A study about the course of evolution in Iran and Syria alliance from beginning of the new millennium until Arab awakening (2000-2011)

The strategic alliance between Iran and Syria is among those that have endured significantly in the past few decades. However, emergence of a new environment presents new challenges for the raison d'être of alliances, which in turn, increases the possibility of their disintegration. Despite significant changes in the political environment of Iran and Syria in the early part of the first decade in 21st century, strategic alliance between these two regional players in the period between 2000 and 2011 has endured. Therefore the core question of this study is: what factors have been effective in the endurance of strategic alliance between Iran and Syria in the period between 2000 until 2011? Our findings in this study show that according to the theory of defensive realism espoused by Stephen Walt, the main factors in the continuance of Iran and Syria alliance according to importance are: ideological solidarity, institutionalization of cooperation and Preserving Credibility. However, hegemonic leadership and formation of security community had no role in this regard. The methodology of this study is descriptive-analytic and the method of data collection is based on library.