Arbaeen walk and the soft power of Shia discourse.
With the arrival of the Hosseini Arbaeen 2023, once again Shiites and Ahl al-Bayt fans from all over the world went to the land of Iraq. The coming together of different nations and ethnicities under a single flag is a symbol of solidarity among Muslims and the crystallization of the soft power of the axis of resistance in West Asia. In the classic definitions of power, to understand the power of countries and regional blocs, examining the scope of “strategic depth” and their access to strategic variables such as access to oceans and open waters, semi-skilled-skilled young population, natural resources, gross domestic product, mobilization power, location Geographical, qualitative-quantitative power of weapons and armed forces were investigated. With the end of the Cold War and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, scholars in the field of international relations paid more attention to other intangible components of power, such as the power of persuasion or semantic power. Accordingly, other countries cannot focus solely on strengthening their material power and need to achieve a kind of “smart power” by increasing the scope of their spiritual influence and soft power in the domestic, regional, and international arenas. According to the above points, in this note, we will examine the components of Shiite power from the Persian Gulf to the Shamat area.
Shiite geopolitics; The heart of the world
Hydrocarbon sources are the driving engine of industries, factories, the transportation sector, and military units. Extra-regional powers have always had a special look at the oil-rich region of the Middle East to maintain and develop the process of industrial-economic development. In the past, Western governments and today emerging Eastern powers such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea have a strategic dependence on the resources in this region. According to the statistics published by Chinese Customs, more than 53% of Beijing’s oil imports came from Middle East countries in 2021 alone. Only the share of the Persian Gulf countries in 2022 was 41% with an impressive growth. According to the report of “Hindu Business”, the countries of the Middle East supplied nearly 69% of India’s oil until April 2022. The American think tank “Council on Foreign Relations” announced in an article that South Korea’s dependence on the oil resources of the Middle East, especially the Persian Gulf, is about 75%. In the fall of last year, the Reuters news agency announced that the Japanese imported 94.5% of their oil from the Middle East.
Arbaeen walk and the soft power of Shia discourse
Despite the smaller population of Shias compared to Sunnis, Shias mainly live or have significant influence in the oil and gas-rich areas of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria. This issue has promoted the geo-economic position of Shiites among other regional and extra-regional actors. In other words, if the major world powers intend to have sustainable access to the energy resources of the region, they have no choice but to negotiate and gain the opinion of the centers of Shiite power, i.e. the Islamic Republic of Iran and the supreme authorities of Taqlid in Qom and Najaf.
Axis of Resistance; The greatest force in the fight against terrorism
The location of the Middle East region at the center of the four communication routes between the three major continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa on the one hand and hosting rich oil and gas resources on the other hand has caused extra-regional powers to study, identify and activate tension faults in West Asia and North Africa has prevented cooperation between regional players and by creating ethnic-sectarian wars among them, they have provided the necessary ground for looting the resources of the Middle East. The emergence of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Boko Haram shows the continuation of the “divide and rule” policy of Western governments.
Arbaeen walk and the soft power of Shia discourse
While the international community was preparing to occupy all the countries of the Middle East by the phenomenon of ISIS, the Shiites and supporters of Ahl al-Bayt in the form of groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Azerbaijan’s Husseiniun, Pakistan’s Zainabiun, Afghanistan’s Fatemiyoun, Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi, Yemen’s Ansarullah and… under the title “Axis of Resistance” Like a strong fortress, they prevented the fall of the central governments in Damascus and Baghdad. The central core of this anti-terrorist movement was the Quds Force of the IRGC under the command of the martyred Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. America and the Western governments planned to invade the Middle East once again after the occupation of the entire region by ISIS, and this time redefine the map of the region according to the “Greater Middle East” plan. After the complete defeat of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Iraq and the Levant, the US government at the time decided to put the name of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the “FTO” list and then assassinate Soleimani near the Baghdad airport to deal a serious blow to the fight against terrorism in the western region. Import to Asia. The suspicious movements of American forces in northern Iraq, and Syria and the secret transfer of ISIS elements in Afghanistan indicate Washington’s plan for the resurgence of this destructive phenomenon throughout the region.
from Tehran to Beirut-Latakia; New east-west corridor
In the past decade, the governments of the Middle East have focused on creating “East-West” and “South-North” communication corridors in the rail-air-sea-land transportation sectors. In both communication routes, Shiite areas play a central role in connecting the Asian continent to the European and Asian markets. After the victory of the resistance axis over Salafi-Takfiri terrorism in Iraq-Sham and the establishment of resistance groups in these areas, many experts are now talking about the 1463-kilometer Tehran-Beirut corridor. This unique freeway is the result of the martyrs who defended the shrine. It will enable the direct connection of communication routes to the Mediterranean Sea and the markets of southern Europe. Also, after the defeat of the Syrian opposition and terrorists in Syria, the governments of Iran and Iraq, as official allies of Damascus, had the opportunity to use the Latakia port to Baza.
