Justice and Order in the Iranian-Islamic Approach to International Relations: Theoretical Rethinking and Conceptual Echoes

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Shiraz University
2 University of Tehran
10.22084/rjir.2026.31774.3983
Abstract
The conceptual position and relationship of justice and order have been one of the most controversial theoretical issues in the field of international relations for decades. While materialist approaches with a conservative view of international order prioritize order, critical theories emphasize the category of justice, and the Iranian-Islamic approach highlights their inextricable link. This article seeks to formulate and explain a perspective titled "Iranian-Islamic approaches," which attempts to represent the position of order and justice in international relations. The main question is what position and relationship this approach assigns to the two important categories of order and justice in international relations. The research hypothesis is that in the Iranian-Islamic approach to international relations, justice and order are not defined as independent concepts but as two interrelated and intertwined components, in such a way that the realization of each is a necessary condition for the stability of the other. According to this perspective, justice is the basis for legitimizing order, and an order that lacks justice will ultimately suffer from erosion and instability. The findings of this research show that in the Iranian-Islamic approach to international relations, justice and order have a causal and interrelated relationship in which justice is not merely a moral ideal. Still, a structural mechanism for creating, maintaining, and reforming order, and an order that is formed based on moral values, is more stable. In contrast, the lack of justice leads to the weakening or collapse of order and a crisis of its legitimacy.
Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 03 October 2026