specifies three principal channels through which U.S. influence is exercised: (1) the observable pattern of veto use; (2) ex ante shaping of draft resolutions under the shadow of a credible veto threat, which narrows the bargaining space and shifts texts toward what is "adoptable"; and (3) procedural control over agenda management and the drafting process, through which the sequencing of options and the framing of outcomes can be steered toward lower-cost commitments. To assess UNSC performance in an analytically tractable way, the study distinguishes between output effectiveness and outcome effectiveness. Output effectiveness refers to the Council's ability to produce authoritative decisions (especially on high-salience issues). In contrast, outcome effectiveness is operationalized through a proxy: the gap between the Council's stated demands and the continuing conflict dynamics and humanitarian emergency as reflected in United Nations humanitarian reporting. The findings indicate a recurrent pattern of selectivity: the Council adopted resolutions focused on humanitarian access and certain phased or sequenced frameworks, yet repeatedly failed to secure an immediate, unconditional cessation of hostilities. This failure was closely associated with U.S. vetoes and bargaining processes that converged around Washington's preferences, thereby sustaining a persistent divergence between humanitarian norms and the operational rules capable of constraining conduct. In the second part, the article argues that, from an Offensive Realist standpoint, structurally selective enforcement generates incentives for Iran to reduce reliance on institutional restraint and to pursue a calibrated maximization of deterrent and diplomatic leverage outside—and alongside—the UNSC framework. This recalibration is theorized as a form of "calibrated revisionism": not a wholesale attempt to overturn the international order, but a selective adjustment strategy aimed at mitigating asymmetric constraints and raising the costs of coercive alignment against Iran. In policy terms, the study identifies a multi-track package that includes networked deterrence, denial capabilities, wedge-driving diplomacy (alignment engineering to complicate counter-coalition formation), and legitimacy contestation in venues not subject to veto control. The article's overarching contribution is a two-level causal framework that links U.S. regime-maintenance dynamics to the persistence of a norm–rule gap at the global level and, at the regional level, to Iran's strategic adaptation in coalition management and leverage-building under conditions of institutional selectivity. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_241875.html The significance of custom in the evolution of legal systems and in the processes of norm formation is well established. Within the strategic frameworks of rule making, enforceable norms frequently emerge from customary contexts and subsequently attain sophistication through philosophical, theological, and juridical elaboration. The central inquiry animating this study is thus: What is the role and status of custom within the legislative policy and the rule making paradigm of Iran? More specifically, does custom possess normative validity in the strategic orientation and procedural mechanisms of the Iranian legal order? Drawing upon the findings of this research, the authors maintain that, in Iranian law—grounded in Imami jurisprudence—custom lacks autonomous rule making authority and cannot serve as an independent source of normative legitimacy for statutes or legal rules. Nevertheless, the derivative or instrumental validity of custom is acknowledged in several domains: the identification of factual subjects, the interpretation of contractual language, the application of statutory provisions to concrete instances, and the supplementation of legislative texts. Employing a descriptive analytical methodology and relying on library-based data collection, this study systematically explicates and substantiates the foregoing thesis through rigorous scholarly documentation and argumentation. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_247573.html The Arash gas field, located on the common maritime boundary of Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is one of the most critical energy disputes in the Persian Gulf, whose importance is not only due to the vast reserves of natural gas (20 trillion cubic feet) and oil (300 million barrels), but also due to the geopolitical impacts on energy security, regional stability and relations between coastal actors. This article examines the dispute between Iran and Kuwait over this field with an integrated approach of international law of the sea and energy geopolitics. The main research question is: How has the incomplete delimitation of maritime boundaries led to geopolitical competition in the Arash field, and what are the scenarios for its resolution? The hypothesis of the article is based on the fact that the resolution of this dispute will not be possible without integrating legal considerations of the principles of the Convention on the Law of the Sea and geopolitical aspects, since regional rivalries often dominate legal frameworks. The research method is analytical-descriptive and based on documentary content analysis, using secondary sources such as the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, international reports, and scientific articles. The findings show that the lack of a border agreement, together with unilateral actions by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (such as the development plan in 2022 and the scenario of progress by 2025), has led to a daily economic loss of $25.4 million for Iran and an escalation of tensions. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_247642.html In the current era, media have become one of the most influential social institutions, playing a pivotal role in shaping collective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. This research was conducted with the aim of answering the fundamental question: "How does the media engineer the minds of society and create public understanding?" To achieve this objective, the thematic analysis method was employed, drawing on theoretical sources and existing research in the fields of communication, cognitive psychology, and media studies. The findings revealed that media play an effective role in shaping public opinion and creating public understanding through various techniques and tools. Processes such as agenda setting, framing of issues, message repetition, promoting dialogue, social norming, strengthening social cohesion, audience modeling, and creating a sense of shared identity are among the strategies that media use to guide public opinion toward a common understanding of issues. This research also highlights the importance of cognitive biases in the process of creating public understanding. Biases including confirmation bias, availability heuristic, representativeness heuristic, negativity bias, framing effect, repetition effect, and halo effect demonstrate how media influence audience thoughts and beliefs by leveraging mental mechanisms. The process of creating public understanding depends on transparency, accountability, and media commitment to professional ethics. The results of the research show that media, using psychological techniques and communication tools, can systematically shape and direct the beliefs and attitudes of audiences. This underscores the growing necessity of paying attention to media literacy and professional ethics in the media field. