Bahrain and Axis of Resistance: Geopolitical Implications for Iran(مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
منبع:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, Volume ۱۱, Issue ۳۱ - Serial Number ۱, January ۲۰۲۰
197 - 220
حوزههای تخصصی:
In the late 2010 and early 2011, the Arab Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa underwent developments which were unforeseen and shocking in the view of global observers. The growth and spread of popular protests caused some rulers in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen to be dethroned in the form of a domino; however, in Bahrain, the popular protests faced severe squash by the Al-Khalifa rule. Nonetheless, revolutionary movements in Bahrain are of a long record in the country and the demonstration on 14 Feb. 2011 was the onset of geopolitics of resistance in the state. Despite Shia majority against the ruling minority, the revolutionary movement came to failure for a number of reasons including Bahrain’s geographical location and the revolutionists’ aspirations were unrealized. In the meantime, the present study aims to clarify the Bahrain’s geographical location in the geopolitics of resistance in the country and its impact on the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The outcome of the study suggests that being in energy transit line and proximity to energy resources, the island location and the strategic value of the country, the 5th US Fleet deployment, being in the Persian Gulf and its neighborhood to Iran and Saudi Arabia affect the Bahrain’s geopolitics of resistance and breed negative consequences for Iran.