Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; Javad Etaat; Hosein Mohammadi; zahra Moussavi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Since the end of the Second World War, the development paradigm has become the dominant discourse in the world. During the more than 6 decades that the concept of development discourse has been dominant, many theoretical and practical developments have accompanied ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Since the end of the Second World War, the development paradigm has become the dominant discourse in the world. During the more than 6 decades that the concept of development discourse has been dominant, many theoretical and practical developments have accompanied it. First, attention was solely paid on economic development and nature was considered as a facilitator of economic growth. However, it was gradually recognized that development with this economic growth approach changes the natural systems of the planet and leads to numerous environmental hazards that can threaten the economic and political systems of countries. Therefore, it is very possible for a political entity to attain the development, but sustained development will be faced with serious doubts because environmental aspects are ignored. Therefore, the concept of sustainable development replaced development.
2. Methodology
Given the above- mentioned approach, this descriptive-analytic research examined the relationship between Development Programs and the environmental problems with Urmia Lake as a case example. To do this, an analytic and explanatory method, the accumulation of data and the existing literature have been adopted to carry out a library and document-based research.
3. Discussion
Urmia Lake, located in the northwestern part of Iran, is one of the salt over-saturated lakes in the world. This lake was introduced as a Biosphere Reserve to UNESCO’s program of Man and the Biosphere and was included in the list of the Wetlands of this Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar-1971). The water level in Urmia Lake was at its highest in 1995 and then, since 1995 up to 2012, it has declined more than seven meters. A review of other studies shows that although climate change and particularly evaporation increment are significant agents in decreasing the water level, the main causes of drying up the lake have been anthropogenic factors. For example, Lak, Darvishi Khatooni and Mohammadi (2011) suggested that although Iran has experienced a long-term drought since 13000 years ago up to now, Urmia Lake has never experienced dryness except in coastal areas and the main part of the lake has had lacustrine environment for 13000 years. On the other hand, according to Jamali, Sharifi, and Pourmand (2013), climate change never affects a single point selectively, and the performance of these changes is always on an extensive scale. The dramatic decrease in the water level of Lake Urmia has not been observed in the neighboring lakes such as the Sevan Lake in Armenia and Lake Van in Turkey. Therefore, the National Development Programs as well as development plans in the Urmia Lake Basin as human factors influencing the current situation and the environmental problems of Lake Urmia have been analyzed in this research. At present there are about 95 dams in the Urmia Lake Basin, 57 of which are operational, nine are under construction, and 29 are in the study phase. Moreover, water utilization has increased very rapidly in the past two decades and has depleted more than 90 percent of the water in the aquifers. The agriculture sector is the most important consumer of the water in this Basin and has experienced remarkable changes during the last three decades. So, The Development Programs have been one of the main reasons for the drying up of the Lake. The consequences resulting from the implementation of Development Plans in the Urmia Lake basin and drying the Lake are mainly the disruption of the biodiversity in the region, increased salinity, soil erosion, pollution of water sources, salt dust, and weather changes in the region that can threaten the sustainability of the development.
4. Conclusion
The analysis of the planning process and Development Programs in Iran shows that the patterns of development in Iran have always been based on economic growth which allows for achieving other economic and social goals. So, environmental resources have been considered as the foundation of national wealth and economic growth facilitator. Development with the economic growth approach has led to numerous environmental problems in the country of which Lake Urmia is an example. Therefore, it is possible for a political entity to attain development, but sustained development will be faced with serious doubts because environmental aspects are ignored.
Yashar Zaki; Kiomars Yazdanpanah Dero Yazdanpanah Dero; Gholamali Mostafavi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
As a Muslim state with a democratically elected national parliament and a political process having admitted and internalized special scope of differences of opinions, Turkey is a suitable place for the assessment of spatial dynamics and convergence of aforementioned ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
As a Muslim state with a democratically elected national parliament and a political process having admitted and internalized special scope of differences of opinions, Turkey is a suitable place for the assessment of spatial dynamics and convergence of aforementioned relations through electoral geography research. In 2002, untimely elections of Turkish parliament were held in the wake of protest against the senility of the prime minister of the time that led to the resignation of over the half of the MPs. In these elections, the newly founded AKP party became victorious. After the soft coup of Turkish army against Islamist government of Necmettin Erbakan in 28 February 1998 and his resignation known as postmodern coup, AKP party under Receb Tayyib Erdogan which is a branch of Welfare and Virtue Party could get the command of power in Turkey in 2002.
