فصلنامه امنیت پژوهی
پیاپی 65 (بهار 1398)

Understanding the situations, recognizing the issues and challenges ahead, matching the organization’s structure and plan for proper and timely accountability in order to predict the future events and to analyze the affairs correctly are among the most fundamental requirements of security-intelligence organizations. In these organizations, education plays a vital role, and its employees pass specific and targeted training courses at different levels of work and service. The security-intelligence training centers will play a significant role in the excellence and success of their respective organizations, provided they fulfill the expected values and functions. The present research aims at explaining the status of the fulfillment of university values and functions in security-intelligence training centers based on the qualitative approach of the interpretive method. Also, document analysis has been used as a data collection instrument. In the context of university values of the country’s security-intelligence training centers, the research findings show that organizational values have been prioritized higher than institutional values. In the context of university functions, two types of “Learning to know” and “Learning to live together” have been largely overlooked.

The course of scientific developments of universities and higher education institutes has led to the emergence of community-based universities, with an approach of effectiveness and enjoying stable societal functions in society. The purpose of the university’s stabilizing function is societal security. The present study is carried out through a combined exploratory method aims at identifying ways to enhance the university’s effect on the societal security of the IRI. In the qualitative section, the scholars in this field were interviewed. 88 indicators were identified based on the results of content analysis and interview coding. The indicators were categorized within the following 7 dimensions: “Teachers as Architects of Knowledge Teaching and Responsible Life”, “Student Education with the Purpose of Creativity and Continuity of Order”, “Academic Space and Environment as the Most Important Place for the Manifestation of Societal Relations,” “Efficient and Satisfactory Management”, “Education of citizenship rights and responsibilities”,” Research on new issues through a new way” and “Promoting of forbearance and justice-seeking culture towards a safe and sustainable society”. In the quantitative section, a questionnaire was designed based on the dimensions and indicators identified, and then distributed among 170 experts in the field of research. The data analysis results indicate that the most important strategies for the university’s effectiveness in promoting the societal security in the 7 aforementioned dimensions are: “The formation of scientific communities in the university”, “Review of the system of recruitment and promotion of lecturers based on the importance of civic activities and the provision of social services”, “Consideration of the social and civil activities of students for their promotion to higher levels of education”, “Rethinking the institutional values of the university”, “The relationship of education with the practice and needs of the community”, “Conducting interventional research in the field of social harms” and “Establishing compatibility between the university and the surrounding community”.

Security is one of the basic indicators of human well-being so that the growth and excellence of the society and its members depend on the supply of this basic need. Human security should be regarded as one of the major categories and fundamental concepts that has drawn the attention of many security researchers. The present research attempts to examine the effect of moral values, social identity, and social trust on human security, among many other variables that affect human security, among Tehran’s citizens. A questionnaire was designed for this purpose, and its validity and reliability were measured. Then, it was distributed among 389 Tehran citizens. Data were analyzed using the structural equation approach and Smart PLS software. The data analysis results showed the effect of moral values and social identity and social trust on human security among Tehran citizens. However, in the meantime, moral values and social identity had a more significant effect on human security while that of social trust was less.

Although fighting terrorism in recent decades has been embraced by the US National Security Strategy and has been pursued in several United States governments as a strategic priority, examining the performance of US presidents has always indicated a constant dissatisfaction with the efficiency of counter-terrorism strategies. This is also the same for the Obama presidency, as his successor, Trump, during the electoral campaigns, called ineffective what Obama had done in eight years of government in the field of terrorism, especially in the West Asian region. He spoke about a tremendous change in the way of fighting terrorism during his presidency. The introduction of such discussion by Trump has led the authors of this article, while considering the significance of the West Asian region in terms of shared security concerns with the Islamic Republic of Iran, to elaborately review the new US president’s counterterrorism strategy, with an emphasis on Yemen. Focusing on the main issue, the initial hypothesis stated that Trump called the strategy of committing Yemen (as a victim of terrorism) used by the Obama administration ineffective and thus resorted to a direct military intervention strategy in that country. As the present research is descriptive-explanatory, the hypothesis was measured and validated based on library data.

Security is one of the basic human needs and, on the other hand, it is the political jurisprudence that is responsible for regulating the internal and external relations of Muslims based on equality and justice, and is committed to exploring and addressing its various aspects and dimensions. The main question here is, what the dimensions and limits of social security in Shiite political jurisprudence are? Keeping this question in mind, the present study aims to analyze the socio-political dimensions and indicators of security in Shiite political jurisprudence. The present study is analytical-documentary research. The data collection method was library study in which the necessary data has been gathered by taking notes of books, articles, and so forth. The research findings show that the dimensions of political security in Shiite jurisprudence include foreign policy, judicial security, and military security. Also, in the social dimensions of security include cultural security, social cohesion, public consultation and participation in decision making, national unity and solidarity of faith, care for other people’s affairs and attempting for solving their problems, cooperation in good deeds, the necessity of maintaining social relations and the prevention of social isolation.

The present research aims to explain the general personality traits appropriate for the mission of security-intelligence organizations. The main question is which personality traits are appropriate to the mission of the security-intelligence organizations. Due to the exploratory nature of the research, no hypothesis was proposed, and the research questions were answered only through the library research and field studies (interview and questionnaires). The statistical population of the research is composed of the employees of one of the security-intelligence organizations. Due to its specific circumstances and the impossibility of access to all of these individuals, 50 of them were selected using the available sampling method. In order to collect data, firstly by referring to the research literature and interview with the experts, a short form 60-item Neo Questionnaire was conducted on the statistical population. Then, the results were tested using descriptive and inferential statistics, which indicates that the majority of the employees of this security-intelligence organization is on the scale of accountability (conscientiousness) and adaptability. Also, the proposed occupational requirements of the statistical population are summarized in these two personality scales. In total, the correlation coefficient between the scores obtained on the Neo scale and the employees’ assessment score was 0.77, which indicates a positive and high correlation between these two variables; it is therefore inferred that the employees with higher scores in the job assessment also have high scores in the subscales of accountability (conscientiousness) and adaptability. It is concluded that employees with personality traits of conscientiousness and adaptability are appropriate for employment in security-intelligence organizations.

Qatar diplomatic crisis, in the long run, does not necessarily mean instability and an intensification of the cycle of disorder and insecurity in the region but is mainly a challenge to US regional goals and interests. The main question of the present article is “why and how the Qatar diplomatic crisis could weaken US strategic plans in the Persian Gulf?” The research hypothesis is that “the Qatar diplomatic crisis can hinder the fulfillment of Washington’s low-cost regional policies of offshore balancing and removal of responsibility by creating gaps in the Gulf Cooperation Council, and thus weaken US strategic plans in the region. This research is descriptive-analytical and has used explanatory methodology. The research findings confirm the above hypothesis. The research results also highlight the possibility of improving the long-term goals and interests of Iran during the Qatar diplomatic crisis.