Conflicting Iranian and Saudi Identity and Conduct in the Syrian Crisis

Recent developments in North Africa and the Arab Middle East known as the Arab Spring or Islamic Awakening began in Tunisia in 2010 and affected most of the Arab countries, leading to the overthrowing of Ben Ali’s dictatorship in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak’s in Egypt, Qaddafi’s in Libya and vast bloody clashes in Bahrain and Syria. In the meantime, Syria has turned into a battlefield for rivalry between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia. This article  seeks to answer the following question: What gives rise to conflicting conduct of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Syrian crisis? The hypothesis indicates that different identity foundations governing the foreign policies of Iran and Saudi Arabia have led the two governments to adopt conflicting attitudes towards the Syrian crisis. The authors have drawn upon the constructivist theoretical framework in order to conduct this research. The salient finding of the research includes that identity-based perceptions in shaping the two nations’ interest and their effects on foreign policy account for the conflicting conduct in Syria on part of the two governments.