Islamic Republic of Iran and Religious Branding

Paper title:	*Anti-Systemic Revolutionary Countries in the International System: Islamic Republic of Iran and Religious Branding*
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2021.01.011
Published in:	Issue 1, (Vol. 27) / 2021
Publishing date:	2021-07-31
Pages:	217-234
Author(s):	Arash Beidollahkhani, Yaser Kahrazeh
Abstract:	Nation branding concerns the overall perceptions toward a country at the international level. Different countries acquire different branding based on their positive characteristics and advantages, such as economy, culture, politics, governance, tourism, etc. The question that may be posed here is that, whether religious branding, as an important type of branding, can be identified and introduced to the world. Can religion branding be a positive and decisive element in raising a country’s profile, enhancing its soft power, and subsequently spreading a positive image of a nation? Currently, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expanded its sphere of influence and power through religious branding, although this power is anti-systemic and at odds with the structure and norms of the international system. By analysing the religious dimension of the branding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, this article concludes that Iran has been able to develop its religious branding in the world, which has an Ummah-centered and global dimension. Such development of branding contradicts the dimensions and components of nation branding and internationally accepted norms, resulting in the international system regarding Iran as an anti-international order and revolutionary country.
Keywords:	Branding, Religion, Iran, Islamic Republic, Reputation, International system.

References:	1. Alcaro Riccardo, Europe’s Defence of the Iran Nuclear Deal: Less than a Success, More than a Failure, in “The International Spectator”, 2021, 56:1, pp. 55-72, DOI: 10.1080/03932729.2021.1876861. 2. Alvandi Roham, Iran and the Cold war, in “Iranian studies”, 2014, vol. 47, No. 3. 3. Alvandi Roham, Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014. 4. Anholt Simon, Competitive identity: the new brand management for nations, cities and regions, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 5. Anholt Simon, Places: Identity, Image and Reputation, Houndmills, Palgrave Mac-millan, 2010. 6. Armstrong David, Revolutions and World Order: The Revolutionary State in Interna-tional Society, Oxford, Oxford University Press,1993. 7. Aronczyk Melissa, Branding the nation: the global business of national identity, Ox-ford, Oxford University Press, 2013. 8. Beidollahkhani Arash, Nation branding and national image making process in Iran's contemporary period, PhD dissertation, Faculty of law and Political, Tehran University, 2017. [In Persian]. 9. Beidollahkhani Arash, Nation branding and national image making: new interdiscipli-nary perspective for political Science and international relations, in “Politics quarterly”, vol. 49, Issue 4, Winter 2020, pp. 999-1020 [In Persian]. 10. Birnbaum Michael, Morello Carol, European companies beat US to Iran business af-ter nuclear deal reached, in https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/25/ europe-us-iran-business-nuclear-deal-sanctions (Accessed on 25.08.2015). 11. Buhmann Alexander, Measuring Country Image, Theory, Method, and Effects, Fri-bourg, Springer, 2016. 12. Caldwell Niall, Freire R. Joao, The differences between branding a country, a region and a city: applying the brand box model, in “Journal of Brand Management”, 2004, Vol.12 (1), pp. 50-61. 13. Dinnie Keith, Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, Oxford, UK, Butterworth Heinemann, 2008. 14. Einstein Mara, The Evolution of Religious Branding, in “Social Compass”, 2011, vol. 58 (3), pp. 331–338. 15. Emery Christian, US Foreign Policy and the Iranian Revolution: The Cold War Dynam-ics of Engagement and Strategic Alliance, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 16. Fan Ying, Branding the Nation: Towards a Better Understanding, in “Place Branding and Public Diplomacy”, 2010, vol. 6, Issue 2. 17. Fan Ying, Branding the nation: What is being branded? in “Journal of Vacation Mar-keting”, 2006, vol. 12 (1). 18. Fan Ying, Soft power: The power of attraction or confusion, in “Place Branding and Public Diplomacy”, 2008, Vol. 4 (2). 19. Fathollah Nejad Ali, German–Iranian Relations after the Nuclear Deal: Geopolitical and Economic Dimensions, in “Insight Turkey”, vol. 18, 2016, No. 1, pp. 57-79. 