Investigating the role of non-state actors aligned with Iran on the security environment of the West Asian region in the period after 2011
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Master's degree in International Relations, South Tehran
2 DPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, RASHT BRANCH,
Abstract
The role of non-state armed actors is one of the major concerns that the West Asian region has been dealing with since 2011, following the events referred to as the Islamic Awakening Arab Spring—actors, some of whom have been aligned with and others who have opposed Iran. Actors aligned with Iran, such as Hezbollah of Lebanon, Hamas, and the Popular Mobilization Forces (Al-Hashd al-Shaabi), along with the Houthis in Yemen, have been instrumental in shaping the new regional order. This article explores the impact of non-state actors aligned with Iran on the Environmental Security of the Western Asia region after 2011, based on Barry Buzan's concept of Environmental Security. It does so using a qualitative methodology, a descriptive-analytical approach. The research hypothesizes that Iran-aligned non-state actors have impacted the objective-geographical and mental-psychological components of the Environmental Security of the Western Asia region. The research findings indicate that non-state actors aligned with Iran concerning Western Asia's Environmental Security, in the objective dimension, are responsible for undermining government sovereignty and the state-oriented regional order, increasing Iran's power in West Asia, acting as a regional deterrent for Iran, escalating rivalry among states in the region, defining new geopolitical boundaries, in addition to generating and intensifying proxy conflicts in West Asia. Furthermore, it pertains to the mental-psychological dimension they caused: the rise of Iran's soft power, the formation of new Normative Models, the rise of political Islam of the Islamic Revolution, and the emphasis on the retreat of extra-regional state
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