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_248420.html After World War II, the thought of a nuclear explosion was nothing but a nuclear weapon and non-peaceful use; as a result, its subject matter was limited to specific destructive devices and its ruling was prohibition. In the second half of the 20th century, experiments were conducted to achieve the benefits of peaceful use, which were successful in some cases and proved that a nuclear explosion, like any other explosion, can be used in the right or wrong direction and, in general, is beneficial, which is a characteristic of common devices. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method of the ijtihad type, seeks to answer this question; if today it is possible to assume peaceful use and rational benefit for a nuclear explosion, what ruling is there on it? Based on the findings, prohibition only excludes harmful war applications; Whereas a nuclear explosion can be considered a shared instrument, which, assuming no harm and the existence of benefit, is permissible from the sources of Islamic jurisprudence; because, from a thematic point of view, it is completely different from the issue of manufacturing, stockpiling and using nuclear weapons. Also, assuming there is a compelling interest from a rational point of view for the Islamic society, the religious obligation of using it can be understood through the collateral. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_251309.html Background and Objective: Futures studies, a systematic study of knowledge and the formation of a desirable future, play a pivotal role in higher education systems, especially in Amin University of Law Enforcement Sciences as the institution responsible for the development of police knowledge. The lack of a coherent and practical roadmap for the establishment of futures studies in this university is considered an important gap in strategic planning. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of designing a roadmap for the establishment of a futures studies system in Amin University of Law Enforcement Sciences. Methodology: This research is applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of method, and relies on exploratory futures studies. Data related to the development of the roadmap were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 experts and faculty members, managers, and futures studies specialists.Findings: 1- Scientific assessment and creation of appropriate futures studies infrastructures 2- Carrying out basic activities and actions and developing a warning system 3- Using specialized tools and methods and 4- Developing an intelligence system and determining the final goals of establishing futures studies at the University of Law Enforcement Sciences.Conclusion: results show that the presented roadmap model is not only a tool for guiding and making strategic decisions and strengthening the university's future-oriented capacities, but also a suitable platform for improving the university's institutional efficiency through futures studies knowledge in the field of internal and public law enforcement and security, increasing resilience against developments and security threats. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_252109.html Enhancing citizens’ environmental awareness is a core element of sustainable urban governance and an effective response to the environmental challenges. This study aimed to develop a cognitive roadmap for assessing the pattern of self-reported environmental awareness among Tehran's residents and identifying the dispersion patterns of their knowledge based on official indicators of Tehran Municipality. The research was applied in nature and conducted through a survey. Data were collected via a researcher-designed questionnaire from 1,349 residents across Tehran’s five main zones (north, south, east, west, and center) and analyzed using 18 environmental indicators, including energy consumption, waste management, urban pollution, public health, natural hazards, and institutional awareness. Findings showed that citizens’ environmental awareness falls into three distinct levels. The tangible indicators—such as water and energy consumption, waste disposal and air pollution—had the highest mean scores and lowest standard deviations, indicating a relative convergence of responses within the society. In contrast, institutional and structural indicators—such as familiarity with educational programs and development projects—had the lowest means and highest dispersion, indicating higher dispersion and relatively lower self-reported awareness in these areas. The descriptive pattern of findings indicated that indicators related to everyday and experienced issues had higher mean self-reported awareness scores. So, the educational strategies should be multi-tiered: cultural reinforcement for high-awareness indicators, community-based learning for medium-awareness ones, and communication empowerment for low-awareness indicators. Effective educational policymaking requires attention to both the level and distribution of knowledge, while the cognitive roadmap offers a scientific basis for optimizing resources and strengthening social capital. https://rahbord.csr.ir/article_254437.html cohesion.This study aims to examine the representation of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel on the two platforms, Eitaa and X, and to explain its implications for political trust. In recent years, social media have become one of the most important arenas for shaping public opinion and redefining political trust, and this role becomes more salient during security crises and regional conflicts. In such situations, competition among narratives, the spread of misinformation, and selective content curation can reshape citizens’ perceptions of political reality. The main question of this study is how these two platforms reproduced, amplified, and directed political narratives during this crisis, and what consequences these representations had for political trust. Using a qualitative content analysis approach and drawing on the theory of information bubbles, this study analyzes posts and tweets related to the war. The findings show that both platforms, although through different mechanisms, contributed to the reinforcement of one-sided spaces, the intensification of echoing narratives, and the restriction of users’ exposure to diverse viewpoints. On X, information operations, artificial intelligence, and bots contributed to the amplification of certain narratives, while Eitaa, through the selection, recirculation, and reinforcement of aligned news, helped create an ideological information bubble. The consequence of this process was the strengthening of systemic distrust and its extension to political institutions, a condition that may lead to the erosion of public trust and the decline of social capital.