Political Science Commons^™

Middle Eastern Defense: The Role Of The Abraham Accords, Graciela H Phillipps

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Defense organization in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region has been historically fraught with instability and conflict, rooted in tensions ranging from centuries-old religious disputes to modern geopolitical power struggles. However, two years ago deep-seated status quos in the area were challenged and successfully overcome through the drafting and signage of agreements in which Arab nations normalized ties with the nation of Israel, popularly known as the Abraham Accords. The Accords emphasized the mutual desire for peace and prosperity in MENA between signees with a pointed reference to maintaining security in the traditionally volatile region. These pivotal feats of …

United States Policy To Undermine Iran’S Regional And Global Strategy, William Stewart

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to understand the way in which Iran uses proxy groups to implement its regional foreign policy strategy while increasing relationships with foreign actors to implement its global foreign policy strategy. I will dive into the intricacies of Iran’s strategy on a country-by-country basis while outlining the goals of the regime. I will analyze the way in which the United States has dealt with Iran and its proxy groups in the past as well as provide suggestions on the steps the Biden administration and the United States as a whole must implement in order to contain Iran’s influence …

Coercing Fluently: The Grammar Of Coercion In The Twenty-First Century, C. Anthony Pfaff

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these …

Alternate Warfare: The Unseen Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Elyse Keener

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Biological warfare is a national security concern that transcends centuries. In the current international climate, biowarfare is of particular interest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article seeks to follow historical cases of biological warfare and international response to these cases in order to understand the implications of COVID-19, if it were to be weaponized. Also covered is the current capabilities that Russia, China, and Iran are assessed to possess.

Nonstate Actors And Anti-Access/Area Denial Strategies: The Coming Challenge, Jean-Loup Samaan Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

This monograph explores the emerging challenge of nonstate actors’ anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) strategies and their implications for the United States and its allies by looking at two regions, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with case studies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and separatist groups in Ukraine. The historical monopoly of states over precision-guided munitions has eroded, and this evolution eventually challenges the ability of the most advanced militaries to operate in specific environments. As they gain greater access to advanced military technology, some nonstate actors increasingly lean toward …

How Will President Trump Respond To Iranian Retaliation For The Killing Of Qasem Soleimani?, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This analysis attempts to predict the general tenor of President Donald Trump’s likely response to Iran’s anticipated retaliation for the targeted killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani, based on (1) empirical studies of Trump’s personality profile and leadership style conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics and (2) rational-intuitive inference derived from Trump’s observed behavior in office.

Rivalry In The Middle East: The History Of Saudi-Iranian Relations And Its Implications On American Foreign Policy, Derika Weddington

MSU Graduate Theses

The history of Saudi-Iranian relations has been fraught. This relationship has impacted the United States’ role in the Persian Gulf. Prior to the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran could be characterized in terms of mutual understanding which allowed them to become integral parts of the American foreign policy in the1970s. This policy was intended to safeguard Western interests in the Persian Gulf after the British left. Saudi-Iranian cooperation during this time was in stark contrast to the hostile relationship that developed between them following the Iranian Revolution in 1979. …

U.S. - Iran Relations: A History Of Covert Action And A Promising Future, Cody Morgan

The Cohen Journal

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Iran Policy The Saudi-American Rift, Christopher Parmly

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores what effect Saudi and American policy differences towards Iran have had on their bilateral relations. It is based on the recent thaw in Iran-U.S. relations, and the critical reaction of the Saudi government towards this policy. The question has two components – first, how severe the current Saudi-American rift is, and second, to what extent it can be traced to their differences over Iran. The topic will be addressed through process-tracing methods.

