Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Tezin Türü: Doktora
Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ, Türkiye
Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2021
Tezin Dili: İngilizce
Öğrenci: Omar Munassar
Danışman: CAFER TAYYAR ARI
Özet:This study utilizes role theory to examine the role conceptions and behavior of the three competing regional powers in the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia since 1979. Theoretically, the research aims at developing a contest-based regional role approach by highlighting four role behavior dimensions to study Middle Eastern regional powerhood and competition. Such role behavior applied to the Middle East revolves around four role behavioral dimensions that shape competing regional powers as a causal dimension (role sources), orientational (role orientations), expectational (role expectations), and contestational (role challenges). Being the Middle East a conflictive region, this thesis argues that regional powers seek regional power status by playing leading regional roles that vary between cooperative, competitive, and status quo. These cooperative roles are expected to contribute to regionalism, competitive roles are expected to bid hegemony, and status quo roles are expected to either maintain or challenge the regional power status quo. Analytically, the primary purpose of the study is to contribute to the Middle East IR scholarship by debating and understanding the regional role competition for regional power status by Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia since 1979. By reflecting on the structural and ideational sources of roles, the study aims to explain how the shift and consistency of national role conceptions—those regionaloriented roles—shape foreign policy orientations and expectations and thus influence the dynamics of regional cooperation and competition. The study also explores how the Islamic Revolution of Iran shaped Iran’s revisionist regional roles that affected the regional security order and triggered counter-regional roles of other regional powers, especially Saudi Arabia. Finally, it seeks to clarify that, while Turkey and Saudi Arabia are two Sunni status quo regional powers, they have acted differently since the Arab Spring uprisings and played competing roles; the former plays revolutionary liberal roles, and the latter plays counter-revolutionary conservative roles. Thus, such regional dynamics have transformed the regional status quo and these three regional powers’ roles.