Regional Hegemony Quests in the Middle East from the Balance of Power System to the Balance of Proxy Wars: Turkey as Balancing Power for the Iran - Saudi Rivalry

Abstract

This study examines the Iran-Saudi rivalry within the context of the changing balance of power in the Middle East. The main research questions were determined to be what the dynamics of the Iran-Saudi rivalry are and what type of role Turkey may play within the rivalry between the two countries. Three essential arguments were developed within this context. The first argument is that the regional balances were broken by the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 and by the ‘Arab Spring’ process resulting in the regional hegemony rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The second one is that Iran desired to utilize the Arab Spring process as an opportunity to become a regional hegemonic power. On the other hand, the policy of the US to withdraw from and leave the Middle East to its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia caused King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to adopt a regional leadership policy. Within this framework, the study argued that the rivalry to become the new regional hegemon of the Middle East resurged between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two historic rival powers of the Middle East. The third argument is that the rivalry between the two countries was mainly in the form of a proxy war but resulted in the fact that the balance of power struggle in the region reached to the proxy war balance as no country managed to outcompete the other.