آرش دوستی

The purpose of this study is to identify the role of sport as a soft power for Iran to facilitate its diplomatic relations after the nuclear deal. The research method used in this study is mixed (qualitative and quantitative): in the qualitative part of the analysis, the study sample was selected via Snowball sampling based on partricipants’ expertise in the sport diplomacy of Iran after two rounds of Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) exploratory factor analysis. Seven components of political currents, cultural exchange, peacemaking, national unity, economic development, transformation, communication, and religious currents were extracted. After identifying the study’s research variables in a structural-interpretive modeling, the relationship between variables was examined through a structural equation modeling test. The results of the structural equation model indicated that political currents, cultural exchange, transformation and communication had a direct and significant effect on national unity. The relationship between political and peacebuilding was not confirmed, but national unity and excellence in peace diplomacy had a direct and significant impact on the economic development of societies.

The main goal of the research was to Identification of strategic elements of sports diplomacy based on soft power in expanding Iran's international relations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In the first step, by examining the theoretical foundations and research literature, a questionnaire related to the foundation's data theory was designed in order to extract the components of the strategic model of sports diplomacy in facilitating Iran's international relations with the countries of Qatar and the UAE, and information was collected by conducting 16 interviews with experts in this industry. In order to test the model, the community of experts active in the sports industry was used. The following categories of Media policy, Sports cultural diplomacy; Sports economic and commercial diplomacy; Sports public diplomacy; Sports platform diplomacy; Sports political diplomacy and Strategic sports diplomacy were used to design the model. For testing the relationships, Spearman's correlation test method, structural equation model and regression were performed on the data. Results indicate that economic diplomacy, strategic diplomacy and political diplomacy constitute the basis of the model.