- 29 Mar 2016
“Security Dilemma” Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Why has Saudi Arabia begun to take a firm stand against Iran? Uncovering the origin of Saudi Arabia’s recent hardline policy toward Iran will help shed light on the current Middle East conflict. This lecture will trace the changes made to Saudi foreign policy in respect to Iran since the end of the Cold War. The shifting patterns of the Saudi reaction to Iranian-directed proxy wars in Arab countries will be clarified. The Saudi Arabian stance has been crafted in response to Iranian regional policy and the escalating sectarian conflicts in Arab states—conflicts which were exacerbated by those policies.
Following the bitter failure of Saudi Arabian appeasement policies initiated between 1993 and 2003, Saudi Arabian leaders became convinced that Iran would refuse to cease the policy to export Islamic revolution and opt for reconciliation. Saudi Arabia had attempted, without success, to neutralize the threat posed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and pro-Iran militias such as Hizbullah. Iranian foreign policy is functionally divided into the “international window” of foreign minister and the “domestic window” of military strategy led by the IRGC; this mechanism has effectively damaged the image of Saudi Arabia on the international and regional scene. Saudi Arabian policymakers view Iran as a very serious threat to the legitimacy and material foundation of their nation. Saudi Arabia further recognizes that Iran routinely trains and fosters political groups which pose serious threats to Saudi Arabia and her neighbors.
About the Speakers
Satoru Nakamura, Associate Professor at Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University, is a specialist on the history and politics of Saudi Arabia and security in the Gulf. Prior to this, in 2015, he was a Research fellow at IHEID (Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales et du Devèloppement), a Visiting Scholar for the College of Law and Politics at King Saud University, as well as a Visiting Scholar to the Gulf Research Center at Qatar University (2014-15). He did his doctorate in 2002 on the State Formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the Department of Islamic Area Studies, Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Tohoku University, Japan. Prior to attaining his PhD, Dr Nakamura was a guest researcher to the Upper House of the Japanese Parliament (2002) and Special Assistant to the Embassy of Japan in Riyadh (1994-97). Among his recent publications are: 1) “Security Dilemma between Saudi Arabia and Iran,”Chutokenkyuu (Middle East Studies), no.525 (January 2016), 39-51. 2) “Middle East Politics: Anlysis of Counter-’Terrorism’ Measures: ISIS, Gulf Politics,and Muslim Brotherhood,” Sekai(World),December 2014: 206-215 (In Japanese). 3) “Constraints Arising from Domestic Security Concerns on Saudi Arabian Policy toward the Syrian Crisis: A Perspective on Omnibalance Theory (in Japanese),” Kokusaiseiji (International Relations) 178 (October 2014): 58-72.
