Challenges of Iran's deterrence strategy in the post-Cold War order from the perspective of political economy approach (1990-2024)

Ansarifard, Masomeh; Haji-Yousefi, Amir Mohammad

doi:10.22126/ipes.2025.10918.1681

Challenges of Iran's deterrence strategy in the post-Cold War order from the perspective of political economy approach (1990-2024)

Document Type : Research

Authors

¹ without organizational dependency

² Associate Professor Department of Political Science and IR Shahid Beheshti University Tehran, Iran

10.22126/ipes.2025.10918.1681

Abstract

Due to the importance of the Middle East region in the management strategies of the United States of America, after the collapse of the bipolar system, foreign threats were applied against Iran with more intensity and in different forms. In response to these threats, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes on deterrence strategy. Iran's performance shows that by moving away from the collapse of the bipolar system and approaching the present (1990-2024), the deterrence strategy has been insufficient in persuading and dissuading various actors from continuing hostile actions against Iran. The purpose of this research is to provide an analytical model and operational explanation of Iran's deterrence strategy. This research is based on a qualitative method and an explanatory comparative approach that used library sources to collect data. The main question is why Iran's deterrence strategy during 1990-2024 was insufficient against the threats of America and its allies in the Middle East?" The hypothesis is that "focusing more on one dimension of deterrence and not using the economic, political and military components of deterrence at the same time, as well as the emergence of new contextual threats in different dimensions and levels, cause Iran's deterrence to be insufficient against the threats of America and its allies during the years 1990-2020. The findings of this research show that despite the economic, political, military, and perceptual threats at different levels, the threatening actions of America and its allies have increased more in the economic and political dimensions, while Iran's focus is more on military deterrence. Therefore, Iran's deterrence strategy in the economic and political spheres has been insufficient in persuading and dissuading various actors from threatening actions against Iran.

Keywords

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