Irans Regional Hegemony - Research Paper Example

Iran’s regional hegemony Iran’s regional hegemony Introduction Iranian government pursues influence and power using theoppressive and the racist ideology that it continually seeks to export. The Iranian government makes use of violence to achieve its desired goals (Koch and Long 2009, 23). A good example is the Iranian government sponsoring acts of terror and also using representatives to ensure that it achieves its goals. One of the terrorist groups supported by the Iranian state is Hezbollah and it targets civilians all the time. Iran does not restrict itself to a set of strategies in pursuing its goals. However, all its actions should be taken in a holistic manner. This Islamic republic has a set of claims indicated by the supreme leader and the existing guardian council and does not take into account the perception created by the opposition parties or the media. Thus, the Iran government is more capable of coming up with long term strategies aimed at achieving its goals. Financial support, diplomatic activity, trade and the diplomatic activity is an important part of the core strategy of this country as a hard power. However, its efforts to brand itself as an Islamic world leader have not been successful. Its aspiration to undertake regional hegemony and recognize its lead in the overall international status is mainly invented from its large population and territory, its geographical location, its central status at the central of the Islamic-Shiite world, its overall history as a respected regional empire and its economic and the potential of its military. In the recent years, the country is making an effort to expend its overall regional and international territories. This is in line with the Mearsheimer’s hegemony theory which indicates that the existing conflict between the great powers will never end. Research question Is Iran’s role in the Middle East based on cooperation project or dominance? Hypothesis The current situation in the Middle East Clarify that Mearsheimer’s hegemony theory is applicable in Iran’s attempt to dominate the region. Theoretical desiccation Iran is seeking regional hegemony through controlling Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah and Houthis Group. According to Mearsheimer, various states are always looking for opportunities to gain high power over other nations who are their main rivals. He indicates that states pursue power due to the anarchic system where they operate (Ottolenghi 2010, 67). In the international politics level, there is no single hierarchy to seek for help or protect one state when they are attacked by another. Thus, states are always relying on themselves for security and expand their military, geographical and economic power to ensure that their security is enhanced. Moreover, Mearsheimer indicates that a state derives power to thrive in international politics and derives the strength of its military personnel. The reason is that in the modern era, land force is the dominant power of the military and secondly because the large water bodies creates a limit of the capabilities of power projections of the land armies. Moreover, the presence of the oceans in sections of the world prohibits hegemony. The large water bodies limit the capability of the military to reveal their power projections thus dividing powers in the globe (Ottolenghi 2010, 77). Control of Iraq Iraq, especially the eastern and the southern parts of the country where the majority population are the shias fallen under the influence of Iran. In the war against Iraq in 1980-1988, Iran funded some Shiite militias in abide to overthrow the Saddam Hussein’s government (Koch and Long 2009, 33). The two countries came into a stalemate but after the invasion of the American and their withdrawal from Iraq, Iran has grown its projected power over Iraq. One way that it has been able to accomplish this is when it formed the Shiite Militias. One of the most powerful one was the Badr Organization which was able to carry revenge attacks against the Sunnis throughout Iraq. Recently, special groups have played a crucial role in halting the existing Islamic state after the disintegration of the Iraqi Army. The other way was through the presence of Qaseem Suleimani who was the military mastermind of Iran. He played a crucial role in deploying Iranian asserts against ISIS located in Iraq. He led the successful siege of Amerli in August and also led Iran in the battle against ISIS located in Tikrit. Suleimani was in charge of directing the Iranian proxies throughout the entire Middle East (Pollack 2014, 90). Another way was through the tikrit battle. This battle composed of Shiite militias from Iran and other forces from Iraq. This was overseen by Suleimani. The battle was seeking to have control over Mosul-a large city in Iraq. Iran also introduced very heavy weapons and warplanes in Iran to assist in the siege against tikrit and other military operations from ISIS. The country moved advanced rockets and other military artillery to Iraq introducing a high level of sophistication in the Iraqi’s warzone (Pollack 2014, 100). Thus all these strategies are in line with Mearsheimer’s strategies for state’s survival. He indicates that states try to maintain a balance in the regional powers to ensure the existence of various multiple powers that are occupied among themselves. This is to prevent this multiple powers from challenging the hegemony’s interests of the regional states which they would freely do if the states were not occupied by other competitors in the neighborhood. In