Researches in Earth Sciences

Researches in Earth Sciences

The impact of geopolitical codes on Iran's free zones transnational links (From the discourse of construction to prudence and hope)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Seyed Rohallah Hosseini
Mourteza ghourchi
Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
10.48308/esrj.2026.107332
Abstract
Introduction
Today, free zones play a role as places for connecting to the global economy. These zones are a form of territorial exceptionalism that serves to attract economic processes that the national economy does not have the capacity to address. Free zones are seen as gateways to the global economy, providing the ability to link the national economy to the global or networked economy. These zones are usually established in geographically advantageous locations for trade and are often located next to a seaport, airport, river port, or dry port. In fact, the inclusion of a port with logistical capabilities is key to their success. Free zones have been created to integrate into global production and trade, to the extent that the export-oriented economies of like have India and Dubai (which played an intermediary role) integrated into the global economy. This reduces the friction created by borders by reducing the complexity of customs and global markets and connecting two customs areas outside their own borders. These areas act as nodes of the network economy and play the role of a gateway for countries to enter the global economy. In the present study, the central issue is, in fact, the political discourses during the presidential periods of Iran, which determine the type of view each period has of international politics. The political discourses of the presidential periods and their type of view of international politics determine how these discourses have been able to increase the level of links of free zones with the global economy or reduce the entanglement of these areas with the global economy at three scales: neighborhood, regional, and global. From the perspective of political geography scholars, the type of approach of each political discourse to international politics at the macro level is interpreted as geopolitical codes. For Peter Taylor and Colin Flint, the geopolitical code is actually the operational agenda of a country's foreign policy beyond its borders, which evaluates geographical locations at all three scales: local (neighborhood), regional, and global to identify friends and foes. Contrary to the general view, the geopolitical code is defined as "a set of strategic assumptions that a state makes about other states in adopting its foreign policy and reveals the relationship between geography and politics." According to Flint, one president may use language in his discourse that indicates unity and friendship, such as Bill Clinton in the United States, while another president may emphasize the language of hostility and threat, such as the two Bush administrations. In fact, in these speeches, presidents portray their worldviews and interpret them for the public because, according to Sprotts (1965), the decisions of statesmen and the concerns of the public are based on geographical realities. In fact, these speeches are the geopolitical representation and the fifth calculation of geopolitical codes that are formulated in speeches. Since speeches are a major geopolitical activity and reflect the regional emphases of presidencies over time, in this study, we seek to find enemy countries in three scales of neighborhood, regional, and global in the discursive periods of Iranian presidencies using the content analysis method so that we can analyze the transnational links of free zones as a case study with the global economy. Basically, geopolitical codes are created and formed with the aim of identifying friends and enemies within these discourses.
Materials and Methods
The term content analysis is a relatively new term, dating back to 1961. The late 1950s saw researchers interested in machine translation, mechanical abstraction, and information retrieval systems. Computer languages ​​suitable for processing literal data emerged, and scientific journals began to focus on computer applications in psychology, the humanities, and the social sciences. The large volume of written documents to process in content analysis and the repetitive nature of coding have made the computer a natural and yet difficult ally for the content analyst. The development of software for processing literal (as opposed to numerical) data stimulated new fields of exploration, such as information retrieval, information systems, computational stylistics, computational linguistics, word processing technology, and computational content analysis. With the development of computer systems, data processing capabilities increased, and content analysis became possible on large volumes of data. Content analysis is the process of converting qualities into quantities and then converting these quantities into qualities. This method is mostly used in trend research, integrated research, examining the image of realities, and also examining the degree to which programs conform to structural and content characteristics and features. Content analysis is a qualitative research method for identifying, analyzing, and interpreting semantic patterns and the frequency of elements in text, media, and documents. The method can be quantitative (counting words, concepts) or qualitative (analyzing themes, hidden meanings) and is used in the study of media, politics, education, and the humanities. The first move toward qualitative content analysis can be traced to Krakoweir's article entitled The Challenge of Qualitative Content Analysis (1952). This article initiated a discussion of strategies used in content analysis in the 1950s. In this article, Krakoer formally recognized the qualitative content analysis method and, by stating the weaknesses of the quantitative method, highlighted the need to create a humanistic and qualitative version of content analysis. This research, in fact, has focused on the methodology of the article by John O’Loughlin and Richard Grant and the article by Colin Flint et al. for the first time to find geopolitical codes of Iran. Finally, mental maps of political actors are extracted from the geopolitical codes. Hence, it uses four foreign policy discourses as its organizing framework, in which it tracks significant differences between governments in terms of support for global and regional policies through speech analysis. It has been used to extract codes from the presidential website as well as newspapers, articles, and books as a data collection method. In fact, the more speeches, paragraphs, and words about a region or country, the more it reflects the government's concern and importance for that place. Of course, national events within each country may increase the number of speeches, or worsening economic conditions and war may reduce the number of speeches. Discourses are merely abstract and are considered as general frameworks within which the characteristics of geopolitical codes are constructed. Therefore, this research, using the method of content analysis and by collecting library and documentary data, has sought to find Iran's geopolitical codes in recent political discourses and their effects on the transnational links of free zones
Results and Discussion
Since geopolitical codes are a guideline for foreign policy, foreign policy orientations can be found in presidential speeches, which are themselves geopolitical actions. These orientations include presidential emphases on geographical regions and other countries. Therefore, it can be said that, contrary to Mackinder's theories, geopolitical perceptions at three scales of neighborhood, regional, and global are affected by developments and shifts in internal forces with different ideologies. Therefore, in this regard, one speech was randomly selected each year from four Iranian political actors with the presidency, and then their content was analyzed for quantification, and an attempt was made to examine changes in global and regional emphases. Then, enemy countries were extracted from these speeches, and finally their impact on the transnational ties of free zones was analyzed. In general, in these periods, due to limited access, speeches were selected from various sources including websites, articles, books, and newspapers. The results of the research indicate that political discourses during presidential terms
that used friend-enemy relations less in international politics and did not reproduce politics in transnational spaces, have enabled Iran's free zones to establish more links with the network economy and increase the volume of foreign direct investment during those same periods.
Conclusion
Since geopolitical codes determine the foreign policy orientations of countries by determining friendly and enemy countries beyond their borders. Therefore, in these five calculations, as the number of friendly countries increases, the level of openness in the field of foreign policy also increases. These codes, which are determined by governments in the puzzle world, determine the level of relations with the network economy and the amount of foreign investment. Geopolitical codes can be analyzed in various speeches by the presidential administration. Therefore, these codes determine the level of connection of a country with the global economy. Therefore, according to the findings of this study, it can be said that in Iran, the higher the level of openness of geopolitical codes, the greater the amount of foreign investment and, consequently, the level of connections with the network economy. As is clear from the graph below, the level of openness of geopolitical codes has a direct relationship with the level of connections with the network economy. On the other hand, according to the chart below, it can be said that in the late period of the constructive discourse, the level of relations between free zones and the network economy has increased, and in the period of the dialogue of civilizations, these relations are at their best. In the discourse period of justice and compassion, the level of relations and openness of geopolitical codes reaches its lowest level, and as a result, the amount of foreign investment decreases significantly. Also, in the first period of the discourse of prudence and hope, the level of openness increases, and as a result, foreign investments in free zones expand. However, after the rupture of the JCPOA and the imposition of sanctions, these investments and, as a result, the links between free zones have decreased.
Keywords
Geopolitical cods
Political discourses
Peresidental terms
Free zones of Iran
Subjects
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