2. Theoretical Framework
"Analysis of overt manifestations of elections and political strategies amongst dynamics of the world of economy" is one of the ways to study electoral elections. By this definition, electoral geography studies the patterns of political elections applied in the structural limits of local knowledge and experience of global forces. Electoral geographers attempt to explain how national and global processes in regional and local spatial location intervene to identify "special regional districts of elections" and analyze "the geography of political responses". Geographers collectively maintain that the voters are simultaneously influenced by the thorough scope of materialist, social and religious experiences, and study the manners in which the reasons converge in different ways and in different places with different historical backgrounds. Moreover, they consider this as important to analyze the patterns of political elections which are in turn the determinant of such issues as the combination of national, regional, and local assemblies.
3. Research Method
From the perspective of methodology, the current study is descriptive-analytic and the method of obtaining data and information is based on the study of available books, articles, and publications in Persian, English, and Turkish. Also, the statistics regarding the elections are obtained by referring to Turkey's Supreme Election Headquarters portal.
4. Findings and Discussions
Politically, the government in Turkey is parliamentary republic and ideologically, it is secular. There are several types of elections such as parliamentary elections, presidential elections, and municipal elections. Parliamentary elections are held every four years to elect 550 members of the parliament by direct votings of people. According to the current electoral system in Turkey, a party should obtain 10 percent of the national votes to win the required seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. An untimely election in Turkey in 2002 which is interpreted as the political quake or so-called as “Public Coup by Ballot Boxes” was the onset of the formation of a one-party authoritarian system after 42 years. In this election, AKP quite recently could establish the state with the majority of votes. Lack of trust of voters in coalition government and fluctuation of the parties away from their responsibilities were among the factors affecting the results of the elections in favor of AKP in that run. In this run of elections, AKP achieved the majority of votes from 53 provinces from central and Northern provinces and some parts of the southern provinces. The election of 2007 was held in precocious time due to the dissolution of the cabinet by Erdogan. The reason for that was the annulment of the votes for the representative of the ruling party by the court constitution to run for the 11th Presisdential Election. In this election, AKP was victorious and it could achieve the controlling command of the government, parliament and presidency. The election of 2011 was indicative of the decisive triumph of AKP and the development of secularism. This party could delimit the power of bueacracy which was the ruling power for half a century. Moderative policy of AKP, reconstructing Islamic Identity, domestic reforms, successful foreign policy, economic performance, strengthening of new non-state actors in Turkish political arena, the decline of Kamalist ideology and raising identity crisis in Turkey, and finally the non-corrupt personel of APK party were all the reasons affecting the continuity of its ruling power until 2011.
5. Conclusion
The formation of three regional blocs and the reduction of parties in Turkish Parliament makes one decide that the elections between the years 2002-2011 could be ascribed as “Critical Elections”. The three regional blocs specified in the Electoral Geography of Turkey refer to the probable gaps in the Turkish politics. The first probable gap is the issue of religion. The inhabitants of the coastal provinces voted for CHP just because they thought religions should be kept and practiced as personal. The people living in the central inland provinces voted for AKP just because they thought they should support religion as a factor playing role in people’s social life. The second probable gab might be the gap between the Kurd and the Turk peoples. This is more prevalent in the south-eastern provinces within which Kurdish parties were far successful. The third probable gap is between the regions supporting long-lasting parties in office and regions supporting the new parties or the ones with the slightest opportunities. This is more salient especially where the differences between coastal and inland regions matter. The investigation of above-mentioned parliamentary elections indicates that AKP could establish a one-party government without coalition with other parties. In the three runs, AKP could gain the majority of votes in central Anatolia and regions neighboring the Black Sea. CHP could win the majority votes of the western regions of Marmara, Aegean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea which are mainly industrial places. Kurdish parties also could attain more supporters in the eastern and south-eastern regions.
