Mr. Tohid Afzali, Ph.D. Candidate of American Studies at the Faculty of World Studies, held the oral defense session of his dissertation on Monday, September 11, at the Hall of Nations of the Faculty. The advisors to the dissertation, Dr. Sayed Abbas Eraghchi, Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Associate Professor of the Faculty of International Relations, and Dr. Sayed Muhammad Kazem Sajjadpur, Head of the Center for International Education and Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Professor of the Faculty of International Relations, attended the session.
Tohid Afzazil used the Constructivism Theory and Discourse Analysis Methodology to analyze and study the structure of decision-making and main decision-maker actors of foreign policy, role and function of official and unofficial American actors, and the impact of political culture and trends in formation of American foreign policy against Iran.
He reviewed the existing models of international relations to analyze the structure, inter-structural relations among important actors, and decision-making model of US foreign policy against Iran. Afzali identified the main American actors and decision-makers in the case of Iranian Nuclear Program and reviewed their role and function in the process of decision-making in American foreign policy to suggest a comprehensive model as the Bureaucratic-Organizational Model to analyze the US foreign policy. This model includes the analysis and explanation of domestic and international environment, constructivist predispositions, and role of interest groups and lobbyists in the structure of decision-making in US foreign policy against Iran nuclear activities.
The supervisors for Mr. Afzali’s dissertation was Dr. Sayed Muhammad Ali Mousavi, Associate Professor of American Studies at the Faculty of World Studies. The referees were Dr. Mehdi Ahouei, Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the Faculty of World Studies, and Dr. Muhammad Hassankhani, Associate Professor at the University of Imam Sadiq. The dissertation was passed with excellent grade.
