Keywords = جمعیت
Islamic World

Examining the relationship between population and national power in the Islamic Republic of Iran (with an emphasis on religious teachings)

Volume 6, Issue 1, Spring 2024, Pages 1-24

https://doi.org/10.22034/FASIW.2024.401172.1267

Vahid Elahi, Alireza Bay, Mohammad Fazel Sadri

Abstract The group of people make up the nation, they founded the governments and formed the political organizations of power. National power includes all the physical and spiritual capabilities in the political and geographical realm. National power has many sources, one of these factors can be considered geographical and population effects. Therefore, geographical factors and above all population can be used and evaluated to measure the national power of countries. Having a sufficient population and having human capital is one of the most important national assets of any country, which directly interacts with moral, economic, political, and military issues and, as a result, with the country's national security. Population is important to political actors from a tool point of view and in relation to power, and by examining the problem of population, the effects of population on the distribution of power can be determined effectively. Therefore, the problem of this research is to know the importance of the population and its relationship with the country's national power, and to explain this problem, the opinions of Copenhagen school scientists such as Bari Bozan and Oli Weaver have been used. The Copenhagen school has inspired many studies and theoretical reflections on the various features of security construction and especially research in the field of demographic changes. The Copenhagen school serves as a reference for explaining and discussing the intertwining of security logics in the process of intersubjective construction, security as a component of national power and its ratio with the population of a country, because human capital as a security factor is a driving force for a country's national power. Is. The theoretical framework of the Copenhagen school has been used for two reasons: firstly, it provides a proper understanding of society and government, and secondly, it has a suitable application for understanding future theoretical developments. From the point of view of Bari Bozan, the increase and youth of the population should be considered as one of the security issues and in order to increase the national power factor, therefore, the population has a high and unique and irreplaceable position in the doctrine and calculation of the power of countries. Also, from the perspective of strategists interested in the Copenhagen school, national security in the third world requires special attention to demographic threats inside. But since the Copenhagen school has a materialistic attitude towards population and power, it was necessary to consider value issues and some abstract viewpoints, and therefore, because Islam and religious teachings value population and basically fertility benefits in a society. It has the ability to compensate for some of the weaknesses of the Copenhagen school. Several methods have been used to conduct this research, including the review of scientific documents and documents, such as books and authoritative university articles, which have been reviewed qualitatively with a contextual approach and analytical method. There are three main elements in this research: First, the importance of youth as a powerful arm of global security and authority. Second, focusing on the teachings of Islam as the driving engine of the Islamic system for a powerful presence in the system of active countries with independent plans and ideas. And the third is the relationship between Islam and the population as a main factor in long-term population planning until reaching the stable horizons of power, which is considered the main component in Shia doctrine as a universal idea. Religious beliefs and practices play an essential role in the lives of many people, and in Islam, it is believed that the population is an essential part of strengthening religious beliefs with a complex combination of cultural and historical factors. Therefore, in the orders of Islam and religious teachings, having children has a wide and comprehensive concept because on the one hand it leads to the emergence of divine power in the heart of the population and on the other hand it leads to Iran's national, regional and global authority in this turbulent and challenging world. What was said about population and power applies to Iran because the Islamic Republic of Iran has always tried to improve the conventional indicators of its power. Emphasis on population growth and besides paying attention to the empowerment of the middle-aged population as well as the preparation of upstream documents to improve the structure of the government and empower the military power, have all been in the direction of increasing Iran's power, and the main springboard towards the ideological ideal of the government is the layers of the population that are in difficult times. It is used and they represent the authority of the country against the enemies. It is also important to note that if the large population of a country is not proportionate to the anthropological infrastructure such as culture, art, literature, religion, entrepreneurship associations and facilities related to youth marriage, perhaps the blessing of the population will turn into a song and cause a reduction in generational talents. Therefore, there is a mutual and interactive relationship between human development and the increase of national power, and it should be considered in the macro policies of the country. These policies have played an important role in shaping various demographic trends in the Islamic Republic of Iran, considering the developments that have taken place after the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Since the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a system based on religion and religious values, the approach to the issue of population is largely related to this issue. Such a process, while considering the views of religious teachings, can reduce the security of the population issue and turn it into a crisis for national power. Key words: population, national power, Copenhagen school, Islamic Republic of Iran, religious teachings

