An Islamic Perspective on Non-Alignment: Iranian Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice

Abstract

Contrary to the expectation of some Western observers,¹ the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is still strongly advocated by third world countries in general, and by Iran, in particular, in the post-Cold War period. Even during the Cold War, non-alignment was not just about rejecting the superpowers in a bipolar structure. It was really about providing policy options and a sense of independence for third world states soon after the decolonisation process. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, third world leaders, especially the Iranian political elite, still support a non-aligned policy and the Non-Aligned Movement in a world with only one superpower. This is evident by statements of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani² and the newly elected President Khatami.³ Despite his accommodating statements regarding the general context of US-Iran relations in a January 1998 interview with CNN,⁴ President Khatami stood strong in expressing the independent, antihegemonic, and non-aligned foreign policy of the Islamic Republic.⁵ The fascination with non-alignment as a foreign policy strategy goes back to the early days of the Iranian Revolution, a turning point for Iranian foreign relations which shifted drastically from a close alliance with the United States to a non-aligned stance.