Iran's Security and the Islamic State through the Lenses of the Copenhagen School

Abstract

After the Cold War, a new generation of security studies emerged that moved debates beyond traditional, narrow, state-centric definitions of security toward considering other aspects like economic, political, social, and environmental contexts. This article evaluates one such contemporary important security concern—the threat of the Islamic State (IS), mainly against Iran, in the framework of the Copenhagen School security approach. The analysis concludes that IS threatens Iran's security by increasing the possibility of Kurdish sectarianism, widening the Shi’ite–Sunni gap, creating economic threats, decreasing Iran's influence in Syria, and challenging its power in the region. Analyzing Iran's stance against IS and the ensuing security debate is important to predict the future of the Middle East.