نشریه مطالعات خاورمیانه
سال بیست و سوم شماره 3 (پیاپی 85، پاییز 1396)

Prevalence of threats, competition, disputes and conflicts, arms race and political-ideological differences are major obstacles to attain sustainable security in the regions. In this respect, various power cycles give rise to different strategic environments that can create either opportunity or threat. The Islamic Republic of Iran is no exception to the rule. Hence, the main question of the article is that considering the existing threats in the realm of international and regional relations and shift in the global power cycle, what implications these changes will have for the strategic stability and regional security. The hypothesis indicates that shift in the global and regional power cycle and their linkage will give rise to a change in the world geostrategic map and the formation of a new construct of regional orders with a differing degree of stability and instability in geopolitical, geoeconomic and geocultural networks.

Recent regional developments in Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq have affected the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia as two regional powers, resulting in the clash of their interests. Drawing upon the descriptive-analytical method and using the proxy war approach, the authors examine policies made and actions taken by Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran towards each other in recent Middle Eastern crises. Reviewing grounds for the conflict between the two nations, the authors seek to answer the question that in what ways Iran and Saudi Arabia seek to confront each other’s goals and interests in the region. The main hypothesis of the research indicates that the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia make efforts to prevent superiority and dominance of the other party by supporting their allied groups and governments in the region without resorting to direct fighting.

Political-Security and geopolitical changes in Iraq after 2003 have resulted in the promotion of Islamic Republic of Iran’s status in the Middle East political-security sphere including in Iraq; sphere that has been traditionally influenced by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Utilizing such opportunities, Iran has also sought to actualize its capacities, capabilities, values and influence in the Middle East. This is viewed as detrimental to Saudi Arabia. Hence it has searched for solutions to preclude Iran’s expanded political and spiritual influence in the region, contemplating on measures to offset Iran’s regional power. Iran-Saudi confrontation has reached such level that demonstrates a zerosum game in their bilateral ties in Iraq. For this reason, Saudi policy in the Middle East is based on containing Iran’s influence. In this paper, the authors have studied foreign policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia, using the game theory and the theory of moves in order to understand their rivalry in the Middle East.

This article seeks to study changes in Turkey-Saudi relations from the perspective of the theory of regional security complex and to examine the impact of regional developments on Ankara-Riyadh economic, political and military mutual ties from 2002-2016. This period represents a combination of rivalry and cooperation between the two nations.
The author looks at the improved Turkey-Saudi relations following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, divergence in their relations after the Egyptian revolution in 2013, and a high degree of convergence on the Syrian crisis since 2015. The articles reviews briefly a history of political, economic and military relations between the two nations within the past 15 years. The second section of the article deals with foreign policy orientations of Turkey and Saudi Arabia before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, during the Lebanese crisis, and following the Arab Spring in the Middle East.

This article seeks to examine the cybernetic system of the Persian Gulf and the possibility for Iran to leave its impact on the system. Describing the cybernetic theory in regional studies as the conceptual framework of the research, the author applies it on the hegemonic security system in the Persian Gulf. After revealing the flaws of the system, he extrapolates its dynamic imbalance and views it as being located in one of its phase places. According to the author, by using the unfamiliar attraction model that has appeared in the present phase place of the cybernetic control system in the Persian Gulf, the Islamic Republic of Iran will become able to take full advantage of the conditions. Thus it will become capable of elevating its position from the controlled subsystem to the status of controller.

Iran has been faced with a plethora of security dilemmas in its Middle Eastern environment within the last decade. Such factors as the Iraqi and Syrian crises, rise of terrorist groups, U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and its growing closeness with the Arabs have led Iran to adopt the intertwined security strategy in the Middle East security sphere. Within this strategy, any instance of insecurity for Iran would be considered as insecurity for the region. Under such circumstances, the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) and the departure of the nuclear issue from Iran’s foreign policy agenda has heightened the capacity of Iranian diplomatic apparatus in managing regional developments. Drawing upon an analytical method and defensive neo-realist theory, the author seeks to examine the relationship between the JCPOA and the intertwined security strategy. He concludes that the agreement as one based on positive sum has the potential of being expanded to other regional issues, serving as a solution to regional crises in a realist outlook. On this basis, the JCPOA and intertwined security strategy complement each other, leading to Iran’s active engagement in the resolution of regional crises by directing regional security equations to a win-win game.