The dynamics of German-Iranian and British-Iranian relations after the Islamic Revolution, 1979-1988. A neoclassical realist perspective.

Abstract

Iran is a recurring topic in the field of international relations, due to its involvement in many events at the world stage. Most research focuses on US-Iranian relations or the recent strive of Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, despite the important role that European states play in Iran. Especially, the involvement of Britain and West Germany in less recent events, such as the Islamic revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war, forms a research gap and a study could provide a new perspective on Western relations with the Islamic Republic at the time. A theory providing tools to explain the reactions of the two states is neoclassical realism. This research project thus seeks to explain to what extent neoclassical realism can explain the reactions of West Germany and Britain to the Islamic revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war. To start, the historical premises of the two occurrences will be explained. Afterwards, neoclassical realism and its specificities will be introduced and its value over other theories will be illustrated. In the analysis, the systemic pressures emitted by the two events will be evaluated for the two states, as they have the largest influence on the foreign policy response. Later, the domestic factors will be determined because they potentially can influence the foreign policy. Lastly, the two reactions of Britain and West Germany will be compared for the sake of determining which case study is applicable with neoclassical realism. In the end, an image will be constructed in pursuance of illustrating to what extent neoclassical realism can explain the British and West German reaction to the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.