addition, great powers are able to seek nuclear superiority against the existing rivals. This is the case with Iran when they introduced heavy sophisticated weapons in Iraq to ensure that they gained control over them (Mearsheimer 2001, 52). Control over Syria The Iranian regime has spent large sums of money on weapons and fighters that are shipped to Syria. The country has also been involved in financing a large part of the Syrian’s economy through issuing loans and other credits. (Noreng 2009, 78) The continuing Assad regime could have collapsed a long time were it not for this support issued by the Iranian government. However, this heavy Iranian involvement has changed the relationship between the two countries. Initially, Syria and Iran were two great allies but now Iran is exhibiting a dominance force against Syria. Iran is now considered as an occupying force in Syria and has the responsibilities that accompany this role. The Syrian revolution can be seen as an international conflict that involved an occupation of the foreign military by the Iranian forces and the struggle by the Syrian people against this occupation (Noreng 2009, 80). Recognizing that the war that is observed in Syria is an international conflict, then Iran as an occupying force means that Iran has a duty towards Syria as an occupying force. However, Iranian violated some of these duties destined towards it. Thus, according to Mearsheimer, Iran seeks to maximize their wealth share since economic strength is their foundation of military strength (Mearsheimer 2001, 67). Their aim is to ensure that they achieve the political, economic and military dominance over Syria before their rivals does. This is why Iran controls Syria by pretending to offer them help. However, the fact that Iran has not contributed to the roles directed towards it as an occupying force in Syria, it only proves that its regional hegemony is successful and that they do not have to continue pretending or disguising their motives any longer. They wanted their main rivals to know that they had ultimate control over Syria. In its Syria initial help rendered to Syria, Iran was looking for ways to gain power over Syria before its rivals (Noreng 2009, 102). Control over Hezbollah Hezbollah is identified as a radical Shia Muslim group that fought Israel and the western imperialism that existed in Lebanon. This group fails to recognize Israel’s legitimacy and has been labeled as the foreign terrorist organization. Iran is able to offer support to this Lebanon group but at the same time influences the actions of this group. Considering that Iran’s population is mainly composed of Shi’ite, and then they developed an interest in the fate of their fellow religionists in Lebanon after the 1978-79 revolution ((Noreng 2009, 105). Moreover, the settlement of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon without consulting with the shi’ite community drained the available local resources and thus creating conflict in Israel (Mearsheimer 2001, 97). Considering that the Shi’ite community felt frustrated, the successful Iranian revolution served as their inspiration. The Iranian central government was weakened by the revolution though some other semi-independent and charitable organizations sponsored by shi’ite clerics helped Hezbollah to establish itself as a strong defense force to protect the community. Iranian government then took over offering financial support to the Hezbollah group. Their main aim was to conquer them and ensure that they won them to their side. This was to ensure that they rendered a helping hand in fighting over their enemies. The Iran government used this Hezbollah radical group to revenge against their enemies ((Pollack 2014, 97). Iran used the Mearsheimer’s Hegemony theory to exercise control over this group. Iran aimed at achieving regional hegemony to provide maximum level of security to this state. By Iran maintaining control over Hezbollah, then it created multiple regional powers to keep the powers occupied and prevent them from challenging the existing regional hegemony interests. Considering that this radical group is consists of the Shi’ite community and Iran’s majority population is the Shi’ite, then it became easy for them to exercise control over this group. In addition, conquering this group could maximize the share of Iran’s wealth considering that the economic strength is one strong foundation of military strength. Having the support of this radical group, then Iran could prevent rival powers from having dominance over other wealth producing locations in the world. With the existing Lebanon wars in Israel, most great powers wanted to assist in reducing the conflict. However, most of these nations had other motives besides helping alleviate the crisis. Considering that Iran did not want its rivals in the great powers’ body, then Iran had to take a course of action on its favor to prevent its rivals from exhibiting control over Hezbollah and Lebanon as a whole. This was easy for them considering that Hezbollah members were mainly from the Shi’ite community (Mearsheimer 2001, 42). Control over Houthi Group Houthis form a rebel group, Ansar Allah who adhere to the Shia Islam branch referred to as Zaidism. The Zaidism consist of a third of the population in Yemen ruling under the imamate system for over 1000 years (Pollack 2014, 90). The individuals take this name from Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi who led the uprising of the group in the year 2004 to win the autonomy of the Saada province and protect Zaidi religious and their cultural