Iran, Arab League In Central Asia And Caucasus

Tehran, June 17, IRNA -- The United States is pursuing its new world order based on getting closer to the sphere of influence of Russia and China by establishing more military bases in Central Asia and Caucasus. Due to the importance of these regions, the Arab League also endeavors to find a foothold there to boost its presence in the region. The grounds have already been prepared for this presence in cultural and economic fields, according to Iran Dailyˈs Tuesday edition. Today, the Arab League is trying to strengthen its political presence in these regions. It is interested in Central Asia because of the presence of Salafist forces and its huge economic advantages. In other words, the region is an intellectual base of Salafist and Wahhabi thoughts. This will help spread the spiritual and cultural influence of two Arab countries, namely Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Central Asia and Caucasus are important for their economic, security-military (strategic and geopolitical) and international aspects. Economically, Central Asia and Caucasus are at the crossroads of huge economic highways. BRIC members (Brazil, Russia, India and China), with 80 percent of the world economy in the next 20 years, have turned into the most secure economic states. Three out of the four BRIC members, namely India, China and Russia, are located in Central Asia and Caucasus, which has attracted the economic, political and security attention of the West. This development, along with China’s growing economic power, Russia’s ever-increasing military might and declining importance of the Middle East, will generate a new atmosphere in international politics in which Central Asia and Caucasus will be the center of attention. Central Asia needs investment and Arabs are good investors. Since the region is adjacent to one of world’s biggest economies—China—which can pave the way for commercial relations, it is very attractive for the Arab League. Meanwhile, the US will become one of the world’s oil and gas giants within seven years, particularly through production from southern (Texas) and northern states (Alaska). On the one hand, the US will no longer need to import oil and, on the other, its economy will no longer be affected by fluctuations in global oil prices. Consequently, Washington will have a bargaining chip vis-à-vis the European Union, Russia and China. The US is, therefore, trying to move closer to the spheres of influence of Russia and China by establishing more bases in these regions and by deploying its military and security forces in the region, which will pave the way for the US-EU presence there. In this roadmap, some Arab countries of the Persian Gulf play a political role through their petrodollars. Due to the formation of national governments in strategic countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan as well as revolutions in the Arab Middle East and countries such as Egypt that were centers of export to the Arab and Muslim world, new waves of political and fundamentalist Islam have emerged. Thus, apparently secular states in Central Asia, Caucasus and other regions in the East and other parts of the world of Islam began to reform their own structures. Now they have more options in front of themselves. Iran’s achievements, as a religious state, have strengthened its status as a regional power. Also, Iran’s success in preventing the spillover of regional unrests in neighboring countries demonstrates its domestic stability and regional might. The above developments unfolded after a number of wars, interferences, unrests and Western policies in the Middle East as well as the Syrian crisis showed that the instrumental use of fundamentalism can be a sharp sword against Christian Europe. There is a spectrum of different countries with regard to their religions. Turkmenistan is a religious country controlled by a traditional system, while Uzbekistan has firm ethnic communities and religious schools. In Kazakhstan, Sufism is deeply rooted to the extent that it is known for this tradition. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have fundamental tensions and contradictions in the religious field. However, Azerbaijan is the only Muslim country with a blend of Islam and Christianity. The Arab League tries to consolidate native traditionalist trends, particularly in confronting the post- Islamic Awakening movements. China is perhaps a focal regional issue. As an economic giant, China has turned into a security issue though its competition with the US, Japan and Southeast Asian Tigers is still an issue. Beijing launched a security discourse through the Collective Security Treaty Organization and paved the way for assuming the responsibility of regional security. Its domestic and economic policies, which meet the domestic needs regardless of foreign considerations, have turned China into a security issue for the West. Although China had one of the biggest armies in the past decades, it is equipping its military forces with high-tech to enable them to compete with highly sophisticated NATO troops. Russia is also an important player of the region because of the following reasons: increasing oil and gas revenues, supplying energy to parts of Central Asia and Scandinavia, and the presence of Muslims. After the election of President Hassan Rouhani, Iran has adopted a new diplomacy that will create new opportunities, especially after the nuclear issue is fully solved. Iran followed active deterrence in its foreign policy, which also justified its defense programs to repel all potential threats, particularly in the course of US attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the civil war in Syria. US strategic errors in its diplomacy, its entanglement in the quagmire of anti-terrorism campaign, which imposed huge costs on its economy, reduction of military budget and withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in 2014 have created an opportunity for Iran to settle its nuclear issue through diplomatic channels and join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Under the circumstances, a change in foreign policy orientation, the adoption of a regionalist policy and formation of coalitions to get regional and international advantages are necessary. Iran can cooperate with the Arab League at two levels: first, developing a closer relationship with the Arab League member-states; and second, taking part in bilateral and multilateral regional alliances. /end