THE ROLE OF INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES IN IRAN'S PROXY ACTOR STRATEGY: THE CASE OF THE QUDS FORCE

Öz

As different disciplines of social sciences potently assert the fundamental changes in the nature of international relations, non-traditional actors of power-struggle take their presence in studies that focus on evaluating this contemporary transformation. Concordantly, Iran’s adaptation to the transformation of international-setting and acts towards creating non-traditional/proxy actor networks through its intelligence communities for expanding its sphere of influence and achieving its regional strategic goals lay the argumentation basis of this study. The study investigates the role of the Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in constructing and maintaining Iran's proxy network. In aforementioned context, it concludes that the Quds Force functionalizes its capabilities in intelligence gathering, guerrilla warfare, and covert operations to provide financial resources, military training, and guidance to proxy actors.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Quds Force
• Proxy Actor
• Intelligence
• Iran

İRAN’IN VEKİL AKTÖR STRATEJİSİNDE İSTİHBARAT ÖRGÜTLERİNİN ROLÜ: KUDÜS GÜCÜ ÖRNEĞİ

Öz

Sosyal bilimlerin farklı disiplinleri uluslararası ilişkilerin doğasındaki köklü değişimleri güçlü bir şekilde savunurken, güç mücadelesinin geleneksel olmayan aktörleri de bu çağdaş dönüşümü değerlendirmeye odaklı çalışmalarda yerlerini almaktadırlar. Buna paralel olarak, İran'ın uluslararası ortamın dönüşümüne uyum sağlamak, etki alanını genişletmek ve bölgesel stratejik hedeflerine ulaşmak için istihbarat toplulukları aracılığıyla geleneksel olmayan/vekil aktör ağları oluşturmaya yönelik eylemleri bu çalışmanın temel argümanını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma, İran Devrim Muhafızları'nın bir kolu olan Kudüs Gücü'nün İran'ın vekil ağının inşası ve sürdürülmesindeki rolünü incelemektedir. Bu bağlamda, Kudüs Gücü'nün istihbarat toplama, gerilla savaşı ve örtülü operasyonlardaki kabiliyetlerini vekil aktörlere finansal kaynak, askeri eğitim ve rehberlik sağlamak için işlevselleştirdiği sonucuna varılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• İran
• Kudüs Gücü
• Vekil Aktör
• İstihbarat

Kaynakça

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