Ahmadinejad, Iran, and foreign policy dysfunction in Tajikistan

Abstract

Throughout the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tajikistan became, on the surface at least, an increasingly important political partner to Iran. Tajikistan according to Ahmadinejad was a "strategic partner" and in fact the two states' "common history and culture" made them inseparable. Ahmadinejad's emphasis on Tajikistan within Iran's broader foreign policy led to considerable discussion among regional observers and analysts who declared that the relationship between Iran and Tajikistan could potentially develop into a so-called "Persian alliance," which could reorder the regional political balance. However, lying just below the surface of relations between Iran and Tajikistan was a disjuncture between rhetoric and reality. This article argues that despite the public amity that existed between the two states, strong and substantive Iran-Tajik relations were not achieved by the close of Ahmadinejad's presidency. This was due in part to a dysfunctional Iranian foreign policy approach, which often led to the mismanagement of this interstate relationship. This factor along with the unwillingness of Tajik elites to go from words to deeds and the broader impact of sanctions, international isolation, and regional rivalry, meant that Iran was largely unable to fulfill its prominent political and economic objectives in Tajikistan.