Title: Middle East Hegemony: The Rise of Iran as a Regional Power

Presenter: Mohd Amirul Asraf bin Othman

Abstract: 

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has slowly emerged as a key regional player in the Middle East despite facing isolationism, wars and political and economic sanctions. Some analysts attribute its rise as a regional power to the opportunity-space created by the UK/US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring when Iran further established and consolidated ties with loyal actors and militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Using Regional Security Complex Theory, and process tracing, the study sketches the role of Iran in the region and its ambitions back to pre-1979 Revolution, to the Cold-War dynamism, and the alignment with Western interests. In fact, the 1979 Revolution marked the beginning of Iran’s autonomy in its foreign policy. Using the case studies of Iran’s involvement in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the thesis argues that Iran’s rise to power during the 2003-2018 period must be examined through multidimensional factors including institutional embedding, relationality, deterrence, and regime security.