فرصت‌ها و تهدیدهای استان دیاله عراق بر امنیت مرزهای غربی جمهوری اسلامی ایران

زمینه و هدف: امنیت مرزی به‌عنوان یکی از پیش‌نیازهای اساسی برای تامین امنیت ملی هر کشور شناخته می‌شود.. هدف از پژوهش حاضر، بررسی فرصت‌ها و تهدیدهای استان دیاله عراق بر امنیت مرزهای غربی جمهوری اسلامی ایران است.روش: پژوهش حاضر از نظر هدف کاربردی و به لحاظ ماهیت داده‌ها از نوع کیفی و از نظر روش‌شناسی، این تحقیق در دسته پژوهش‌های توصیفی-تحلیلی قرار می‌گیرد. جمع‌آوری داده‌ها به‌طور ترکیبی از روش‌های اسنادی و پیمایشی (از جنس مصاحبه) انجام‌شده است. تجزیه‌وتحلیل یافته‌های حاصل از پیمایش میدانی نیز از طریق دو نرم‌افزار gis و maxqda صورت پذیرفته و کلیه فرماندهان و کارشناسان میدانی حاضر در محیط تحقیق با تحصیلات کارشناسی ارشد و دکتری به‌عنوان جامعه آماری پژوهش حاضر هدف‌گذاری شده‌اند.یافته‌ها: داده‌های حاصل از مصاحبه‌ها با استفاده از فرایند کدگذاری تحلیل محتوا پردازش شد. در این تحلیل، مجموعاً 324 کد (مفهوم) استخراج گردید. از این تعداد، کدهای مربوط به فرصت‌ها با فراوانی 182 عدد، که در قالب 34 مفهوم و در 7 حوزه کلی (مقوله) طبقه‌بندی شدند؛ همچنین، کدهای مرتبط با تهدیدها با فراوانی 142 عدد، در قالب 25 مفهوم و در 7 حوزه کلی (مقوله) سازمان‌دهی شدند.نتایج: نتایج این پژوهش نشان می‌دهد، فرصت‌ها و تهدیدهای استان دیاله که اثربخشی مستقیمی بر امنیت مرزهای غربی جمهوری اسلامی ایران دارند را می‌توان به ترتیب اولویت در قسمت فرصت‌ها در هفت حوزه 1. نظامی – امنیتی 2. اقتصادی - عمرانی، 3. سیاسی، 4. فرهنگی - اجتماعی، 5. زیست‌محیطی – کشاورزی، 6. جغرافیایی، 7. فرصت‌های نوین طبقه‌بندی نمود و همچنین در قسمت تهدیدها نیز در هفت حوزه به ترتیب اولویت 1. نظامی – امنیتی، 2. اقتصادی، 3. سیاسی، 4. فرهنگی - اجتماعی، 5. زیست‌محیطی، 6. جغرافیایی، 7. تهدیدهای نوین می‌توان دسته‌بندی نمود.

opportunities and threats of diyala province of iraq for the security of the western borders of the islamic republic of iran

background and aim: border security is recognized as one of the fundamental prerequisites for ensuring national security in every country. the present study aims to examine the opportunities and threats posed by iraq’s diyala province to the security of the western borders of the islamic republic of iran.methodology: this research is applied in terms of purpose, qualitative in the nature of its data, and descriptive–analytical in methodological orientation. data collection was conducted using a combination of documentary sources and survey methods (interviews). the findings derived from field surveys were analyzed using gis and maxqda software. all field commanders and experts present in the study area with master’s and doctoral degrees were targeted as the statistical population of this research.results: the data obtained from the interviews were processed through a content-analysis coding procedure. in total, 324 codes (concepts) were extracted. among these, the opportunity-related codes, with a frequency of 182, were classified into 34 concepts across seven general categories. similarly, threat-related codes, with a frequency of 142, were organized into 25 concepts across seven general categories.conclusion: the results indicate that the opportunities and threats in diyala province, which have direct implications for the security of iran’s western borders, can be prioritized and classified as follows. opportunities fall into seven categories: (1) military–security, (2) economic–developmental, (3) political, (4) socio-cultural, (5) environmental–agricultural, (6) geographical, and (7) emerging opportunities. likewise, threats may be categorized, in order of priority, into seven domains: (1) military–security, (2) economic, (3) political, (4) socio-cultural, (5) environmental, (6) geographical, and (7) emerging threats.a b s t r a c textended abstractintroductionin the contemporary world, safeguarding national survival is regarded as one of the fundamental and strategic objectives of every government, and this national survival is directly associated with the concept of national security. national security can be examined in both internal and external dimensions, with borders serving as a key element in each. a review of the history of iran’s foreign relations with its neighboring countries clearly shows that the country’s western borders have long been among the most significant centers of tension and risk (mansouri, 2014: 11). iraq, as iran’s western neighbor, and specifically diyala province as one of iraq’s eastern provinces, shares a 380-kilometer border with the islamic republic of iran. since the victory of the islamic revolution, iran’s western borders—particularly those adjacent to diyala—have repeatedly been subjected to military threats from adversarial actors such as saddam hussein, the mujahedin-e khalq, the united states, and isis. these threats have at times resulted in instability and insecurity in the region. therefore, identifying the opportunities and threats present in diyala province can help clarify their impacts on the security of iran’s western borders and provide the basis for necessary measures to enhance stability in these areas.the aim of the present study is to examine the opportunities and threats posed by diyala province, iraq, to the security of the western borders of the islamic republic of iran. methodologythis research is applied in purpose and qualitative in terms of data nature. methodologically, it falls within the category of descriptive–analytical studies. data collection was conducted through a combination of documentary methods (including library sources, note-taking, etc.) and survey methods (including observation, interviews, photographs, video recordings, and maps). data analysis was performed using arcgis for spatial analysis and maxqda for qualitative data analysis. additionally, the study employed the grounded theory approach to interpret the data, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary instrument for gathering qualitative information. conclusionthe analytical results indicate the presence of multiple opportunities and threats in iraq’s diyala province that have significant potential implications for the security of iran’s western borders. in this stage, the interview-derived data were coded using maxqda software. a total of 324 codes (themes) were extracted, including 182 codes related to opportunities and 142 related to threats. subsequently, the opportunity-related codes were categorized into 34 concepts based on thematic similarity and conceptual coherence, and these concepts were grouped into seven overarching categories. similarly, the threat-related codes were classified into 25 concepts and then organized into seven major categories. results and discussionthe findings of this study demonstrate that border security is one of the essential pillars of national security and plays a crucial role in maintaining internal stability and preventing external threats. the shared borders between diyala province and iran hold particular significance, as this region serves as a strategic corridor that has frequently faced security challenges and numerous threats. issues such as the presence of terrorist groups, the spread of takfiri ideologies, kurdish separatist and independence movements, drug and fuel smuggling, and the existence of blind spots along the border can seriously endanger border security and exert negative effects on both domestic and regional stability. fundingthere is no funding support. authors’ contributionall of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work. conflict of interestthe authors declared no conflict of interest acknowledgmentsthe authors consider it necessary to express their gratitude to all those who have cooperated in compiling and writing this research work.