"The Third Power Diplomacy" In Theory And Practice

In modern times, Iran formulated its Third Power Diplomacy, a rarely known foreign strategy with distinct Iranian characteristics. The Third Power Diplomacy refers to the multifaceted and multilateral equilibrium adopted by the middle and small states who introduce one or many strong foreign powers to play off one against another by use of balancing means and the contradictions among great powers in order to eliminate the menace posed by great powers and safeguard their national security when they are juxtaposed among great powers and faced with grave security threats. As a traditional Iran's foreign strategy, the Third Power Diplomacy boasts rich connotations and a long history. It can date back to the ancient Safavi Dynasty in early modern times and has experienced a prolonged and devious development course of over 500 years. The Third Power Diplomacy Theory consists of three connotations, namely great power equilibrium, achieving multifaceted balancing by relying on multifaceted foreign power and multilateral interlink balancing.From 1502 to 2008, Iran's Third Power Diplomacy has undergone 5 historical periods, i.e. the phases of budding, great growth, being laid aside, resurgence and upsurge. This foreign strategy dominated modern and contemporary Iranian diplomatic history for a long term and turned into one of Iranian diplomatic cardinal lines, by virtue of which, Iran successively introduced such great foreign powers as Russia, UK, France, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Vatican Palace, USA, and eventually once again introduced the U.S. power. During the late Second World War, Pahlavi's Third Power Diplomacy made a great success and translated Iran's national independence into reality by introducing the US as the third power to counterbalance and drive away British and Russian colonist Empires. The Third Power Diplomacy, however, soon turned into one-sided policy towards the US and was ultimately conspued by the Islamic Revolution. Since Hhatami came into power, notably the Iran nuclear crisis broke out, faced with the great pressure from the superpower USA, Iran has re-enforced its Third Power Diplomacy Strategy by importing various exterior forces on a large scale to check the US, and has repeatedly defused the crisis and avoided US's direct military strike.The long-lasting Third Power Diplomacy Theory has profound historical origins in terms of geopolitics, culture and religions. Iran launches its Third Power Diplomacy by use of various approaches such as carrot & binding, soft balancing, brinkmanship, procrastination, bargaining, dissimulation, distant ally, alliance and quasi-alliance, disintegration. The Third Power Diplomacy is considerably characteristic of guerrilla and Persian Nomadic attributes. Those characteristics lie in the following 4 aspects: agility and flexibility, durability, complexity and risk.In addition, the Third Power Diplomacy is possessed of significant theoretical values, which are far from paid enough attention by the academic circle. At the level of Diplomacy, it is a balance diplomatic model with both characteristic and universality, a typical great power equilibrium for middle and small countries, as well as a survival strategy of weak states with the help of foreign powers, which insists upon of concept of using the weak to check the strong, using the few to defeat the many and playing off one power against another. At the level of International Relations Study, it poses a challenge to the traditional ideology and models of balance of power predominated by the Western great power balance, and also serves to perfect and develop the traditional theory of balance of power. The creation of this thesis lies in introducing the historical Third Power Diplomacy to analyze the Iran nuclear crises and promoting it as a model of balance of power commonly used by some middle and small states, which is favorable to expand the theoretical visions and research room for Diplomacy and International Relations Study.Iran's Third Power Diplomacy enjoys not only its own unique features but also some universal applicability. It is a typical case for research on the balance diplomacy model for both middle and small states and possesses considerable universal significance. For instance, the middle and small states such as Mongol, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, ROK, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg as well as other states in ASEAN and Central Asia, carry out the great power equilibrium strategy, which is quite similar to the Third Power Diplomacy. The facts prove that the Third Power Diplomacy is actually existent.