Designing a Strategic Model for Establishing I.R. of Iran's Naval Bases in the Western Part of the Indian Ocean

One of the requirements regarding acquisition of maritime authority is the adoption of a strategy based on the continuous presence in distant waters. This requires the development of a strategic model that meets the need for distant presence of dispatch convoys through establishing a naval base in one of the western Indian Ocean countries. To attain this purpose, this paper first discusses the importance of the Indian Ocean and then surveys the experiences of other countries, including trans-regional and regional countries regarding the establishment of a base in the western Indian Ocean. The present study is an applied-developmental one which used a case-field method. The temporal realm of this study is up to the horizon of 1414 and its spatial realm is the western Indian Ocean and its thematic realm also include the realm of naval power. The statistical population of the study is 49 individuals and library and survey methods were used to collect data. Data collection tools include articles, documents of organizations and academic websites, interviews and closed questionnaires. Regarding data analysis, SPSS and SmartPLS softwares were used for quantitative and factor analysis, respectively. As the results show, the researcher was able to explain the factors and strategic features effective in establishing offshore bases, identify obstacles and challenges of creating a naval base. Finally, he found eight effective dimensions in the creation of a naval base and identified a number of corresponding components for each dimension, regardless of which countries are the base and destination ones, important dimensions and components to provide a conceptual model of base creation.