Introduction: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the struggle to shape the Middle East
On 22nd September 2018, an attack on a military ceremony in Ahvaz, a city in the southwest of Iran, resulted in the deaths of 25 people and left many more…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
The view from Riyadh
Most analysis of the Saudi-Iranian rivalry seems to miss the fundamental points that underline the tension.[1] Iran is trying to save itself from either foreign intervention or domestic unrest[2] while…
Religion and geopolitics in Iranian foreign policy
Saudi Arabia and Iran, as key power brokers in the Middle East, continue to couch their bilateral relations in antagonistic terms as they chafe against each other in a battle…
Sectarianized geopolitical contests and the rise of armed sectarian nonstate actors
The rise of armed sectarian nonstate actors (NSAs) is one of the main consequences of the grand Saudi-Iranian contest over regional dominance unleashed in the wake of the 2003 US…
Iraq and Muhasasa Ta’ifia; the external imposition of sectarian politics
In the aftermath of invasion and regime change in 2003, Iraq’s political field was deliberately and overtly restructured around an informal version of consociationalism, the Muhasasa Ta’ifia (sectarian apportionment) system.…
The different risks of Saudi and Iranian aid to Lebanon
Lebanon is a battleground of Saudi-Iranian rivalry. Both provide aid. While Iranian aid to Hizballah creates a military fighting force, Saudi aid is notable for its economic impact. Iranian aid…
Bahrain: The epicentre of the Saudi-Iranian rivalry?
For many, the archipelago of Bahrain is at the epicentre of the geopolitical and sect-based struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Situated 16 kilometres from the eastern coast of Saudi…
The Yemen war: a proxy sectarian war?
The diffusion of protests against authoritarian regimes across the Arab world in 2011 reinvigorated Yemen’s marginalized social movements and united different geographical and political factions in Yemen, such as the…
Sectarianism as Plan B: Saudi-Iranian identity politics in the Syria conflict
Saudi Arabia and Iran have both been deeply involved in the Syrian civil war from its beginning in 2011, each sponsoring rival sides. Both have utilised sectarian identity politics to…
The securitisation of the ‘Masculinist’ other in the Syrian conflict
Amidst the violence that has spread across Syria since 2011, most scholarship concerned with the Syrian conflict has focused on questions related to how the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and…