The Influence of the Axis of Resistance on the Balance of Power in the Middle East 2002-2020
Subject Areas :
Keywords: Resistance, Iran, Middle East, Neo-realism, Balance of power,
Abstract :
The axis of resistance, which consists of Iran, Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, and Yemen's Ansarullah Movement, is known as one of the most influential powers in the region. The expansion of the axis of re-sistance provided many benefits and opportunities for the Islamic Republic of Iran, among which was the deepening of the military and strategic geography of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the improvement of the internal and external power balance of this country. This research aims to investigate the impact of the axis of resistance on the balance of power in the Middle East region between 2002 and 2020, using the theoretical framework of the balance of power and neo-realist ideas and based on the descriptive-analytical method, and by using li-brary and internet resources, it tries to answer the question of how the axis of resistance has influenced the security (balance of power) of the Middle East during the years 2002 to 2020? The results show that the resistance axis by overcoming extremist and Salafist groups, and Western regional allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, has led to the superiority of the balance of power in favor of the resistance axis from 2002 to 2020.
Ahmadzadeh, Davood et al., 2019, Alterna-tive Scenarios of the Islamic Repub-lic of Iran Confronting the Arab Re-gional Coalition Among Arab Coun-tries, International Political Research Quarterly, Volume 7, Number 40.
Adami, Ali, and Elham Keshavarz Moghadam, 2015, The Position of the Security Axis in the Foreign Pol-icy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Allameh Tabatabai University, Jour-nal of Political Studies of the Islamic World, Volume 4, Number 2.
Baqeri, Mohsen, Ali Omidy, and Enayatol-lah Yazdani, 2021, The Impact of the Resistance Axis on the Strategic Depth of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Journal of Political Studies of the Islamic World, Volume 10, Number 2, Summer.
Behzadi, Hamid, 1997, Principles of Interna-tional Relations and Foreign Policy, Volume 1, Tehran, Hamrah Publica-tions.
Buzan, Barry, and Ole Wæver, 2009, Re-gions and Powers: The Structure of International Security, translated by Rahman Ghorbanpour, Tehran: Stra-tegic Studies.
Khamenei, Sayyid Ali, 1993, "Meeting of the Secretary-General of the Hezbol-lah Movement in Lebanon with the Leader of the Revolution," on the website of the Office for Preserva-tion and Publication of the Works of Ayatollah Khamenei, Article Publi-cation Date: August 21, 1993, Date of Access: January 17, 2020.
Sadeghi, Seyed Shams al-Din, and Kamran Lotfi, 2016, The Yemen Crisis: Geo-political Struggle between the Con-servative Axis and the Islamic Re-sistance Axis, Global Politics Quar-terly, Volume 5, Number 1, Spring.
Askari Kermani, Mohammad, and Hossein Moeinabadi Bidegoli, 2021, Exami-nation of the Security Complex of the Middle East and Understanding Coalitions and Threats with Empha-sis on the Role of the Resistance Ax-is in its Interactions, Islamic Awak-ening Quarterly, Year 10, Number 2, Summer.
Qasemi, Behzad, 2017, Geopolitics of the Resistance Axis and National Securi-ty of the Islamic Republic of Iran Based on the Discourse of the Islam-ic Revolution, Security Horizons Quarterly, Volume 11, Number 38.
Qasemi, Farhad, 2005, Principles of Interna-tional Relations, Tehran, Mizan Publications.
Qahremanpour, Rahman, 2007, Iran and the Geopolitics of Power in the Arab World, Tehran, Center for Strategic Defense Research.
Karimi, Abolfazl, 2017, The Role of the Is-lamic Republic of Iran in Identity Formation of the Security Axis, Monthly Journal of Nations Re-search, Volume 2, Number 20, Au-gust.
Kamali Dolatabadi, Samaneh, 2013, Applica-tion of the Balance of Power Theory in Organizing the Structure of Re-gional Security Arrangements (Case Study: Middle East Security Ar-rangements), Master's Thesis in Po-litical Science - Regional Studies - Middle East and North Africa Stud-ies, Shiraz University.
Mottaghi, Ebrahim, and Hojat Kazemi, 2007, Structuralism, Identity, Lan-guage and Foreign Policy of the Is-lamic Republic of Iran, Politics Quarterly, Volume 37, Number 4.
Mosallanezhad, Abbas, 2011, Analysis of Iran's Regional Balance Policy in Realist and Neo-Realist Approaches, Journal of International Relations Research, Volume 1, Number 1.
McLean, Ian, 2002, Oxford Dictionary of Political Science, translated by Ha-mid Ahmadi, Tehran, Mizan Publi-cations.
Nouri, Alireza, 2020, The Challenge of Heg-emonic Order, Stability, and Balance in the Middle East; Opportunities for Iran and Russia, Alaee, Hossein, 2012, Analysis of Changes in the Balance of Power in the Middle East Following Popular Uprisings in Arab Countries, Foreign Policy Quarterly, Volume 26, Number 4, Winter.
Rahyaft Political International Journal, Vol-ume 11, Number 4, Summer.
Hashempour, Peyrouz, Ali Mohammad Haghighi, Ghafoor Zarei, 2021, Identity Formation of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in the Islamic Resistance Axis (Case Study: Hez-bollah in Lebanon), Sepehr Siyasat Quarterly, Year 8, Number 72, Spring.
Nye, Joseph (2004) Building Regional Secu-rity in the Middle East: Internation-al, Regional and Domestic Influ-ences, London: Frank Cass.
Spiegel, Steven. (2001), Regional security and levels of problem analysis, Lon-don: Frank Cass.