نشریه تحقیقات سیاسی و بین المللی
پیاپی 10 (بهار 1391)

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and rising of the United States as a hegemon power coincided with the change in the power structure of international system. In the international structure, economy became the center of emphasis and security preoccupation has interwoven with economic concerns. In the post- Cold War era the international politics has linked indispensably with the relations of security and economy. In this situation, the role of energy in international economy is indisputable and prominent. The United States dependence on energy despite the development and expansion of new energy sources and energy from Persian Gulf region and also the attempt of newly emerged rivals to have strategic links with the countries of the region has led the United States to adopt a strategy of controlling the region and its valuable energy sources. The increasing growth of demand for energy by European Union, China, India and Japan and also the expansive attempt by Russia to monopolize energy and use it as a lever to influence the already mentioned powers have visualized the possibility of formation of alliance and coalition out of the control of the United States hegemony. Besides these threat perception the activities of anarchist non-state actors with the support of some of the regional states of Persian Gulf threatens the existing international system which is not based on the balance of power system but on hegemony system. Thus the main mission of the United States is retaining its powerful position in a new competitive game and if need be ending the principle of competition in Persian Gulf and setting up a new structure for institutionalizing American values and fight with the elements that destabilize the situation. The United States policy is creating extreme fear about terrorism and fights against this menace and this in fact is a realistic method for achieving its objectives.

After China started the policy of implementing reforms in its economic structure from 1990, the economy expanded enormously and took great leap forward and the consumption of energy in different sector of the economy increased. With the increase in the need of China for energy, the question of the security of access to energy became one of the important issues of the foreign policy of this country and also in relations of China with countries in its periphery. But the expansion of China’s presence in the region is not only due to China’s dependence to the import of energy and making safe the routes of access to it. This policy of China should be regarded in a wider framework and taking into consideration its economic and political objectives. In fact the increase in the ties of China with the developing countries and the expansion of its presence in region should be interpreted in the direction of increasing its influence and position at the international level and should not be considered merely for the sake of access to energy sources. On the whole it seems that the question of supply of energy though plays an important role in shaping China’s regional and global behavior but it cannot make the foreign policy of this country dependent on this type of considerations.In present paper an attempt has been made to show that though energy is an important factor in relations of China with the countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, nevertheless it seems that energy is having more an instrumental role for furtherance of geopolitical interest of that country. For understanding the nature of China’s energy policy one should study in a wider perspective the multiple preferences of security policies and competition of this country with other countries in Shanghai Cooperation Organization region.

The member countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council despite creation of an institution for regional integration and the existence of good potential for attaining the goals defined in its charter have not been able to make use of their potential capabilities within the framework of regional cooperation. Implementing economic model unsuitable with the conditions of the countries of the union in matters like monetary union and also wrong economic policies have led to non-fulfillment of their potential capacities.Non-formation of monetary union, high rate of unemployment among the countries of Persian Gulf region, shortage of capital in oil, development and transportation projects, low volume of trade among the member countries are the tangible bottleneck which the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council is facing despite years thirty years life of this organization. Therefore it seems that for achieving the goals defined in the charter of this organization within the framework of regional economic cooperation, they should first define a suitable economic model which conforms to the common conditions of the member countries. In this ideal economic model return of the capital earned from the sale of oil to oil industries and other related industries is an important necessity. The countries of Persian Gulf Cooperation Council should increase the efficiency of domestic labour force and train specialist from their own citizens of member countries and reduce the foreign labour forces. By these measures they can have dynamic future instead of simply restricting the flow of foreign labour force.

In present article an attempt has been made to study the causes of the United States opposition to nuclear technology of Islamic Republic of Iran in the light of the security of Israel. For explaining this problem, first the factors which bring traditional close ties between the United States and Israel including common strategic interests and security threats are discussed within the framework of deterrence theory, the expansion and growth of Iran as a security threat for the two strategic alley is considered which has led to reduction of the superior place of the United States and Israel regional and global position. The finding of the study shows that preventing the acquisition of nuclear technology by Iran is the common strategic interest of both the governments. The article by an illustrative method and presenting suggestions has examined the above issue.

