The Effect of Geopolitical Factors on the Appropriate Control of the Common Border between Iran and Azerbaijan (A Case Study of Ardabil Province Border)

In spite of the support of the existence of every country, borders have the greatest effect on the security and independency of that country and a appropriate control of borders is one of the major concerns of every country. Undoubtedly, one of the effective factors in the appropriate control of borders is the characteristics and the geopolitical factors of the common border. The present study is of an implicational kind and it has been conducted by descriptive, analytic, survey method using document investigation tools, interview, and questionnaire among 85 members of the sample population including the border commanders units, the political and security authorities including governors and prefectures of border cities of Ardabil Province. The validity of the questionnaire was obtained by literature review, consulting with scholars and supervisor and co-supervisor views and conducting a pretest. The reliability of the questionnaire was obtained .81 using Cranach alpha. The results of the study show that the geographical locations of border stations have more effects on appropriate border control. The economic, social conditions of frontiers, topography and relations with Azerbaijan Republic are the next ranks of importance.