Regional Hegemony Quests in the Middle East from the Balance of Power System to the Balance of Proxy Wars: Turkey as Balancing Power for the Iran - Saudi Rivalry

This study examines the Iran-Saudi rivalry within the context of the changing balance of

power in the Middle East. The main research questions were determined to be what the dynamics

of the Iran-Saudi rivalry are and what type of role Turkey may play within the rivalry

between the two countries. Three essential arguments were developed within this context. The

first argument is that the regional balances were broken by the US occupation of Iraq in 2003

and by the ‘Arab Spring’ process resulting in the regional hegemony rivalry between Iran and

Saudi Arabia. The second one is that Iran desired to utilize the Arab Spring process as an

opportunity to become a regional hegemonic power. On the other hand, the policy of the US

to withdraw from and leave the Middle East to its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia caused King

Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to adopt a regional leadership policy. Within this framework,

the study argued that the rivalry to become the new regional hegemon of the Middle East resurged

between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two historic rival powers of the Middle East. The

third argument is that the rivalry between the two countries was mainly in the form of a proxy

war but resulted in the fact that the balance of power struggle in the region reached to the proxy

war balance as no country managed to outcompete the other.