Introduction
The new millennium was marked by dramatic changes for the countries of the Middle East. In different parts of the region, there is instability both within individual states and in relations between them. The system of international relations in the Middle East is in a state of transit, transitivity from the norms and principles that existed in the twentieth century. The socioeconomic development of the region’s countries in the context of globalization, on the one hand, and military-political upheavals, including the participation of external actors, were influenced (YeĹźiltaĹź & KardaĹź, 2018). On the other, it led to a change in the balance of forces in the region. The old balance of power has been disrupted, and the contours of the new balance of power are still uncertain. Even though the Middle East is in a transitive state, meaning that no framework can precisely define its condition, the theory of political realism is best applicable to the region.
Political Realism
The theory of political realism considers international relations as a system, the main actors of which are states. This theory is based on the generalization of the centuries-old experience of classical diplomacy and has repeatedly confirmed its effectiveness in analyzing current international politics (Prinz & Rossi, 2017). It also relies on the thesis that the system of international relations is subject to the action of objective laws rooted in man’s very nature. Consequently, the behavior of states can be rationally explained, calculated, and predicted (Prinz & Rossi, 2017). The critical element of the theory of political realism is the categories of national interest and state forces.
The theory of political realism has a long history and solid background for being one of the most relevant theoretical frameworks. Its founder is the outstanding Florentine thinker, philosopher, and diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli (Bell, 2017). His main merit is that he was the first to view the foreign policy of states in the categories of national interest and strength (Prinz & Rossi, 2017). Naturally, at the time of Machiavelli, nations as such had not yet developed, so he could not use the term national (Prinz & Rossi, 2017). However, he talked about the interests of empires, city-states, republics, and “sovereigns” as leaders of their countries.
In international relations, political realism requires all parties to find mutually acceptable solutions to existing problems based on the principles of peaceful coexistence. It is most fully expressed in new political thinking based on strict consideration of the realities of the nuclear space era (Bell, 2017). Precisely, balanced initiatives of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries aimed at radically improving the international situation, and eliminating the threat of a new world war.
Theory Application
In the 21st century, the transition of the entire world system of international relations to a new quality of a unipolar, then multipolar world also changes the regional balance of power. Arab politicians cannot ignore that, along with the United States and the West, a new center of power is being formed in the world system – a non-Western one that has not yet found its ideology (Amour, 2017; Kamrava, 2018). However, it has leaders (China and Russia) and is already able to resist the West. Thanks to this, the Arab countries cannot only habitually play on the contradictions of the two world centers of power but also increase their independence in the regional system, which is undergoing a noticeable reformatting.
In the era after World War I and the end of the Ottoman Empire, which prevailed in the Middle East, international relations relied on realism. It was expressed in control and connections with the countries of the East, USA, Russia, Great Britain, France, and others (Amour, 2017). Even though the theory persists to this day, in recent decades, some regional powers have benefited from the reduction of some superpower states. They also expanded their influence in the closest countries (Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others) because of wars or the fabrication of crises. Power and superpower are no longer seen as valid in the Middle East, and the presence of Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and other traditionally influential countries has diminished. Due to this fact, the Middle East is regaining its power and building international relations on different bases.
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One of the expressions of political realism in the international relations between the Middle East and the U.S. was the military intervention in Iraq. In 2003, the U.S. decided to launch pre-emptive strikes because they claimed that Baghdad’s regime threatened its military bases and attacked it earlier to strengthen its power in the Middle East (Valbjørn, 2019). In addition, they did it to protect its military bases in the Persian Gulf without any moral or humanistic values preservation.
The other example of the theory was the Russian invasion of Syria in 2015. This situation took place to protect the interests of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and establish equilibrium between these territories and America (Salloukh, 2017). In addition, Russia wanted to defend its economic interests without extending the gas pipeline to Europe from Qatar through Syria (Prifti, 2017). Via the lens of political realism, Russian actions seem internationally friendly.
The regional system is weak because of the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces led by the United States, which made the Iraqi regime ruin. The consequent regional political imbalance led to the weakness and total lack of Arab control in solving their problems – political, economic, social, developmental, and others (Akbarzadeh, 2018). Within the principles of political realism, the region had to call for allies to restore the balance. On the other hand, it needed inner regulations leading to the regaining of control.
Currently, in the Middle East, political and confessional conflicts are being maintained and reproduced in the region, which is explained not only by their duration but also by the insufficient maturity of national states. Within the framework of political realism, it signifies that the countries’ completion of catch-up modernization has contributed to a qualitative increase in the economic and social development levels of the region’s countries. There, the formation of modern statehood continues, combining elements of Western fashion with the norms, institutions, and values of traditional society.
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At the same time, integration processes in the region were stopped again. Even the most developed integration association, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, has revealed the fragility of internal ties in recent years (Salloukh, 2017). Non-Arab states – Turkey and Iran, ready to assume the role of world powers, are striving to find a new position in the region. But neither the United States nor Russia renounced their participation in creating a stable balance of power in the Middle East (Akbarzadeh, 2018; Prifti, 2017). However, it can be stated that in the future, the importance of national states as the main subjects of the regional system of international relations and the role of the Middle East itself as one of the essential and conflict-prone regions of the global system of world economic and world political relations will remain.
Existing old and emerging new conflicts in the region make it difficult to create even the foundations of a regional security system. An essential means for this remains the integration of the region’s countries for local confrontation with external threats and pressure for the resolution of existing and future conflicts and contradictions (Valbjørn, 2017). The changes taking place in the Middle East are of a qualitative nature, creating long–term trends of new development – a difference in the current regional balance of power with an uncertain result.
Conclusion
In conclusion, political realism is seen throughout the politics of the Middle East since the region’s countries are establishing connections mainly with the West. The regional system of international relations has been and remains part of the world system and is experiencing its influence and impact in the form of claims to dominance or influence of global and global-regional powers. The events of the past decades in the Arab countries had the greatest impact on them (Valbjørn, 2019). The usual political, military, and economic parameters of the countries of the region, which form the basis of a balanced regional system of relations, are supplemented with new parameters. The process of forming a regional order is complicated by the struggle of individual countries for regional leadership and for the opportunity to create regional coalitions and impose their goals and interests on other countries.
References
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Kamrava, M. (2018). Hierarchy and instability in the Middle East regional order. International Studies Journal, 14(4), 1-35.
Prifti, B. (2017). US foreign policy in the Middle East: The case for continuity. Palgrave Macmillan.
Prinz, J. & Rossi, E. (2017). Political realism as ideology critique. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 20(3), 348-365. Web.
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YeĹźiltaĹź, M., & KardaĹź, T. (2018). Non-state armed actors in the Middle East: Geopolitics, ideology, and strategy. Palgrave Macmillan.