Geopolitics of Regionalism; Moving towards Regional Integration as a Means for Lasting Peace and Stability in the Middle East

From emergence of ancient civilizations in pre-history era to the dawn of early 21st century in contemporary history, the world has witnessed a variety of ways according to which members of international community tried to solve their disputes and find peaceful solutions for their conflicts. However, a very recent mechanism, which proved to be fruitful, is moving towards integration and convergence within the region they belong to.
Defining and drawing the lines of common interest is the first step in this long road. It is the objective of this paper to explore that how moving towards regional integration based on geographical closeness, cultural interaction, and economic cooperation can create the framework for a geopolitics in the Middle East leading to a new regional subsystem in international system ending decades of bloody wars and costly destruction and promising a better future with peace, stability and welfare for its nations. The paper also argues that a minimum level of mutual understanding, mutual trust, and political will, and less intervention by outsiders are among necessary preconditions for this process to begin. The paper finally evaluates the challenges facing this approach from an Iranian perspective.