Iran’s Security Dilemma in The Middle East: A Neorealist Approach to Iran’s Foreign Policy in Syria

Year 2017, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 115 - 139, 30.12.2017

Hazal Muslu El Berni

https://doi.org/10.33201/iranian.375292

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Iran’s foreign policy in the Middle
East has often been analyzed through the lenses of religion which seen as an
inseparable component of state identity of Iran. Iran’s foreign policy actions in
the region have often been interpreted as suspicious as well as posing
ideological and sectarian threat by the other Middle East countries that have
Shia minorities/majorities in their territories. At that point, Syria war
constitutes a relevant example to analyze the determinants of Iran’s foreign
policy in the Middle East. This study attempts at applying neorealism to
analyze the motivations of Iran’s foreign policy in the Middle East. It argues
that Iran’s foreign policy in Syria needs to be seen beyond the discourse of
proxy war; rather it aims at securing Iran’s regional power bases as well as
projecting Iranian power to Syria and across the region.

Keywords

Syria War, Iran’s Foreign Policy, Neorealism, Security Dilemma, Sectarianism.

İran’ın Ortadoğu Güvenlik İkilemi: Yeni Gerçekçilik Kuramına Göre İran’ın Suriye Dış Politikası

Abstract

İran’ın Ortadoğu dış politikası genellikle İran’ın devlet kimliğinin ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak görülen din anlayışı çerçevesinde değerlendirilmiştir. İran’ın dış politika kararları ve eylemlerine, sınırlarında Şii nüfus - azınlık veya çoğunluk- barındıran Ortadoğu devletleri tarafından şüpheli yaklaşılmış, hatta bölge için ideolojik ve mezhepsel tehlike olarak yorumlanmıştır. Bu anlamda Suriye savaşı, İran Ortadoğu dış politikasının belirleyici unsurlarını analiz edebilmemiz için önemli bir örnektir. Bu çalışma, İran’ın Suriye dış politikasının belirleyici motivasyonlarını yeni gerçekçilik yaklaşımıyla anlamaya çalışıp, mezhepsel gerilimlerin mi yoksa jeopolitik hesaplamaların mı belirleyici olduğunu tartışmaktadır.

Keywords

Suriye Savaşı, Neorealizm, İran Dış Politikası, Güvenlik İkilemi, Mezhepçilik.

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