Defensive Future Studies

Defensive Future Studies

Identifying the drivers of the military influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the West Asia region

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
aliashraf saeidifard 1
Ebrahim Roumina 2
Mohammad Reza Hafeznia 3
Reza Roshani 4
1 Assistant Professor of political geography, IRI Military Command and Staff University. Tehran. Iran
2 Associate Professor of Political Geography, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
3 Full Professor of Political Geography, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
4 Assistant Professor of Strategic Defensive Management, IRI Military Command and Staff University. Tehran. Iran
10.22034/dfsr.2024.2021661.1771
Abstract
Objective: The main purpose of this article is to identify the drivers of the military influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran from a geopolitical point of view in the West Asian region.
Methodology: This research is descriptive-analytical regarding its fundamental purpose, nature, and methodology. Upstream documents and library sources were utilized to identify the factors driving military influence. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using the content analysis method (MAXQDA), which resulted in the identification of over 122 key themes.
Findings: After analyzing and summarizing the data, we identified 63 central themes, which were ultimately distilled into 13 main categories identified as key drivers. We then measured their impact and effectiveness coefficients by consulting experts and utilizing Micmac software.
Conclusion: The results and findings of this research show that the development of the Islamic Republic of Iran's military influence in the West Asian region is very important, and its effective drivers are, in order of priority, the conclusion of military-security agreements, the possession of unconventional weapons, the allocation of military budgets, and the expansion of diplomacy. Defense, establishing military bases, the ability to produce military equipment, having advanced weapons, using intelligent power, sending military aid, sending military dependents, using weapons and military equipment, selling military weapons, and the number of military personnel
Keywords
Defense diplomacy
West Asia
geopolitical influence
military influence
Subjects
  • Académie Polynésienne Française. (2017). France: A Global Influence. Annual Review on France and the European Union. [in Persian]
  • Ahmadi, Vahideh. (2017). Israel and Surrounding Countries: Security Influence with Economic Coverage. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 20(2), Summer 2017, Serial No. 76, pp. 113-135. [in Persian] DOI: 1001.1.17350727.1396.20.76.5.9
  • Amitai, Etzioni. (2015). “Spheres of Influence: A Reconceptualization,” The Fletcher Forum of orld Affairs 39, no. 2 (Summer 2015): 117-132. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45290158
  • Asadikya, B. (2020). Iran's Geopolitics Under Pressure: A Complex Strategy. Diplomacy of Peace, pp. 38-51. [in Persian]
  • Bagheri Choukami, Siamak. The Hidden Face of Politics: Recognizing the Evolution of Influence from Semi-Hidden to Hidden and More Hidden. Imam Sadiq Islamic Sciences Research Institute, Second Edition, Tehran, 2022. [in Persian]
  • Bitay, A. (2020, January 20). Strategic Council Online. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from Rassad: .scfr.ir [in Persian] https://www.scfr.ir/fa/
  • Bitay, Alan. (2021). The European Union's Inability to Become a Real Geopolitical Power. Chatham House: https://www.chathamhouse.org/
  • Hafeznia, Mohammadreza; Ahmadipour, Zahra; Bouyeh, Chamran. (2012). The Islamic Revolution and the Emergence of Iran’s New Geopolitics. Islamic Revolution Research Journal, University of Hamedan, Published February 2018 [in Persian] URL: https://rjir.basu.ac.ir/article_340_68e4b7e2915808104f1eaf72e0444dac.pdf
  • Jafari Harandi, Amirreza. (2016). Managing U.S. Influence in New Iraq. Imam Sadiq University Press, Tehran. [in Persian]
  • Jafarinea, Abbas; Torkashvand, Nader; Moradian, Mohsen. (2023). Military Strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Regional Defense Against Emerging Salafi Threats. Military Sciences and Technologies, 18(62), pp. 41-73. [in Persian] https://doi.org/10.22034/qjmst.2023.547334.1653
  • Javani, Nader; Kalantari, Fathollah; Ejabi, Ebrahim; Imani, Ali. (2024). Power-Creating Strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf Region. Defensive Futures Studies, 8(29), pp. 7-40 [in Persian] (DOI: 22034/dfsr.2023.1990556.1685)
  • Mosdaghi, Masoud; Badiei Azandahi, Marjan; Afzali, Rasoul; Moradian, Mohsen. (2023). Economic-Political Drivers Affecting the Military Power of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Defensive Futures Studies, 8(29), pp. 161-203. doi: 10.22034/dfsr.2023.1998939.1689 [in Persian] DOI: 22034/dfsr.2023.1998939.1689
  • Motaghi, Afshin; Rabei, Hossein; Golthoomian, Hamidreza. (2023). Developing Iran's Forward Strategies in the South Caucasus Region. Defensive Futures Studies, 8(30): 121-148. in Persian] DOI: 22034/dfsr.2024.2009208.1725
  • Riazi, Vahid. (2023). Defensive Diplomacy: From Survival to Maturity (First Edition). Tehran: DAFOOS AJA Publications [in Persian]
  • Saadia M. pekkanen. (2019). introduction to the symposium on the new space race: governing the new space race. ajil unbound, 113, 92–97. URL: S2398772319000163jxx 92..97
  • Sariolghalam, Mahmoud (2016). International System and the New Geopolitics of the Middle East Region Political Science Research Institute Journal Vol 12(1) pp101-140 [in Persian]. URL: https://civilica.com/doc/1208374/
  • Van Jackson, “Understanding Spheres of Influence in International Politics,” European Journal of International Security 5, no. 3 (October 2020): 255– 273. DOI: 1017/eis.2019.21
  • Wojtek Wolfe & Brock F. Tessman .(2012). China's Global Equity Oil Investments: Economic and Geopolitical Influences, Journal of Strategic Studies, 35:2, 175-196. DOI: 10.1080/01402390.2011.635467
  • Zarei, Bahador; Nasirpour, Gholamreza. (2024). Building a Regional Security System for the Islamic Republic of Iran from a Geopolitical Perspective. Military Sciences and Technologies, 19(63), pp. 147-164 [in Persian] DOI: 22034/qjmst.2023.552580.1700