The Nixon Doctrine and Iran's Oil Policy in the 1970s; A Comparative Survey Based on Rosenau's Linkage Model

After the establishment of the OPEC، oil-rich countries of the third world، which were in struggle with big petroleum companies since the 1950s، tried to use oil as a means for achieving their economic and political goals. As an example، the OPEC raised the price of petroleum in 1973 and 1974 to unprecedent levels. Concurrent with these conditions، Richard Nixon، then the President of the United States of Americapursued a new policy regarding the Persian Gulf، based on the trend of US foreign policy making، public opinion and inernational conditions. Under the new policy، known as the Nixon Doctrine، the responsibility of maintaining security in the region was entrused to regional states. Insuch circumstances، trying to perform the role of the regional gendarme، Iran purchased American arms in a large scale. The purpose of this article is the explanation of the impacts of the Nixon Doctrine on the Iran’s oil policy in the 1970s، applying James Rosenau’s linkage model.