The thesis concludes that there is indeed a rift in Saudi-U.S. relations marked by an increasingly assertive and independent Saudi foreign policy, though its alliance …

In Search Of Peace: Restructuring The Us-Iran Relationship In Light Of The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, Samuel E. Winkler

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to ask how the United States should conduct foreign policy towards Iran given the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agreed to on 14 June 2015. The 2015 JCPOA initiated a drastic shift in US foreign policy toward Iran. It is now up to US policy makers to craft a coherent Iran foreign policy moving forward from the agreement. In order to accomplish this, the vitriolic relationship between Iran and the United States, which contains two concurrent narratives, must be examined. The dual narratives are the history of the successive US Presidential administrations’ relations with Iran, and …

Ending Security Council Resolutions, Jean Galbraith

All Faculty Scholarship

The Security Council resolution implementing the Iran deal spells out the terms of its own destruction. It contains a provision that allows any one of seven countries to terminate its key components. This provision – which this Comment terms a trigger termination – is both unusual and important. It is unusual because, up to now, the Security Council has almost always either not specified the conditions under which resolutions terminate or used time-based sunset clauses. It is important not only for the Iran deal, but also as a precedent and a model for the use of trigger terminations in the …

Turkey And Saudis In Syria: Aligned Interests, Clashing Revisionisms, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

In early May, 2015 it became known that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting extremist Islamist groups in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. That Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others, have – mostly indirectly – been supporting Islamist groups is not news as similar reports have been emerging from time to time since 2011, if not earlier. But this policy with regard to the Syrian conflict became increasingly overt amidst growing instability and lack of Western commitment to Assad’s overthrow. According to The Independent and other media, Turkish and Saudi support focuses on the overarching jihadist group …

Assessing Isis One Year Later, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

A year ago the world witnessed the swift advances of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. Though the emergence of the group was somewhat expected for those who have been following the regional developments of the past years it caught most of the world by surprise. At the same time, its brutal tactics, military victories, resilience, evolution and extreme ideology have led many to characterize it as the greatest regional and international security threat at the moment or the most dangerous Islamist threat contemporary history has seen.

Conflict Between Saudi Arabia And Iran: An Examination Of Critical Factors Inhibiting Their Positive Roles In The Middle East, Ghadah Alghunaim

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Since 1979, Saudi-Iranian relations have been tense due to their position as superior powers in the Middle East. Both countries have different values and perspectives in regards to diplomatic relations with the West. As a consequence of the new developments in Iran's foreign policy and the newfound openness to the West adopted by President Rouhani, the topic has proven to be of research interest. The primary concern of this research was to explore the effect of the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East, and whether or not there is a possibility to overcome this conflict using …

Rhode Island Helps To Weaken Iranian Regime, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

Reconsidering The Defense-Growth Relationship: Evidence From The Islalmic Republic Of Iran, Bruce D. Mcdonald Iii

Bruce D. McDonald, III

Recent literature has failed to reach a consensus on how best to model the defense-growth relationship. Although several attempts have been made to solve the problem by the theoretical comparison of models, empirical attempts of comparison have been largely restricted to the United States. Given the recent criticism of the Feder-Ram model, this paper uses Iranian data to compare the performance of the Feder-Ram and augmented Solow models in the context of a growing, yet heavily militarized, economy. The results indicate that the improved ability of the augmented Solow model to explain economic growth can better account for the effects …

Impact Of Sanctions And Isolation Measurement With North Korea, Burma/Myanmar, Iran And Zimbabwe As Case Studies, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study explores how the introduction of targeted sanctions has transformed the practice of international organisations, looking at the examples of North Korea, Burma/Myanmar, Iran and Zimbabwe.

Although the ultimate effectiveness of the individual sanctions measures can hardly be ascertained, not least due to their co-existence with unilateral sanctions proactively enforced by the US, the analysis demonstrates that the character of sanctions measures, and the changing nature of the international system, has put the use of sanctions and isolation measures in different terms than was the case just a couple of decades ago.

While it is beyond the scope …

Why Do States That Oppose Nuclear Proliferation Resist New Nonproliferation Obligations? Three Logics Of Nonproliferation Decision-Making, Andrew J. Grotto

Andrew J Grotto

Why do states that oppose nuclear proliferation resist initiatives to strengthen the nonproliferation regime? There is virtually universal support for the basic principle of nonproliferation—all countries but four are states-party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Yet enthusiasm among NPT parties for proposals to strengthen the nonproliferation regime varies widely even as new challenges highlight dangerous gaps in the regime.

There is something approaching consensus among scholars and policy-makers that many states resist proposals to strengthen the nonproliferation end of the NPT bargain largely because America and other NWS haven’t made satisfactory progress towards nuclear disarmament. I suggest this consensus rests …