نشریه مطالعات خاورمیانه
سال بیست و پنجم شماره 4 (پیاپی 94، زمستان 1397)

Political Zionism is a result of intellectual and political developments of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Literature including poetry has a pivotal position in changing religious Zionism into political Zionism. Regarding the Palestinian poets, some studies in Iran have been conducted, but the contribution of the poets to the production and consolidation of political Zionism has been neglected. Considering the fact that through occupying the territories of Palestine, political Zionism has influenced many developments in the Muslim World, it is necessary to probe into this political theory. Accordingly, this paper has questioned the way the Zionist modern identity has been constructed by Yehuda Amichai, the most read and the most famous Hebrew poet. The answer to this question has been articulated by a combination of three theories including Heidegger’s “fundamental ontology” and Benjamin’s “dialectical images” together with his allegory of the “angel of history.” By revolutionizing the Hebrew poetry, Amichai reproduced the Jewish historical existence in his literary works and contributed to the construction of the project of political Zionism via connecting the past with the present and future. This hypothesis is tested through reading and analyzing a selected corpus of Amichai’s poetry in a descriptive-critical method. The result of this analysis demonstrates that Amichai has contributed to the reproduction and consolidation of political Zionism and forging the Zionist identity more than any other thinker.

Syria, which by the end of 2010 was one of the most stable and influential countries in the Middle East has become one of the most destabilized, vulnerable and critical centers of conflict and regional and international competition since the beginning of 2011. The crisis has become one of the most difficult and complex Middle Eastern crises since World War II, due to the plurality and diversity of influential actors at the three domestic, regional and international levels. Qatar is one of the most influential regional actors and major contributors to the conflict in Syria. Qatar’s foreign policy was initially unclear and vague towards the internal unrest in Syria. Qatar initially was dissatisfied with the violent activities and protests of the people and stood beside Bashar al-Assad, but Doha changed its policy after some time. It took a stance against Bashar al-Assad and supported the opponents of the system. Using an analytical-descriptive approach, this paper seeks to answer the question of why Qatar has adopted aggressive foreign policy towards the Syrian crisis based on library resources. The research hypothesis is that Qatar has adopted an aggressive approach in its foreign policy towards the Syrian crisis with the aim of increasing its regional strength and highlighting its image and role internationally.

The Persian Gulf is a vital and strategic regional, and it is the center of attention for regional and international security, Therefore it has always been a Validation Key in U.S. foreign policy. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the United States began to cooperate more closely with its strategic ally Saudi Arabia in order to safeguard its interests by institutionalizing its values, patterns and templates in the region. Using the aggressive realist theoretical framework, this article is based on the principle that in the international system of great powers, not only do they maximize their power and security, but also they always seek to control the hostile powers. Therefore, it uses the Saudi-American balance strategy and assuming responsibility in order to control Iran as a growing power in the region. The main question is how the United States used this strategy at different times? How has this strategy affected the security of the Persian Gulf region? The Saudi-American balance has been investigated in three periods. Except for the middle-term (Saudi-American balance after Sept. 11), the strategy is being implemented by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the region in different forms. As a result, this strategy will further deepen the differences and lack of cooperation among the regional nations. Our research method in this paper is descriptive and analytical, using bibliographical method.

The emergence of the Obama doctrine helped transform US foreign policy. One of the areas where it had the most impact was the American approach to dealing with the threat of Jihadi terrorism. This article examines the ramification of Obama doctrine for the fight against terrorism by focusing on the American campaign against ISIL in Syria. It argues that the Obama doctrine led Washington to discard the Bush era military strategy of large-scale direct military intervention, which was costly in both blood and treasure, in favor of a proxy warfare strategy that minimized such costs. In Syria, this approach led the US to ally with Syrian Kurds against ISIL. It proved successful in dealing a mortal blow to ISIL with minimal costs leading the Trump administration to adopt the same approach.

In recent years, we have witnessed widespread developments in Egypt that not only affected Egypt and the Middle East, but in the international dimension has affected the great powers. After Islamists failure and Morsi’s defeat in less than a year and the arrival of General al-Sisi, Russia has welcomed these developments and Putin sought renewed political, military and economic relations. As a result, Russia and Egypt are growing closer. Defensive realism has been used as an analytical framework for understanding the foreign policy of Russia toward Egypt. This research seeks to answer this question “What is Russia’s foreign policy toward Egypt after the arrival of al-Sisi and what goals does Russia pursue?” According to the findings of the research, Russia, after the coup d’état, sought to take advantage of Egypt’s developments for its own national interests, and Russia’s foreign policy in Egypt is based on cooperation and coalition with an old and strategic partner. Russia’s goal is to strengthen political, economic and military ties with Egypt under al-Sisi.

The main question this research seeks to answer is as follows: What implications will the future of federalism in Iraq and Syria bring about for Iran’s strategic interests in the Middle East? The hypothesis to answer the question is that as a regional power, Iran has such interests as strategic presence in the Levant region to contain Israel, making efforts at exporting gas to Europe through the Middle East, preventing spillover effect of the Kurdish movement to its territory and obstructing Turkey’s access to the Persian Gulf markets, and oil and gas energy resources. Therefore, probable independence of Iraqi Kurdistan would endanger Iran’s status as a regional power in the Middle East, turning Iran’s regional rivals including Turkey into the major decision makers concerning regional order. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this paper intends to investigate the future of Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence and its repercussions for Iran’s strategic interests in the Middle East.