The Challenge of Institutionalizing the Revolutionary Discourse: A Pathology of the Impact of Bureaucratic Organizational Culture on the Foreign Policy Goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Subject Areas : political sociology
Mina Alavi
1
*
,
Fazel Feizi
2
1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.
2 - Department of Political Science, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran
Keywords: Bureaucratic Organizational Culture, Institutionalization, Iran's Foreign Policy, Revolutionary Discourse.,
Abstract :
This article analyzes the complex challenge of institutionalizing revolutionary discourse within the bureaucratic organizational culture governing the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979-2025). The central research problem investigates the paradox of how a political system founded on revolutionary values pursues its objectives through structures inherently inclined towards standardization, pragmatism, and conservatism. The primary aim is a critical analysis to explain the mechanisms through which bureaucratic culture impacts the realization of foreign policy goals. Utilizing a qualitative, analytical-interpretive approach, this study is grounded in a hybrid theoretical framework integrating organizational culture theory, the bureaucratic politics model, and constructivism. Key findings reveal that bureaucratic culture functions not as an adversarial force, but as a powerful mediating variable that channels and manages the revolutionary discourse. Mechanisms such as the plurality of power centers, complex inter-institutional bargaining, and the institutionalized principle of 'expediency' (Maslahat) prevent the raw translation of ideology into policy, transforming it into viable diplomatic strategies. The core conclusion is that bureaucracy plays a dual, paradoxical role: it ensures the system's survival by containing ideological maximalism while simultaneously becoming the strategic tool for the operationalization and endurance of that same revolutionary discourse in the real world, thus systemically explaining the gap between rhetoric and practice.
1. Sadjadpour, Seyed Mohammad Kazem. (2018). A conceptual and comprehensive framework for understanding and analyzing Iran's foreign policy. Foreign Policy Quarterly, 32(4), 27-42. [In Persian]
2. Sariolghalam, Mahmoud. (2000). Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran: A Theoretical Review and the Coalition Paradigm. Center for Strategic Research, Expediency Discernment Council. [In Persian]
3. Abedin, M. (2011). The Domestic Determinants of Iranian Foreign Policy: Challenges to Consensus. Journal of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, 13(1), 69-90.
4. Adib-Moghaddam, A. (2006). The international politics of the Persian Gulf: A cultural genealogy. Routledge.
5. Alfoneh, A. (2008). The Revolutionary Guards' Role in Iranian Politics. Middle East Quarterly, 15(4), 3-14.
6. Allison, G. T., & Zelikow, P. (1999). Essence of decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (2nd ed.). Longman.
7. Barzegar, K. (2017). Political Rationality in Iranian Foreign Policy. In K. Barzegar & R. Hinnebusch (Eds.), Iranian Foreign Policy since 2001: From Khatami to Rouhani (pp. 27-44). Routledge.
8. Beaud, G. (2022). Negotiating public service bargains in postrevolutionary times: The case of Iran's diplomatic corps. Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions, 35(4), 1189-1205. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12648
9. Beeman, W. O. (1987). [Review of the book Revolutionary Iran: Challenge and Response in the Middle East, by R. K. Ramazani]. Middle East Journal, 41(4), 631.
10. Buchta, W. (2000). Who rules Iran? The structure of power in the Islamic Republic. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
11. Ehteshami, A. (2002). After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic. Routledge.
12. Farhi, F. (2008). The Green Movement in Iran: The politics of the street and the opportunities of the state. The Century Foundation.
13. Faruqui, M. D. (1998). Iran: Renegotiating a Revolutionary Identity. Economic and Political Weekly, 33(26), 1629-1633.
14. Finnemore, M. (1996). National interests in international society. Cornell University Press.
15. Halperin, M. H., & Clapp, P. (2006). Bureaucratic politics and foreign policy (2nd ed.). Brookings Institution Press.
16. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
17. Hunter, S. T. (2010). Iran's foreign policy in the post-Soviet era: Resisting the new international order. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
18. Kamrava, M. (2021a). Institutions and Policy in Iran’s Relations with the GCC. The Muslim World, 111(3), 398-415. https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12401
19. Kamrava, M. (2021b). The foreign policy of Iran. In S. Smith, A. Hadfield, & T. Dunne (Eds.), Foreign policy: Theories, actors, cases (4th ed., pp. 396-414). Oxford University Press.
20. Lim, K. (2015). National Security Decision-Making in Iran: A Case Study of the Green Movement [Doctoral dissertation, University of St. Andrews].
21. Maleki, A. (2002a). A pragmatic foreign policy for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Journal of International Affairs, 56(1), 53-70.
22. Maleki, A. (2002b). Decision Making in Iran's Foreign Policy: A Heuristic Approach. Shu'un Ijtima'iyya (Social Affairs), 19(75), 53-76.
23. Maloney, S. (2015). Iran's political economy since the revolution. Cambridge University Press.
24. Menashri, D. (2007). Iran's Regional Policy: Between Radicalism and Pragmatism. Journal of Strategic Studies, 30(3), 437-457.
25. Mohammadzadeh, M. (2012). Discourse and Identity in Iran's Foreign Policy. Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, 3(1), 7-34.
26. Moslem, M. (2002). Factional Politics in Post-Khomeini Iran. Syracuse University Press.
27. Moshirzadeh, H. (2007). Discursive Foundations of Iran's Nuclear Policy. Security Dialogue, 38(4), 521–543. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010607084993
28. Nia, M. M. (2011). A Holistic Constructivist Approach to Iran's Foreign Policy. Digest of Middle East Studies, 20(2), 245-274.
29. Ostovar, A. (2016). Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, politics, and Iran's revolutionary guards. Oxford University Press.
30. Pay, V. N., & Fathollah-Nejad, A. (2023). Military Ideology and Foreign Policy: A Constructivist Examination of the IRGC’S Ideological Influence. Asian Affairs, 54(1), 94-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2023.2172159
31. Rakel, E. (2007). Iranian Foreign Policy since the Iranian Islamic Revolution: 1979-2006. Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 6(1-3), 83-112. https://doi.org/10.1163/156914907X191007
32. Ramazani, R. K. (2004). Ideology and pragmatism in Iran's foreign policy. The Middle East Journal, 58(4), 549-559.
33. Sadjadpour, K. (2011). Reading Khamenei: The world view of Iran's most powerful leader. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
34. Schein, E. H. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Wiley.
35. Sune, C. (2021). [Review of the book Iran’s Reconstruction Jihad: Rural Development and Regime Consolidation in the Islamic Republic, by E. Lob]. Bustan: The Middle East Book Review, 12(2), 221–226. https://doi.org/10.5325/bustan.12.2.0221
36. Tağma, H. M. E., & Uzun, T. C. (2012). Bureaucrats, Ayatollahs, and Persian politics: explaining the shift in Iranian nuclear policy. Turkish Studies, 13(4), 629-646. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2012.733471
37. Takeyh, R. (2009). Guardians of the revolution: Iran and the world in the age of the Ayatollahs. Oxford University Press.
38. Thaler, D. E., et al. (2010). Mullahs, Guards, and Bonyads: An Exploration of Iranian Leadership Dynamics. RAND Corporation.
39. Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). University of California Press.
40. Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics. International Organization, 46(2), 391-425.
41. Wendt, A. (1999). Social theory of international politics. Cambridge University Press.