Dynamism of Order in World and Regional Levels and Change in Roles of Regional Actors of Persian Gulf (Case Study: United Arab Emirates)

Nowadays, international order has passed serious changes in both world and regional levels. The entrance of international order to the era of post-American transition and environmental dynamisms in regions have made some basic uncertainties inspiring changes in roles of most of actors in regions, particularly in Persian Gulf. United Arab Emirates is one of the most significant examples of the mentioned actors. Using the theory of role, this research seeks to investigate what effects have the changes and dynamisms of orders in world and region had on roles and acts of actors in the region of Persian Gulf. The hypothesis is that: dynamisms of orders in world and regional levels have changed the social structure of order and consequently this issue has provoked some regional actors like UAE to start promoting its role from a moderate and dependent actor in regional upheavals to a security, military, and political actor during the last 10 years. The research is explanatory-analytical and the method of data collection procedure is based on library and online international statistics and documents.      

The research is descriptive-analytic. Using the descriptive-analytic approach, the researcher seeks to answer why and how is established a causal relationship between independent and dependent variables, and it is attempted to describe a process and develop a concept.

Two factors at the systemic and regional levels have changed the role of the UAE. 1) Changing the regional role of the United States of America in the Persian Gulf region; 2) Regional developments such as the Arab Spring and military conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran's growing influence, and competition and conflict with Qatar. In addition, to consolidate its new role, the UAE has taken actions including: 1) Intervention in the Yemeni civil war; 2) Finding new regional and trans-regional allies such as Russia and Israel.

The findings of this study show that changes in order at the systemic and regional levels change perceptions of the role of regional actors. In this regard, the role and foreign policy of the United Arab Emirates were discussed. In particular, the UAE's foreign policy behavior was largely influenced by the structure of the international system, and they traditionally followed the dominant power; but changes at the systemic level and the dynamics of order at the environmental level led the country to take on a role beyond the subordinate government at the regional level. Hence, the UAE is trying to impose its political and security order through proxy forces, military organizations and the support of affiliated politicians. But the UAE's ambitions and behavior to become an influential country in the Persian Gulf region can have a significant impact on regional order. For example, bringing Israel into the Gulf security environment could provoke a reaction from pro-Palestinian groups and lead to new tensions.