نشریه سیاست دفاعی
پیاپی 116 (پاییز 1400)

Some analysts believe that the most important condition for continued survival and active presence in regional and international arenas is to pay attention to national interests. Securing Iran national interests in the Persian Gulf requires recognizing the influential factors in this field. The purpose of this study is to present a strategic plan to secure the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Is the domain This research is of applied development type and its method is case-context. The statistical sample size of the research is 54 people. The method of collecting field and library information is through the in-depth analysis of theoretical foundations, the factors affecting the national interests of Iran in the Persian Gulf and then in the form of a questionnaire using quantitative and qualitative analysis mixed with standardization and localization of these factors have been done in the environment of joint operations. Based on the analysis and using IFE and EFE tools, 93 factors (25 strengths, 17 weaknesses, 24 opportunities and 27 threats) were identified and measured, and finally, by SWOT method, strategies were developed and their priority was determined. It is done using QSPM method. Based on  the results of the research, to formulate a strategic plan for securing national interests c. ا. Iran has 11 strategies in the Persian Gulf. Out of 7 times, the current situation of our country in the field of national interests in the Persian Gulf has been evaluated in a competitive quarter.

The Supreme Leader's defense ideas are a matter that, due to his history of revolutionary struggles, executive responsibilities, field presence in the holy defense, religious authority, and command of all his forces, as a source and reference for policy-making and development of defense strategies and determines the type of behavior and proper functioning of the armed forces in order to achieve the goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The purpose of this study is to provide a codified and systematic model of the defense thought of the Supreme Leader in order to maintain and promote the efficiency of mobilization and action in this regard. According to this, the present research with a heuristic approach and using inductive method and coding method based on data theory of the foundation, qualitatively analyzed the statements of the Supreme Leader ) Long may he live) from 1368 to 1398 and an attempt has been made to provide a model governing their defense thinking regarding strategies for maintaining and promoting the efficiency of the Basij. The results show that from His Great and comprehensive point of view, Basij is one of the pioneers in the field of defense of the country and the capable arm of the system in the required fields. Utilizing the Basij from their ideas and recommendations in the form of a model, makes the Basij more up-to-date and efficient, and protects the Islamic Republic of Iran against foreign enemies and internal problems and challenges.

The deepening challenge between Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Resistance Front can be considered one of the most important challenges in the Middle East during its post-ISIS era. This issue has manifested itself with the emergence of Muhammad ibn al-Salman and his covert and overt hostility towards the Shiites, especially in cases such as the Yemeni war, conspiracies against the governments of Iraq and Syria, and the escalation of the Cold War against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Has found the Middle East openly at the forefront of security crises. In this article, the authors devote their efforts to designing a strategic model for Muhammad Bin Salman during the defeat of Donald Trump (as one of the most powerful and important supporters of Bin Salman) against the Shiites. The research method is based on exploratory mix (qualitative-quantitative).The statistical population of the present research is based on interviews conducted with professors, elites and researchers in the field of political science, regional studies, international relations and geopolitics. Assessment of the model: A researcher-made questionnaire with relative cluster sampling method was distributed among 60 samples. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by face and content method and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha method. Data were analyzed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using SPSS and AMOS software. The results of the qualitative section indicate that Bin Salman's strategic model towards the Shiites, especially in the period when Donald Trump lost the second presidential election of the United States, has the following 16 dimensions: Causal conditions (1. Security, 2. Intensification of Espionage Actions, 3. Intensification of Proxy War), Underlying conditions (4. Emphasis on Pan-Arabism, 5. Attempt to form an alliance with Israel, 6. Attempt to form an Arab NATO), Interventional conditions (7. Development of arms deals, 8. Shiismophobia, 9. Extensive psychological warfare), Strategic (10. Improving relations with Qatar, 11. Isolation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 12. Obtaining Oman's consent to join the Saudis, 13. Attempting to influence Again in Iraq) and the consequences (14. intensification of militarism in the Persian Gulf 15. intensification of insecurity in the Middle East and 16. intensification of Wahhabism-Shiism confrontations). The results of the quantitative section showed that all dimensions of the research paradigm model were confirmed.

After the US attack on Afghanistan, one of the main plans of NATO forces was to train, equip and build a robust army to counter terrorist attacks and re-emergence the Taliban in the country. The 11-day fall of Kabul to the Taliban invasion raised number questions about the efficiency of the army in the country including what was the reason for the rapid collapse of the Afghanistan army? To answer the question, semi-structured in-depth interviews with military-political experts and university professors were used. The participants were selected using the snowball sampling technique and after identifying the effective factors, the interviewees were asked to sort the indicators by importance degree. Finally, twelve factors were adjusted in order of importance. In the second stage, the identified factors were classified into four groups: main factors, auxiliary factors, accelerating factors, and contextual factors. The interviews of Afghan military commanders, political and local officials with media were also used to better explain the identified factors and increase their validity and reliability. The findings show that the lack of self-confidence in the military and reliance on the United States, corruption within the Afghanistan army and offices, and the lack of loyalty to the Ashraf Ghani’s Administration have played a main role in its collapse.

Three decades have been passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of a new Russia, and the country is still facing the problems and difficulties caused by that great crisis. One of the most important issues for Russia today is its relationship with the West especially after the Ukraine crisis in 2014, has become a complex issue with no clear prospects for resolving it. In the absence of past ideological foundations and in a comprehensive confrontation with the West, Moscow has reconsidered Russian culture and traditions, and this concept has been seriously addressed in the country's new national security document. The main question in this article is how the concept of culture is reflected in Russia's security strategy? In response to this hypothesis, "culture has emerged in Russia's security strategy as a fundamental category of the three functions of legitimizing ideology, national identity mission, and valuable vulnerable assets." The research method is "qualitative content analysis of existing documents and data" based on the two variables of culture and security and their indicators and then the analyzes in books, articles, reports, and comments of intellectual, political and security elites.

The present study is conducted with the aim of strategic analysis of Iran's position in the Central Asian region. The present research is based on the purpose of the "applied" type and based on the nature of the "descriptive-survey" type, which has a "mixed" approach. The statistical population includes;  experts in the region, 32 of whom were identified by "snowball" sampling method and were purposefully selected. In order to collect the information needed to compile the research literature, "library studies" using the "filing" tool and to collect real data, in the qualitative part of the tool "semi-structured interview" and in a small part of the "closed questionnaire" has been used. The interview questions and the questionnaire were confirmed by experts in terms of apparent validity and content, and the reliability coefficient of the questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha) was calculated to be 0.906, which indicates the high reliability of the questionnaire. The retest reliability of the interview test was 82%, which indicates acceptable reliability. Qualitative data collected from the interviews were analyzed by "inductive content analysis" method and quantitative data collected from questionnaires were analyzed using "descriptive statistics or parameters" and "Shannon entropy" method was employed to rank the importance of questionnaire statements. At the end; Opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses of Iran in the Central Asian region were counted and proposed solutions to expand Iran's presence in the region had been presented.