فصلنامه آفاق امنیت
پیاپی 40 (پاییز 1397)

Researches on resistance and movement studies are the most important, though neglected, research fields closely interwoven with three categories of survival, security and development. Resistance is the borderline between righteousness and evilness, which confronts equally the two problems of humanity, “Islamophobia”, in the form of atheism, and “extremism” under the guise of Takfir. Hence, the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the basis of the rules of its constitution and the high ideals of the Islamic Revolution, has certified protecting the liberation movements and their supportive governments as its fundamental goals. Accordingly, fighting against the usurper Zionist regime and its allied states in the region seems to be the natural and logical outcome of Iran’s strategic policy. Emphasizing on the necessity of pursuing and maintaining the support of the axis of resistance and confronting the dominating system, especially in the security environment round the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to the strategic logic of regional presence and its implications, this research argues that the IRGC, as the protector of the achievement of the Islamic Revolution, plays a decisive role in preserving the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The attendance of the faithful and Jihadist forces of the Quds Force and the defenders of the shrine (Modafean Haram), has promoted Iran's regional status from a regional power to a regional dominant actor. This research mainly hypothesize that the security-oriented foreign policy is a natural outcome of foreign interventions and internationalization of security in Southwest Asia. In such a situation, the country's security and defense forces are the main drivers and providers of national security in line with maintaining territorial integrity and national development and prosperity because any type of progress fosters through security. Certainly, the country's diplomatic entity can never influence significant diplomatic and negotiating power in dealing with the western and eastern parties without the attendance and influence of the IRGC regional forces. More precisely, war and use of force cannot be necessarily prevented by diplomacy and negotiation; rather, they entail the attendance of regional corps and, of course, the strengthening of defense and missile deterrence along with “the presence of people”. This is impossible without proposing “forward defense” policy, and upholding the “axis of resistance” aiming at progressing “strategic depth” of the Islamic Revolution. The theoretical framework of this research includes “liberating theology”, “post-colonial theory”, “ontological security”, “balance of threat”, and “resistance theory”. This is a descriptive-analytical research based on documentary, library, internet and analytical study, as well as the researcher’s own analysis of the critical region of the Southwest Asia.

Through a revolutionary culture, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a genuine revisionist power, has eliminated the arrogant attendance of the US in the domain of Iranian politics since 1979, and has challenged regional and international issues. In response to this revolutionary attitude, various American governments have resorted to the policy of undermining and overthrowing Iranian political system. Following the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, this idea emerged that the relation between the two countries cooperation in other areas would improve. However, with the advent of Trump administration and his pulling out of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), tensions between the two countries have augmented and Washington is trying to force Tehran to give up. Hence, the main question of this research is: “What are the components and characteristics of the US strategies against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and what strategies should be selected by Iran to stand against them?” This research hypothesizes that America tries to destabilize and overthrow Iran at both internal and external levels through a political war. At the internal level, America makes use of illegitimating Iran’s political power by public dissatisfaction. The United States seeks to destabilize Iran's geopolitical and geo-strategic credibility in the region. The best solution for addressing this challenge is due to reinforcing the internal components of power, that is, its efficiency or the secondary legitimacy of the system.” The theoretical framework of the research contains the theory of political warfare, the theory of soft warfare, and Habermas’s public sphere. This is a descriptive-analytical research which employs library and documentary methods for data collection. The results indicates that the United States is in trying to exerting maximum pressure for overthrowing the Iranian political system by internal devastation and external decrease of its regional influence. Therefore, we can conclude that threats against Iran's political stability are serious, and that the efficiency and legitimacy of the system need to be strengthened to neutralize it. Furthermore, the researchers have employed scenario writing to test the impact of the independent variable (techniques of overthrowing) on the dependent variable (the future of the political system). The authors also use scenario method to test the effect of independent variable (subversion tactics) on the dependent variable (the future of the political system). Research findings suggest that the United States is seeking to destabilize the Iranian government and the elimination of Iran's regional influence.

Political and security tensions have augmented significantly between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years. Signs of such tensions can be observed regarding the deepening of differences and challenges in various issues in the relationship between the two countries. Part of the ongoing campaign against Iran's nuclear program having been pursued by the Saudi lobby in the United States can be understood in this relation. Employing the theoretical statements of Copenhagen Security School, this research attempts to investigate the role of the Saudi lobby in the process of changing Iran's nuclear program into a security challenge. The main question of the research is: “How can we analyze the role of Saudi lobbying towards the process of Iran's nuclear negotiations with 5 + 1 group?” In response, this hypothesis is investigated: “Saudi Arabia, using its lobbying capacity in the United States, has played an effective role in overstating the security label of Iran's nuclear program and, by doing this, it has tried to prevent configuration, establishment, and implementation of JCPOA. A descriptive-analytic method has been employed for hypothesis testing and data collection has been conducted through library method.

Given the significance and high position of Iran in the region, and the key role that Afghan immigrants play in maintaining internal unity and consistency of national security, an assessment of the intercultural adaptation process in the process of national security seems necessary. Afghan immigrants in Iran try to preserve Iran's national security through the intercultural adaptation process that they have grown up with.  This research is intended to identify the process through which Afghan immigrants preserve Iran's national security, and, together with Iran, have created a united Ummah, and have hastened the process of exporting the Islamic Revolution. So, this research is aimed at developing a model of the themes related to intercultural compatibility process of national security from the view of Afghan immigrants in Iran (case study: Isfahan). This study is conducted through qualitative method and its data collection is performed through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data is analyzed by thematic analysis method. Employing purposeful sampling and relying on entry and exit criteria, the researchers selected 14 Afghan immigrants, 28 to 58 years old, and interviewed them in 2017-2018 by semi-structured interviews. The themes network was designed after three coding stages, basic themes, organizing themes and inclusive themes, of the content of the interviews. The results illustrated the process of intercultural adaptation in the homogeneity with Iranians, cultural adoption, internalizing the Iranian rules, enhancing religious adoption, developing shared cultural interests, identity development and its impact on the institutionalization of the security functions for Iran, seeking balance and quality for security.

The young Iraqi government, which is the outcome of the post-2003 state-building process, has always been affected by a number of structural and institutional problems in the social and political fields and has encountered numerous security crises. Employing an explanatory-analytical method and relying on data collected through interviews and documentary studies, this research is intended to answer the question of what the Iraqi security and political-social vulnerabilities are. The social gaps in Iraq, as well as its political-legal system, have resulted in security crises. The erupted social gaps in Iraq have increased social divergence and have prevented the development of national identity as a prerequisite of the establishment of a national government. Furthermore, the associative democracy that has been traditionally imposed on the Iraqi political structure has resulted in deeper social gaps while creating a crisis of inefficiency and illegitimacy.

Syria is a geopolitically significant country in the West Asian region, regarded as a means of changing the balance of power by competing parties in the region. The intervention of regional actors in the recent Syrian crisis can also be explained in terms of their efforts to change the balance of power in their favor. Saudi Arabia was among the active countries in the Syrian crisis in the beginning but gradually changed its policies towards this crisis due to the internal and external factors. This descriptive-analytical research is aimed at identifying Saudi Arabia's behavior towards the Syrian crisis in terms of the theory of balance of power. The findings of this research reveal that Riyadh's behavior towards the Syrian crisis can be categorized in five stages including crisis management aimed at changing Damascus’ behavior, active diplomacy against Damascus, direct military, financial and political support to the oppositions, putting an end to  supporting ISIS and confronting Assad, and finally, accepting Assad's survival in power without Iranian attendance. This research explores the feasibility of the final Saudi Arabia policy of Assad's survival without Iran's attendance.