Omran Rasti; Ali Ashrafi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Conferences and conventions related to law of the seas has not been successful in convincing the coastal countries all the time. Some of these failures stem from vagueness in the law such as the drawing method of straight baselines, e.g., Bay closing line, and the ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Conferences and conventions related to law of the seas has not been successful in convincing the coastal countries all the time. Some of these failures stem from vagueness in the law such as the drawing method of straight baselines, e.g., Bay closing line, and the way in which baselines are selected. Gwadar bay, located on the northeast corner of Oman Sea, is a small bay between Iran and Pakistan. The most important goal of this study is to investigate the territoriality in the carter of Gwadar bay, the conformity of these territorialities to the seas convention law, the conformity and overlap of Iran’s baselines to those of Pakistan in carter of Gwadar bay, the drawing of the maritime boundary between Iran and Pakistan, and the location of baseline points between these two countries with regard to the maritime boundary. Finally, a suggestion will be proposed to solve any probable discord which stems from the overlap of baselines and territoriality conflicts.
2. Theoretical Framework
Political geography, as a field of study of human geography, examines the function of politics and power in the division, aggregation, and organization of space and, conversely, the effects of geography, spaces, and places produced in political processes. The most important concept that derives from the above definition is the concept of territory and its related concepts, such as territoriality and human territoriality. The political geography of the sea is conceptually and theoretically dependent on the key concepts of the political geography. Therefore, the most important concept on which the theoretical foundation of this study is based is the concept of human territoriality.
3. Methodology
In a descriptive-analytic method, this study intends to investigate documents and laws of these two countries with regard to the maritime boundary and territories. One of the goals of this study is to evaluate the consistency or inconsistency of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by applying these claims and territorialities on maps by ARCGIS software and conducting cartographic analysis.
4. Findings and Discussion
The first feasible step for territoriality in the crater of Gwadar bay dates back to the cabinet enactment on July 21, 1973 in which the coordinates of 25 baseline points in Persian Gulf and Oman sea were assigned and declared. Based on these points and their coordinates, point 25 is located on the surface of water in the mouth of Gwadar bay. Pakistan also declared the coordinates of baseline points in August 29, 1996. The straight baseline points, which is a continuous system, is constructed from connecting 10 points (a to k). Point a in this system is located on water surface in the mouth of Gwadar bay. The last endeavor with regard to territoriality in the crater of Gwadar bay is the common endeavor in 1997 in order to delineate the maritime boundary between the two countries. The aforementioned boundary agreement consists of an introduction and 7 articles, which is enacted in the legislative assembly. Based on the first article of this agreement, the coordinates of the points on the maritime boundary which separates internal water, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, and Exclusive Economic Zone between Iran and Pakistan was declared.
The most important measure for these two coastal countries is to pass laws related to maritime area as well as determining and declaring coordinates for straight baseline points, and as a result determining the maritime boundary. Point (25) from Iran’s straight baseline and Point (a) of Pakistan’s straight baseline are located on water body and in the entrance of Gwadar bay, which has some demerits based on the convention for baseline drawing. In addition, drawing these two points with the aid of geographical coordinates shows inconsistency between these two points and overlapping two baselines. Mentioning the inconsistency and emphasizing the use of these two points with their coordinates may cause a conflict between these two countries.
However, Iran and Pakistan reached to an agreement in 1997, and determined a maritime boundary. It seems that point (1) is a good substitute for point (25) in Iran and point (a) in Pakistan since it is located in the nearest distance to these two points, and it is located in the estuary of the bay, on which the two countries have reached to an agreement.