traditions from the invasion of other Sunni Islamists. There were reports of Iranian representatives opposing Houthi rebels taking over the Sanaa-Yemeni capital. This cast a doubt on the alleged strong relations between Iran and the rebel group (Noreng 2009, 99). Various US lawmakers and other gulf state leaders had doubts on the nuclear negotiations with Iran pointing out to the existing rise to power of the Houthis in Yemen evidencing the Iran’s expansion objectives in this region. Despite this, the Iranian was not unhappy to see the existing gulf rivals engaged in conflicts in their neighborhood. However, their advice for the Houthi group not to take over Sanaa suggested that taking control over Yemen was the priority for Iran (Pollack 2014, 108). There are also situations where Iran government sends shipments of loaded weapons to the Houthi group. The Iran government has also been providing financial help to the Houthi group. The US government and other states indicate that there exists a strong relationship between Iran and the Houthi group (Mearsheimer, 2001, 89). Thus, Iran has taken control over the group and it uses it in revenging against its rivals in Yemen and surrounding nations. The main aim of Iran was to conquer Yemen through this group considering that the group’s ethnicity make up over half of the population in Yemen. Once more, Iran followed Mearsheimer’s hegemony theory. The country wanted to establish its overall economic strength to create the foundation of its military strength. As such, Iran wanted to prevent other rival posed from dominating Yemen as a wealth-producing region. The country also wanted to ensure that multiple powers did not challenge the regional hegemony’s interests which they would easily do if they were not occupied by other neighboring competitors. By having control over the houthi group, then the country would be in a position to ensure that it achieves economic, political and military dominance in the area. Considering that houthi is a radical group that exercises control in the region making it easier for Iran to have the economic and political dominance that it always wished for. Conclusion The current situation in the Middle East Clarify that Mearsheimer’s hegemony theory is applicable in Iran’s attempt to dominate the region. Iranian government uses their racist and ideologies to pursue their influence and power over other nations. The Iranian government uses high level violence and force to achieve its desired goals. The government sponsors terror attacks and uses other representatives to achieve its set goals. Iran exerts dominance through control over Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah and houthi group in Yemen. Iran has taken control over Iraq, especially the eastern and the southern parts of the country where the majority population are the shias. In the war against Iraq that occurred in 1980-1988, Iran controlled some Shiite militias to be in a position overthrow the Saddam Hussein’s government. The two countries came into a stalemate but after the invasion of the American federal government and their withdrawal from Iraq, Iran has grown influence and power over Iraq. The Iranian regime has spent billions of dollars on weapons and fighters that are shipped to Syria to achieve its overall goal of winning over the country (Ottolenghi 2010, 45). The country has financed a large part of the Syrian’s economy through issuing loans and other credits to ensure that it disguises its main motive and goals. The continuing Assad regime could have collapsed a long time were it not for this support issued by the Iranian government. Before the Iranian involvement in Syria, the two countries were allies but now the relationship has changed. Iran is now dominating over Syria thus changing the initial relationship between the two countries. Hezbollah is identified as a radical Shia Muslim group that fought Israel and the western imperialism that existed in Lebanon. This group does not recognize Israel’s legitimacy thus resulting in it being labeled as the foreign terrorist organization. Iran support this Lebanon group and influences its actions to ensure that it does what Iran wants it to do. Since Iran’s population is mainly composed of Shi’ite, then they developed an interest in the fate of their fellow religionists in Lebanon after the 1978-79 revolution The houthi group also receives financial help from the Iran government. The government sends loads of loaded weapons to the group to ensure that it moves closer to its goal of conquering Yemen. The reason is that having control over Yemen is Iran’s main priority and various states and governments including the United States know this. Iran has taken control over this group and it is also using it to conduct revenge operations. The main aim of Iran was to conquer Yemen through this group considering that the group’s ethnicity make up over half of the population in Yemen. Thus, Iran is dominating in its regional hegemony in the middle east to safeguard its political, economic and military well-being of the country. References Koch, Christian, and David Long. Gulf security in the tenty-first century. New York: Routledge, 2009. Mearsheimer, John. Tragedy of great power politics. Havard: Havard University Press, 2001. Noreng, Oystein. Crude Power. Oxford: Oxford university press, 2009. Ottolenghi, Emmanuele. Iran: the looming crisis. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2010. Pollack, Kenneth. Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb and American Strategy. London: John Wiley and Sons, 2014. Read More