Diplomatic Interactions

Diplomatic Interactions

Factors Affecting the Roots of Alliances in the Middle East: The Need to Revise the Theory of Alliances in International Relations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Milad Lotfi 1
Mojtaba Abdakhodaei 2
1 Ph.D. Student, Department of International Relations, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/dpiq.2023.195013
Abstract
Theorizing the root of the alliance's concept and balancing is considered one of the most important topics in the science of international relations. The most prominent of these theories is presented in the framework of mainstream logic in international relations (rationalism). In other words, the unity and balancing concept is considered to be one of the main key concepts of the realist rationalist trend in international relations, which is theorized with an approach that looks at components such as power, threat, and benefit, and in the framework of an external, objective, material, structural, etc. view. On the other hand, the Middle East is one of the most important regions in the world, which has witnessed numerous alliances between regional and extra-regional powers in the years after 2011. Therefore, in this research, we have tried to look at the roots of alliances in the Middle East after the Arab uprisings. The question is: What components and variables affect alliances and balances in the Middle East? By using the analytical-explanatory method and with a case study of the roots of alliances in the balancing efforts of Syria, Iraq, the axis of resistance, and Yemen after 2011, the authors have found that "Alliances in the Middle East despite being influenced by structural, rational, objective, power-oriented and material elements which the mainstream of international relations validates in examining the roots of alliances and balances; It is also influenced by mental, normative, identity, cultural and emotional developmental variables. Therefore, it seems that the mainstream of international relations does not have the necessary sufficiency to analyze the root of alliances in the Middle East. The strong presence of immaterial and formative elements such as culture, emotion, and identity at the alliance's root in the Middle East shows that only paying attention to the structural, objective, and material components at the alliance's root in the Middle East is not enough and it seems necessary to review and reinterpret the theorization of alliances in international relations.
Keywords
Alliance in Middle-East
Theories of balancing and unity in international relations
The Mainstream of international relations
identity
and formative elements
structural
objective
and material components

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Diplomatic Interactions
Volume 1, Issue 3
Autumn 2024
Pages 105-141