Davood Eyvazlu; Mohammad Taghi Razavian; Mozaffar Sarrafi; Morteza Ghourchi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In this paper, through studying the air pollution and environmental destruction of Tehran metropolis, as a political, social, and economic issue, we discuss the competitive discourse between the nation-state (the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017) and the local ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In this paper, through studying the air pollution and environmental destruction of Tehran metropolis, as a political, social, and economic issue, we discuss the competitive discourse between the nation-state (the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017) and the local government (municipality of Tehran 2013-2017) in terms of the creation of meaning, hegemony, and the production of space. Generally, the purpose of analyzing the above-mentioned discourses in this study is to identify the aspects that a particular discourse highlights or attempts to make some aspects absent. In Iran the local government (municipality) and the nation-state are affecting the city space through policies and management system. This paper focuses on the discourse of nation-state and local government in Tehran city.
2. Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this article is based on discourse analysis theory and representation and otherness concepts.
Representation:
Representation is a cultural process. It is also a political process, where individuals/groups seek to persuade or coerce others into accepting their representation as the “correct” one. Representations or “ideological fictions” are necessary for the discourse –logical consistency of planning practice. They structure our transcendent ideas and ideals of what is and what should be “out there”.
Absent/ Otherness:
Law believes that debates about social and environmental justice shift between presence and absence. Some presence/absences are deferred of relations not present now, but relations yet to come. There are oscillatory distributions between the present/now and the absent/future or the absent/now and the present/future. Thus, planning is a sort of creative agonistic between presence and absence, manifest and latent.
Discourse Analysis:
Discourse is a bunch of words which belong to the same formation. Analytical activity is the description of the united shape of the bunch of words which has no place for concepts of meaning, intention, and the moment of creation. The aim of the analysis is to deal with a set of functions at lingual (verbal) level as well as dealing with the positive shape of their definition.
3. Methodology
Discourse Analysis theory of Laclau and Mouffe is considered both as a theory and as a research method. In this regard, capitalizing on the method of discourse analysis, we examine two main discourses (discourse of nation-state, i.e., the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017; and local government, i.e., municipality’s discourse, 2013-2017) in terms of the air pollution in Tehran.
4. Discussion
Results show that the nodal point of the local government (municipality) discourse is public transportation and the floating signifiers of the local government’s discourse are the development of metro and green spaces. On the other hand, the nodal point of the national government’s discourse is "quality and control". The interviews by government officials indicate that the nation-state’s nodal point is based on the automobile quality supervision and fuel quality. As discourses are attempting to highlight or other some aspects of the reality, the development of metro (the achievement of the local government) is absent in the nation-state’s discourse; or it is trying to undermine the discourse of municipality by challenging the urban management. On the other hand, the local government (municipality) is Othering the impact of the urban management role (such as traffic or towers) on the increase of air pollution in Tehran City. Generally, findings indicate that both the local government and nation-state’s discourses seek to represent what they would like to be present out there.
5. Conclusion and Suggestions
Discourse analysis showed that both the national government and local governments are seeking to make hegemony by highlighting some aspect of the facts, in order to pretend to the society that their representation is true and their management has been successful. The local government (public transportation discourse) is highlighting the developments in Tehran’s Metro section, and the nation-state (technology-oriented discourse) is highlighting the control and quality. On the other hand, the share of the government's aid to the urban public transportation has been marginalized in the discourse of the national government and the impact of the urban management and urban traffic caused by an inappropriate land-use planning on Tehran’s air pollution is suppressed and othered in the municipality’s discourse.
Based on the discourse analysis, we can say that the next discourse should be based on an integrated development; i.e., good governance through strengthening the role of civil society. Also, according to the principles of good governance, enhancing the transparency and accountability in both local and national levels could be the first step to begin the process of reducing environmental problems and air pollution in Tehran metropolitan.