20. Go Frank, Govers Robert, International place branding year book 2011: Managing reputational risk, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 21. Jaffe Eugene, Nebenzahl D. Israel, National Image and Competitive Advantage, Co-penhagen, Business School Press, 2001. 22. Jervis Robert, Why intelligence fails: Lessons from the Iranian revolution and the Iraq war, New York, Cornell University Press, 2010. 23. Kaneva N., Nation branding in post-communist Europe: identities, markets, and de-mocracy, in N. Kaneva (Ed.), Branding post-communist nations: Marketizing national identities in the ‘new’ Europe, London, Routledge, 2012. 24. Khodadadi Masood, Challenges of Branding Iran: Perspectives of Iranian Tourism Suppliers, in “Tourism Planning & Development”, 2017, vol. 16:1, pp. 112-117. 25. Kotler Philip, Gertner David, Country as brand, product, and beyond: A place market-ing and brand management perspective, in “Journal of Brand Management”, 2002, vol. 9 (4/5), pp. 249-261. 26. Lawson George, Halliday’s revenge: revolutions and International Relations, in “Inter-national Affairs”, 2011, vol. 87 (5). 27. Lee Kim, Nation branding and sustainable competitiveness of nations, PhD thesis, University of Twente, 2009. 28. Majd Mohammad Gholi, Iran under Allied Occupation in World War II: The Bridge to Victory & A Land of Famine, Lanham, University Press of America, 2016. 29. Maletta Giovanna, Seeking a Responsible Arms Trade to Reduce Human Suffering in Yemen, in “The International Spectator”, 2021, 56:1, pp. 73-91, DOI: 10.1080/03932729.2021 .1876862. 30. Morris Hugh, Tourism to Iran set to rise sharply after nuclear deal, in www.tele graph.co.uk/travel/destinations/middle-east/iran/articles/how-iran-tourism-industry-boomed-since-the-nuclear-deal/ 31. Nasser Afrah, US Resuming Arms Sales to UAE is Disastrous, in www.hrw.org/news /2021/04/15/us-resuming-arms-sales-uae-disastrous 32. Nelson E. Chad, The evolution of norms: American policy toward revolution in Iran and Egypt, in “Journal of Human Rights”, 2017, vol. 16 (4). 33. Olins Wally, Making a National Brand, in Melissen, J. (Ed.), The New Public Diplo-macy: Soft Power in International Relations, New York, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2005. 34. Pahlavani Mehrdad, Serious impediments to Iran's branding and rebranding, in http://www.irdiplomacy.ir/en/news/1978754/serious-impediments-to-iran-s-branding-and-rebranding. 35. Paivar Amir, Investing in Iran after the lifting of sanctions BBC, in “Persian Business reporter”, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33639124 (Accessed on 15.07. 2015) 36. Pamment James, British Public Diplomacy and Soft Power: Diplomatic Influence and the Digital Revolution, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 37. Scottcooper Andrew, The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran, New York, Henry Holt and Co., 2016. 38. Sharp Paul, Revolutionary states, Outlaw regimes and the techniques of public diplo-macy, in Melissen, J. (editor), The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 39. Snyder Robert, The U.S. and Third World Revolutionary States: Understanding the Breakdown in Relations, in “International Studies Quarterly”,1999, vol. 43 (2), pp. 265-290. 40. Steele Robert, British Persian studies and the celebrations of the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire in 1971, Master thesis of philosophy in faculty of humanities, Manchester, University of Manchester Press, 2014. 41. US, Britain, France, Germany back business with Iran after nuclear deal, in https://www.india.com/business/us-britain-france-germany-back-business-with-iran-after-nuclear-deal-1200152/ 42. Verlegh W. J. Peeter, Country Images: Why They Influence Consumers, in Go F.M., Govers R. (Eds.), International Place Branding Yearbook 2010, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 45-51. 43. Vicente De Jorge, State Branding in the 21’st century, Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy Thesis, Fletcher international school, Tufts university, 2004. 44. Wang Jiang, Localising public diplomacy: the role of sub-national actors in nation branding, in “Place Branding”, 2006, vol. 2 (1), pp. 32-42. 45. Weissbrod Lilly, Religion as National Identity in a Secular Society, in “Review of Religious Research”, 1983, vol. 24, no. 3, p. 201. 46. Wike Richard, Iran’s Global Image Mostly Negative, in https://www.pewresearch.org /global/2015/06/18/irans-global-image-mostly-negative/. 47. Yanik K. Lerna, Guns and Human Rights: Major Powers, Global Arms Transfers, and Human Rights Violations, in “Human Rights Quarterly”, vol. 28, no. 2, 2006, pp. 357–388. 48. Zeugner-Roth Katharina Petra, Diamantopoulos Adamantios, Advancing the country image construct, in “Journal of Business Research”, 2009, vol. 62, pp. 726-740.