Bahrain is one of the countries which under the impact of unsuitable political and social conditions and also under the inspiration of Islamic-Arabic awakening in the Middle East and North Africa is witnessing people’s uprising. The present paper is of the view that the real cause of people’s uprising in Bahrain is in domestic factors and the structure of society and politics of that country. Saudi Arabia with a different motivation and interpretation on the morning of 14 March dispatched its forces and militarily intervened in Bahrain. The United States also for different reasons kept silent about these developments and in other instances it merely suggested holding of talks between the oppositions and Bahraini government and implementing reforms. The present article wants to answer three basic questions: 1.What are the grounds of people’s uprising in Bahrain? 2. On what logic and basis the United States has kept silent about Bahrain crisis? 3. What are the motivations of Saudi Arabia in militarily intervening in Bahrain? The underlying hypothesis is that the struggle for power and national interest at the macro and regional level for the United States and in regional and internal level for Saudi Arabia is basis of the United States and Saudi Arabia behaviour in Bahrain. The finding of the study shows the main cause of people’s uprising in Bahrain is the cleavage between the government and people due to unequal distribution of wealth, power and position. The United States wants to sustain its hegemony in international system by controlling the lifeline of energy in strategic Persian Gulf region. In this direction the United States wants to retain its security links with the countries of Persian Gulf Cooperation Council by military presence and opposition to Islamic Republic of Iran. To sum up, power and national interests justify the logic of the United States policy in Bahrain. On the other hand, the nature of political system of Saudi Arabia and the resultant fear of expansion of democracy to Saudi Arabia along with competition and regional opposition to Iran is the main motivation of Riyadh in question of Bahrain. The present paper by a descriptive-analytical method wants to study the above issue.

Bahrain is having important geopolitical value for regional and extra-regional powers. For this reason the developments which take place in Bahrain lead to the reactions and conflicting policies from those countries. With the emergence of Islamic awakening movement in Bahrain the countries who are opposing Iran, particularly Saudi Arabia, diverted the people’s attention from just protest movement of Bahraini people and raised the question of Iran’s interference in Bahrain internal affairs. The present article wants to know what are the roots of religious and geopolitical conflict of Iran and Saudi Arabia in relation to Bahrain and what impact these contradictions have had on relations of the two countries after the Islamic awakening?. The paper has concluded that these contradictions have started before the Islamic revolution of Iran and has reached its climax after the revolutionary developments in Bahrain and is still going on. Some of the important roots of these contradictions are Iran’s territorial claim on Bahrain(before the Islamic revolution), the Islamic revolution in Iran, provoking the revolutionary feelings of Shiites in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the support of Iran for increasing role of the Shiites, the presence of Fifth Fleet Navy of the United States in Bahrain, the formation of Persian Gulf Cooperation Council against Iran playing important role in the region, military intervention of Saudi Arabia in Bahrain, arms race between Iran and Saudi Arabia and designing different scenarios for isolating Iran. The present article by a descriptive-analytical method wants to study the above issue.

Among the most important question in the field of general law is the mechanism of supervising the government and the rulers. This mental pre-occupation is having long historic roots and as a result the efforts made by intellectual and s are extensive. The important question in this regard is the efficiency and feasibility of the suggested ways. Choosing a comparative approach is in fact a good answer to this question. The present paper tries to present a comparative approach between Islam and liberal democracy and evaluate the efficiency of methods of supervising the government. Obviously this evaluation will be possible by taking into consideration the principle, aim and implementation guarantees of both the systems. The paper is of the view that the political and legal system of Islam is more efficient. The reason to support this view is that the Islamic legal and political system is having a double mechanism for supervision, one is the internal supervision and the second one is the external supervision. The experience of prophet Mohammad (PBU) and Imam Ali (PBU) rules in the initial years of Islam is clear witness to this claim. It can also be a suitable and exceptional model for present day.