Dorreh Mirheydar; Mosayeb Ghareh-Beygi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
The recent visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Egypt (April 2016) under which sovereignty over the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located in the carter of the Gulf of Aqaba, has reportedly been transferred by Egypt to Saudi Arabia. According to the Egyptian ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
The recent visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Egypt (April 2016) under which sovereignty over the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located in the carter of the Gulf of Aqaba, has reportedly been transferred by Egypt to Saudi Arabia. According to the Egyptian State Information Service, this agreement was signed on 8 April 2016 by the Egyptian Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, and Saudi Deputy Crown, Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz , in the presence of the Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Saudi King Salman. While the text of the agreement has not been disclosed yet, Egyptian officials have reportedly made available documents supporting Saudi claims over the two islands. It was reported that the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) had asserted that all documents show Tiran and Sanafir are two Saudi islands according to geographic charts.
2. Theoretical Framework
Sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir has long been a matter of controversy between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt had asserted, for instance, before the UN Security Council in 1954 that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir were under its sovereignty, having been occupied in 1906 at the time of the delimitation of the boundary between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. Further, Egypt had referred to the evidence that the two islands had been used by it as a part of its war efforts during World War II. However, the Saudi government also claimed that the islands pertained to it, and in fact, the question of sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir was left unaddressed in the Saudi-Egyptian agreement of 1949, under which the islands were occupied by Egypt with the consent of Saudi Arabia, in order to exercise control over the transit of ships bound to Israel.
3. Methodology
The methodology of this study is descriptive-analytical and the required information has been collected through library research. The information was gathered from sources such as books, magazines, online articles, newspapers, etc.
4. Findings and Discussion
As increasing a geopolitical tension between Arabs and Zionists from May 15, 1948, Israel occupied the islands of Tiran and Sanafir along with Sinai Peninsula in 1952 and again in 1967. As the result of the Camp David Accords and its framework in 1979, Israel withdrew its forces from the islands and Sinai Peninsula in 1982. The statement cited a number of sources in support of its argument, including a number of screenshots. The statement referred to a letter sent by Saudi King Abdulaziz in February, 1950 to a Saudi minister in Cairo, as well as the letters between the Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers in 1988 and 1989, which ask that the two islands are returned to Saudi sovereignty. The cabinet also referred to a letter sent by the American ambassador in Egypt to the American secretary of state in 1950 proving that Tiran and Sanafir are Saudi. “Foreign Office informed Embassy that because of certain pretensions manifested by Israel authorities recently toward Tiran and Sanafir Islands in Red Sea at the entrance of Gulf of Aqaba, the Egyptian Government, had occupied the islands,” the American ambassador's letter reads.
The statement also refers to the 1973 map which shows the islands are Saudi according to the international law and UN maritime law. The statement also is linked to a New York Times article on 19 January, 1982, which describes that Israel's fears that the Egyptians would give the islands back to their Saudi owners after Egyptian-Saudi relations return to normal”. According to the article, "The two islands were transferred by Saudi Arabia to Egyptian control in 1950 because the Saudis feared an Israeli attempt to seize them. Along with the rest of Sinai, they fell under Israeli control in the 1967 war, but Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Fahd said recently that he would ask Egypt, after regaining them in April, to return them to Saudi sovereignty". Mohamed ElBaradei, an international lawyer and the former Egyptian vice president, also makes an appearance in the statement. A screenshot of an article by ElBaradei, taken from an unspecified international legal journal, is also included. The article, “The Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty and Access to the Gulf of Aqaba: A New Legal Regime,” states: “The islands of Tiran and Sanafir, have been under Egyptian occupation since 1950”. The article also says that the Strait of Tiran is “within the territorial sea of Egypt”. The cabinet’s statement also refers to a presidential decree in 1990 that mentions the maritime borders of the country, and cites the two islands as being outside Egypt's borders. According to the statement, the maritime border demarcation announcement came last week because of an agreement to build a bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Simultaneously UNCLOSIII declared the strait of Tiran as "international" to give Israel the right of transit passage to the Israeli port of Eilat. Two significant events have affected the sovereignty of the islands from April 8, 2016 to January 16, 2017: first, the transfer of sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia by the head of the state; second, the Egyptian Court and the House of Representatives' announcement to block the islands handover to Saudi Arabia. The aim of this paper, however, was mainly to draw the changes that may occur in case of handing over the islands to any party.
