مطالب

Human rights reflect a natural order from which fundamental freedoms flow. The exercise of human rights reflects this order and these freedoms.  These are the key principles which inspired the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. International practice, however, shows that, while the importance of human rights is almost universally recognized, in practice the exercise of individual rights is subjected to numerous constraints.  In spite of substantial amounts of legislation enacted around the world to promote and protect human rights, the rise of nationalism and the return of identity politics generate discrimination and hamper dialogue. Increasing constraints imposed by governments on the freedom of the media are an additional obstacle to the fight against injustice.  The international community, however, is not doing enough to tackle this fundamental problem.  The United Nations remain the bedrock of any effort to foster security, stability and prosperity with full respect for human dignity and human rights.  The principle of humanitarian intervention should be further explored with an open mind, since it may provide a key towards more effective policies aimed at addressing serious violations of international humanitarian laws, including genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.  Yet, the members of the United Nations are unable and unwilling to reform and modernize its institutions and procedures, beginning with the Security Council, an outdated symbol of power politics inherited from the last century.  Similarly, the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council should be enhanced. The issue of the presence within this Council of States whose democratic credentials are questionable and which appear openly disrespectful towards human rights should be better leveraged to promote human rights standards, to avoid weakening the credibility of the action of this institution.  As human rights cover the whole spectrum of human activities, a special thought should be given to women’s rights, which in many of our countries have been to varying degrees disregarded for centuries.  Important steps have taken place in recent years, especially following the adoption in 1979 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.  A stronger legal basis for all these steps, however, must be ensured to provide the international community with a more effective and efficient tool to address serious cases of discrimination and promote concrete steps toward a real recognition of the equal role that women do play in every aspect of everyday life.  

Science diplomacy is a concept that has attracted much attention in twenty-first century more than ever before and the need for understanding it is growing. Because of many factors, the South Caucasus is an important region for Iran, including its geographical proximity and historical ties. The region is located between Iran, Russia and Turkey and Iran is the only bordering country with this region that has official political relations with all South Caucasus countries, including Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, but this does not mean that relations between Iran and the above-mentioned countries are in a favorable position. Considering the capacities for using science diplomacy in relations between Iran and the South Caucasus countries, to achieve an assessment of Iran's performance in this field is essential. This paper mainly seeks to examine the opportunities and challenges of applying science diplomacy as a tool in Iran’s relations with the South Caucasus countries and also tries to examine the roles of other foreign players in the field of science diplomacy in the region.