The Security Dilemma of Iraq and Syria and Regional Politics

Abstract

Middle Eastern dilemma is the corollary of the power vacuum after the Iraq invasion. ‘Replacement of authority’ does not necessarily conform to the objective of democracy and hope. Invade, overthrow, install and roll-back, a Machiavellian scheme, does not serve the goals of democracy. A major power in a hurry disturbs equilibrium. Replacing one autocrat with another will not do any good for the society at hand and the region into consideration. All the regional actors would try to adjust to the changes in equilibrium. As a result, organizations like ISIS exploit the slip-ups of provisional governments and get the backing of other actors, whose interests are at stake. The regional actors, operating in the environment of security dilemma join the conflict to extract as much as possible to keep regional balance in order. History replicates this phenomenon time and again. Middle East (Iraq and Syria) is the contemporary example of this phenomenon. This paper will try to understand the ongoing conflict in the Middle East from the perspective of regional politics operating under the environment of security dilemma, and major powers’ politics operating under the basic logic that regional influence enhance the capabilities of major powers that contribute to state’s hierarchical position internationally, which therefore, makes it difficult to create common grounds for peace process.

Keywords

• Middle East
• security dilemma
• peace process
• major powers