Sayyedeh Samireh Hosseini; Mohsen Janparvar; Escander Moradi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
The human rights is one of the most important and influential issues in international relations. The idea of human rights protecting has been considered as the fight against oppression and injustice from a long time ago. Human rights concepts can include fundamental ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
The human rights is one of the most important and influential issues in international relations. The idea of human rights protecting has been considered as the fight against oppression and injustice from a long time ago. Human rights concepts can include fundamental concepts such as "the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the prohibition of slavery, the prohibition of racial discrimination, freedom of expression, opinion, religion, the employment right, etc.”, each of these concepts has different interpretations in different cultures and cannot be interpreted by one state for all individuals in different societies. The right to life is the most important and the most prominent right of mankind which is supported by the different states through humanitarian intervention. In addition to the human rights debate, there are other factors influence this intervention and maybe it can be said that human rights is only the cover for this effort. Geopolitical components are among these factors. These components have encouraged countries to appear in specific spaces covered as humanitarian intervention.
2. Theoretical Framework
Geopolitical factors imply the set of factors and geographic components that somehow affect the policy. These factors increase or decrease from space to space and over time due to developments. Values and geographic factors have a dual nature in terms of structure or function. That is, a geographic factor for a human or human group may be considered positive, while the same factor is considered negative for another group or individual. The structural and functional identity of the factors is not constant and stable, meaning that a factor in the context of time may be transformed or, has different values in the view of different human groups. The humanitarian intervention in its classical sense means a state uses armed force against another state to protect the lives and liberties of the late nation who are not willing or able to do so. Humanitarian intervention, in terms of protected individuals, includes other types; That is, any use of force by a state against another is also discussed as humanitarian intervention in order to protect the lives and freedom of its citizens within that country or third-country nationals against inhumane treatment.
3. Methodology
The main method of this research is descriptive-analytic. The information was gathered in the Internet and field- library method. A questionnaire was used in the field method. The questionnaire was given to the elites and academic experts in the field of geopolitics. In this regard, the formula with a confidence level of 99% has been used to determine the sample size in a limited population. Then, 20 questionnaires were collected and evaluated. Meanwhile, a variety of validation tests were used to test the validity and reliability of the questions. The reliability of the questionnaire was examined through Cronbach's test. It showed that Cronbach's alpha is closer to 1 for different dimensions and is more than 0.7%. Accordingly, it could be said that the questionnaire has the necessary reliability. SPSS software was used to analyze geopolitical theories and humanitarian intervention using a questionnaire. In this conclusion, the indices that have received above medium-average (three) have been accepted as a geopolitical component affecting humanitarian intervention, indices have less than that average despite affecting humanitarian intervention have not been considered as a geopolitical component and put away.
4. Findings and Discussion
In the present study, it has been attempted to extract the geopolitical factors influencing humanitarian interventions from theories and views related to geopolitics and humanitarian intervention. These studies showed that 47 factors were extracted in four sections including geographical factors, economic factors, political factors, and demographic factors as the factors affecting humanitarian interventions. 28 indicators of these geopolitical factors affect the humanitarian intervention in geographical areas.
Geopolitical factors are among the most important factors influencing humanitarian interventions. Awareness and recognizing these factors will make it easier for statesmen to intervene and make decisions. Furthermore, the impact of these factors varies depending on the views of each state so that they can have positive or negative effects for the intervener.
