Ortadoğu’nun son derece dinamik ve yapılandırılmamış bölgesel sisteminde güç ilişkileri akışkandır

ABSTRACTThe Middle East is a highly dynamic and unstructured regional system in which power relationsare fluid and order is in short supply. Inevitably, the fluidity of power and the absence of a regionalhegemonic power have invited external intervention. Furthermore, the region’s dynamism not onlyhas exacerbated the subsystem’s fragmentation into sub-regions but also has afforded opportunitiesfor the better-endowed small Arab states to play in the greater game of regional power politics. Yet,if one takes the long view, it is clear that only a handful of states have directly impacted the region’spower relations, and today only four of these countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel –meet the minimum requirements of middle power status in the MENA regional system. Theirposition in this fragmented and strategically-placed subsystem will be discussed in some detail.