Islamic World

Assessing the geopolitical role of the population in the national security of the Zionist regime

Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2022, Pages 120-147

https://doi.org/10.22034/fasiw.2022.152738

Amir Reza Moghavemi, Mehdi Javadani Moghadam

Abstract Population geopolitics is one of the most important elements influencing power and national security in international relations. This issue, however, is less important today than in the past, with the increasing importance of knowledge and technology and the limitation of the elements of hard power, but it is certainly still considered one of the influential factors in domestic and foreign policy in world politics. In the meantime, this issue has undoubtedly been one of the key constant concerns of the Zionist regime since its inception. This issue has become doubly important due to the closed nature of Judaism and the limited number of Jews in the world, and on the other hand, because this regime has established its presence and consistency based on the existence of a purely Jewish population. In addition, the regime's continued occupation of the Palestinian territories and the challenges posed by the immigration crisis, as well as the emergence of new issues within the borders of occupied Palestine, have added to the Zionist regime's special focus on population and its constant change. In this context, the main question of the present article is how the demographic geopolitics of the Zionist regime has affected the national security of this regime? The findings of this descriptive-analytical study show that the demographic geopolitics of the Zionist regime has created both opportunities and challenges for the regime. Although the opportunities are more qualitative, the quantitative dimensions, distribution pattern, and demographic composition in this regime has reduced its national security. Thus, the crisis of an incomplete nation-state is the root of many crises in the Middle East. This issue has a very special and more acute situation in the Zionist regime due to the geopolitical nature of its population. Nevertheless, the geopolitics of the Zionist regime's population poses both opportunities and challenges to its national security. This issue can be studied in four dimensions: quantitative, qualitative, distribution pattern, as well as demographic structures.
Quantitatively, the Zionist regime is facing a demographic challenge due to its emphasis on the purely Jewish nature of the Zionist regime and the limited number of Jews in the world. Influenced by the importance of population size as an important factor in the stability of nation-states, as well as the special circumstances of the Zionist regime's ongoing constant war with its neighbors and the challenges posed by Jewish immigration, it poses challenges to its national security. Nevertheless, the quality of the Zionist population can be considered a positive factor in the geopolitics of the Zionist population. In particular, this regime, by having an educated population and being a pioneer in the field of science and technology, has been able to solve many of its geopolitical problems, including water shortages, uncultivable lands, etc., and with its scientific diplomacy, the conditions for overcoming isolation. Created its geopolitical region and weight gain. In the pattern of distribution as the third population dimension, in the Zionist regime, due to the desert situation, half of the land and many dangers from neighbors, the population and main industries are concentrated in the Mediterranean coastal plain, which is one of the vulnerabilities of this regime. The demographic structure of the Zionist regime, as the fourth geopolitical dimension of the population, shows that the Zionist regime can be considered a deeply divided society along ethnic-national lines. In such a way that there are three main gaps - the inter-ethnic divide between Arabs and Jews; Intra-ethnic divisions among Jews and divisions between religious and secular - practically fragile Zionist regime's internal security, making it prone to unrest and civil war. Accordingly, the demographic variables of the Zionist regime have created both opportunities and challenges for the regime, although the opportunities are more qualitative, the quantitative dimensions, distribution pattern, and demographic composition of the regime have reduced its national security. Under these circumstances, the demographic geopolitics of the Zionist regime in the future due to demographic changes (increasing Arab population to Jews and increasing religious population to secular as well as increasing class distance between different Jewish races and consequently increasing reverse migration) negative role It will lead to more in the national security of the Zionist regime.