Hossein Mokhtari Hashi; Mojtaba Shams
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Yemen is an ancient country with long history which is involved in many turbulences and crises such as wars with the Romans, Ethiopians, Iranian, Ottoman Turks, Portuguese, Britons, Egyptians, Saudis, etc. Especially in the twentieth century, the country has experienced ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Yemen is an ancient country with long history which is involved in many turbulences and crises such as wars with the Romans, Ethiopians, Iranian, Ottoman Turks, Portuguese, Britons, Egyptians, Saudis, etc. Especially in the twentieth century, the country has experienced many political developments, such as various wars, independence, splitting into two countries, unity, civil wars and so on that their effects are still ongoing. The present study seeks to analyze the country's recent crisis from political geography and geopolitical point of view. The geography of Yemen particularly in physical, human, economic, political, and strategic dimensions, provides facilities as well as a context for domestic and foreign interventionist forces to act, influence, and intervene. Although the main starting point of the recent crisis in Yemen were domestic issues, considering the physical, human, and strategic characteristics of the country's geography, quickly became widespread with the involvement of regional and trans-regional actors. First the method of analysis of the study is to investigate the main and important geographical effective factors in the crisis. Then, how the competing forces benefit these factors at various national, regional, and transnational levels is considered.
2. Methodology
The research method is descriptive-analytic. Data is collected in a library method and using internet resources. The analysis has been carried out mainly qualitatively.
3. Results and Discussion
Creating a different lifestyle, physical geography factors, such as topography and climate, are the underlying factors for human diversities. In Yemen, physical geography factors, indirectly and through the orientation of human diversity, play a crucial role in the political and social crises, and directly provide facilities for the playing forces in the country. These factors play a significant role in the survival and power strengthening of different human groups, especially Zaydis.
Yemen's human geography factors such as religion have also led to the creation and continuation of the crisis in the country. In addition, the largely tribal social system of the country plays a decisive role in the developments. There are about 700 small or large tribes in Yemen, which more than 400 of them are Zaydis living in mountainous areas of the northern parts of the country that geography plays an important role in their survival.
The role of economic geography factors in Yemen crisis is mainly due to the distribution of economic resources, the transfer of resources, the dominant economic activity, the unbalanced distribution of wealth and facilities, and in general the geography of poverty and wealth. The crisis like a defective cycle causes economic deterioration and bankruptcy and a continuation of poverty and crisis cycle, such as the country's oil production that decreased from 429,000 barrels per day in 2003 to about 47,000 barrels in 2015.
The effective political geography factors in Yemen crisis have a wide range that has played a role from ancient times to the present. The ancient history of the country has caused many incidents such as wars between this country and other countries. The process of independence and unity has accompanied various volatility and events, and this country has been caught up in the dominant powers before and after its independence, and has experienced different political events and even civil wars, and now their effects can be seen as de facto division of the country mainly based on the pre-unified parts.
The activities of Salafi extremists and Al-Qaeda in Yemen lead to the complexity of the country's crisis and foreign intervention. The strategic geography factors affecting Yemen crisis are mainly based on the geographical situation of both the country itself and the situation of human groups residing in the strategic areas of the country. The country's position along the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb also encourages the involved parties to take control of the strait, and that is not something that regional and trans-regional powers want to easily ignore. Yemen territorial and border disputes, especially with Saudi Arabia, which have a historical background, have remained unresolved in the minds of Yemen people, despite the measures taken to resolve it in 2000.
4. Conclusion
Due to the comprehensive view of geography, analyzing issues with geographic and geopolitical perspectives leads to a precise rooting of the causes of them. Yemen is a country that has been in crisis and unrest over a long period of time; the latest round of crisis has come after the Middle East upraises called the Arab Spring. Despite the success of the overthrow of the head of state, the problems and insecurities of the country have increased. The competition of domestic forces has led to the division of the country into two de facto northern and southern parts of the north and south as before the unification in 1990. The intervention of regional and trans-regional forces in this crisis turned it from national into a transnational crisis, with no clear prospect for solving.
The analysis of the recent crisis of Yemen from the geopolitical point of view shows that physical, human, economic, political, strategic, and other geographic factors are the basis of the country's crises, and the rival forces involved in different internal, regional and trans-regional levels are using these geographic basis and trying to expand their position in the transformation. The characteristics of geographic factors are rooted and highly stable leading to the stability of the crises, and it is very difficult to solve them. Therefore, the crisis is persistent and chronic in Yemen because of the effects of geographic and relatively stable factors.
