"Aref Bijan is PHD student in Political Science and Regional Studies at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. his current field placement is with the Middle East and Central Asia and the Caucasus. he is interested in Iran-Russia relations, Israel-Russia relations, Russia-Iran foreign policy and security issues in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the region has undergone major changes... more Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the region has undergone major changes, with regional and transnational powers shifting their foreign policy orientations based on their national interests. Meanwhile, Iran and Russia, as two major players, have focused on these developments. Therefore, using this Kinderman's Neorealism theory, the authors of the article seek to answer the question of what was the role of Iran and Russia in the Middle East region. The main hypothesis is that given the geopolitical developments, the strategic importance of the region, the tensions between Iran and the US in the Strait of Hormuz, the recent withdrawal of US forces from Syria, Iran and Russia as Regional Powers in the Middle East have played a key role to integrate their interest and deter U.S, in the Middle East. Indeed, the results show that Iran and Russia disagree in some areas, but given recent crises in the region, Trump's withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Iran and the imposition of more sanctions, opposed to unilateralism lead these two countries to cooperate politically and militarily to prevent influence of U.S in the region. The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical.
The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial ... more The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial crisis in European stock markets, which in turn reduced production in Europe, resulting in rising unemployment, that eventually led to protests against the current economic situation. These political unrests have prompted international and regional governments and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Central Bank to find a way to end this severe financial crisis. Greece, as one of the EU member states that has been affected by this global crisis, has made efforts to improve its economic situation. The main question of this study is to what extent the International Monetary Fund was able to help resolve the financial crisis in Greece? The hypothesis is that due to the conditionality of financial aid from the International Monetary Fund to Greece in crisis and Greeces lack of attention to the full implementation of austerity progra...
A youth audience is the most vulnerable part of society as an object of influence of radical idea... more A youth audience is the most vulnerable part of society as an object of influence of radical ideas. The authors argue that the most efficient tool of involving young people of different origin and confessional affiliation into the extremist activity on the present stage is social networks. Despite the fact that the practice of using communication networks in the Internet space by terrorist organizations have existed before, it was the information policy of the ISIS (and later IS) that was characterized by the greatest effectiveness, due to the creation of an integrated media structure, which consisted of numerous foundations and agencies (“Al Furqan”, “Aynad”, “Itisaam”, “Al-Hayat”, etc.), allowing them to spread their extremist religious and ideological doctrine on a global scale. The use of the widest range of high-quality media products in Internet media and social networks has expanded the organization’s area of influence by attracting supporters not only from the Middle East re...
The article focuses on the foreign policies of Russia and Iran in the Middle East. Both of them h... more The article focuses on the foreign policies of Russia and Iran in the Middle East. Both of them have always been the main and influential poles of power in this region and the deepening ties between them have been primarily driven by an overlapping outlook on global order, opposition towards Western policies in the Middle East and a need to preserve strategic depth. The purpose of this study is the comparative analysis of the foreign policies of Iran-Russia and Their actions as allies in the Middle East. The research method is defensive realism. It seems that Russia and Iran represent a strategic union. Recent developments in this region showed that they have sometimes pursued a policy of convergence and sometimes divergence. However, the relations of the two regional and international powers appear to be on the path of bandwagoning and balancing to maximization their power and interests in the region.
The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial ... more The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial crisis in European stock markets, which in turn reduced production in Europe, resulting in rising unemployment, that eventually led to protests against the current economic situation. These political unrests have prompted international and regional governments and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Central Bank to find a way to end this severe financial crisis. Greece, as one of the EU member states that has been affected by this global crisis, has made efforts to improve its economic situation. The main question of this study is to what extent the International Monetary Fund was able to help resolve the financial crisis in Greece? The hypothesis is that due to the conditionality of financial aid from the International Monetary Fund to Greece in crisis and Greeces lack of attention to the full implementation of austerity progra...
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the region has undergone major changes... more Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the region has undergone major changes, with regional and transnational powers shifting their foreign policy orientations based on their national interests. Meanwhile, Iran and Russia, as two major players, have focused on these developments. Therefore, using this Kinderman's Neorealism theory, the authors of the article seek to answer the question of what was the role of Iran and Russia in the Middle East region. The main hypothesis is that given the geopolitical developments, the strategic importance of the region, the tensions between Iran and the US in the Strait of Hormuz, the recent withdrawal of US forces from Syria, Iran and Russia as Regional Powers in the Middle East have played a key role to integrate their interest and deter U.S, in the Middle East. Indeed, the results show that Iran and Russia disagree in some areas, but given recent crises in the region, Trump's withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Iran and the imposition of more sanctions, opposed to unilateralism lead these two countries to cooperate politically and militarily to prevent influence of U.S in the region. The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical.
The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial ... more The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial crisis in European stock markets, which in turn reduced production in Europe, resulting in rising unemployment, that eventually led to protests against the current economic situation. These political unrests have prompted international and regional governments and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Central Bank to find a way to end this severe financial crisis. Greece, as one of the EU member states that has been affected by this global crisis, has made efforts to improve its economic situation. The main question of this study is to what extent the International Monetary Fund was able to help resolve the financial crisis in Greece? The hypothesis is that due to the conditionality of financial aid from the International Monetary Fund to Greece in crisis and Greeces lack of attention to the full implementation of austerity progra...
A youth audience is the most vulnerable part of society as an object of influence of radical idea... more A youth audience is the most vulnerable part of society as an object of influence of radical ideas. The authors argue that the most efficient tool of involving young people of different origin and confessional affiliation into the extremist activity on the present stage is social networks. Despite the fact that the practice of using communication networks in the Internet space by terrorist organizations have existed before, it was the information policy of the ISIS (and later IS) that was characterized by the greatest effectiveness, due to the creation of an integrated media structure, which consisted of numerous foundations and agencies (“Al Furqan”, “Aynad”, “Itisaam”, “Al-Hayat”, etc.), allowing them to spread their extremist religious and ideological doctrine on a global scale. The use of the widest range of high-quality media products in Internet media and social networks has expanded the organization’s area of influence by attracting supporters not only from the Middle East re...
The article focuses on the foreign policies of Russia and Iran in the Middle East. Both of them h... more The article focuses on the foreign policies of Russia and Iran in the Middle East. Both of them have always been the main and influential poles of power in this region and the deepening ties between them have been primarily driven by an overlapping outlook on global order, opposition towards Western policies in the Middle East and a need to preserve strategic depth. The purpose of this study is the comparative analysis of the foreign policies of Iran-Russia and Their actions as allies in the Middle East. The research method is defensive realism. It seems that Russia and Iran represent a strategic union. Recent developments in this region showed that they have sometimes pursued a policy of convergence and sometimes divergence. However, the relations of the two regional and international powers appear to be on the path of bandwagoning and balancing to maximization their power and interests in the region.
The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial ... more The economic crisis in the United States and its spread to continental Europe caused a financial crisis in European stock markets, which in turn reduced production in Europe, resulting in rising unemployment, that eventually led to protests against the current economic situation. These political unrests have prompted international and regional governments and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Central Bank to find a way to end this severe financial crisis. Greece, as one of the EU member states that has been affected by this global crisis, has made efforts to improve its economic situation. The main question of this study is to what extent the International Monetary Fund was able to help resolve the financial crisis in Greece? The hypothesis is that due to the conditionality of financial aid from the International Monetary Fund to Greece in crisis and Greeces lack of attention to the full implementation of austerity progra...
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