نشریه مطالعات خاورمیانه
سال شانزدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 59، پاییز و زمستان 1388)

Democratization is a long, profound and incremental process whose procession would lead to the institutionalization of participation and party, group and associational competition, whereas liberalization is not identical with democratization referring to citizen's basic freedoms and political rights as well as fairly free elections. Interconnection of patrimonial structure of power, tribal social fabric, rentier economy and subsequently weak civil institutions and modernist secular and religious currents all played a part in the perpetuation of authoritarianism in the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms. They have hindered the elevation of limited recent liberalizations to the level of democratization. In this paper, the author seeks to examine political, cultural and economic origins of the obstacles to democratic promotion in the region.

Regionalism and tendency to create economic unions has expanded day by day. The concept of regionalism needs a particular geographical concentration. This paper addresses economic integration among Persian Gulf countries from the perspective of international macro-economic indicators. Each of the Persian Gulf countries can forge alliance with other countries voluntarily depending on its perception of chances and threats. In a case of regionalism, there are both threats and opportunities. Threats arise from the possibility of isolation in a globalized economy, while opportunities are derived from two goals including modernization and more rapid growth. With economic integration, further chances are created for attracting foreign investment and technology, thus utilization and incomes increase and life quality will improve.

This paper seeks to analytically examine U.S. security patterns in the Persian Gulf. This study focuses on the post-September 11th period and discusses previous security patterns in the region as far as this contributes to better understanding of the subject matter. For this reason, the author addresses security developments within the framework of regional interstate relationships, the structure of power in the regional system and the impact of U.S. power on it. However, no reference is made to the domestic developments occurring in regional nations – which are indeed an influential variable in regional frameworks and patterns. In addressing the issue, the author studies moves by regional states and the United States in relation to Persian Gulf security since the 1990s up to now and suggests certain measures for the advancement of regional security conditions.

Saudi Arabia and the United States are two important regional and trans-regional players in the Middle East which have economic-oil, political, security and military ties and interactions. The interconnectedness of oil and security ties between the two Countries have brought about increased shared interests in a way that such relations have affected oil market as well. Moreover, since Iran represents an important oil actor in the Persian Gulf region and the world, oil interaction between each of the regional countries and the United States might leave effects on Iran's national security. Considering the importance of U.S. and Saudi role and operations in regional developments and the fact that their relations and interactions affect spheres of Iran's national interests, this paper deals with explaining such relations, objectives and operations of these two actors in the Middle East scene.

While evidence shows a growing trend of deterritorialization and transnationalization in certain parts of the world, political rules in the Middle East are based on territoriality which refers to the modern ages. Drawing upon a neo-realist perspective, this paper seeks to analyze trends, developments and events in this part of the world and is based on the hypothesis that the role and place of territoriality will last in the region for the years to come in the 21st century. This paper argues that both trends of deterritorialization and reterritorialization will be of less priority in comparison to the classical and modern principles of territoriality in the Middle East. Distinct geographical facts in the Middle East as compared to other parts of the world particularly in the European Union and North America provide the grounds for the permanence and continuity of territoriality in relation to the Middle East equations. While the presence of extra-territorial processes is not negated, reterritorialization will be established by nation-states in this part of the world.

The emergence of al-Qaeda represented the beginning of a new stage in the life of Radical Sunni Islamism aimed at establishing an Islamic order in the world. The mindset of this transnational organization, which is rooted in the Arab Afghans phenomenon and the years of struggle against the Soviet army, is Salafist based on Ibn Taymieh and Seyed Qutb's thoughts. In this paper, the author enumerates three major parameters in the al-Qaeda leader's thinking including Jihad and struggle against paganism, reinventing the past identity (return to the true Islam), and purification of Muslim countries from corrupt rulers. In this relation, the principle of Jihad gains much importance and the outlooks of its leaders in this respect are discussed in detail. A review of such parameters may illuminate the reasons for the revival of Sunni Islamic fundamentalism as well as the challenges ahead of al-Qaeda in the changing contemporary world.