The Importance of Nomad Frontiersman's Role in Strategic Areas (Case Study: Shahsavan Ardabil Tribes)

In this paper, the author has attempted to give a clear account of the socioeconomic difficulties facing the Shahsavan Tribe while as far as possible avoiding being subjective and presumptuous. The studies carried out towards this end are based on the strategic importance of the region and the developments of the recent few decades and finally certain suggestions have been offered for improvement of conditions. The paper presents a summary of the history of the tribe and the region over which the tribe is spread and within which it migrates and the ecological characteristics of this region. It also remarks on the demographical characteristics of the Tribe in question. The main emphasis, however, has been laid upon the effects of the executive policies of the Iranian governments before and after the Islamic Revolution on the structure of the tribe as well as the effects of the Moghan Parsabad Industry and Agriculture Co on the fragility of the tribe and the effects of the neighboring country, the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the various issues facing the Shahsavan Tribe. The establishment of a US military base in the Republic of Azerbaijan and its effects on the conditions in Islamic Republic of Iran and thus naturally on the Shahsavan Tribe whose center of population concentration is close to the Republic of Azerbaijan, have also been discussed.