Alliances established in the aftermath of the "Arab Spring" in the Middle East: The case of Syria, Yemen, Libya, (2011-2015)

The middle east which was one of rivalry areas during the cold war has been exposed to a systemic change. Following the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on December 25, 1991 the United States which started to dominate both global system and rivalry areas, has followed an interventionist strategy in the Middle East since then. When it comes to the year 2010, the Washington administration has promulgated a new strategy which requires keeping away from undertaking the costs of the current regional crisis caused by long standing US strategy. This change, has relatively weakened the global system effect on the regional states behaviours and brought the regional power distribution to the fore. When it comes to the Middle East, power distribution which is determining factor in behaviour of actors displays a multipolar outlook which express roughly equal power capacity of more than two actors. The alliances which is one of the states' behavior patterns in a multipolar system poses instability because of a number of systemic features. This study intends to detect the concerns behind the alliances which varying as a result of systemic changes took place in the Middle East in 2010. To accomplish this goal, the alliances, concerns that determine behaviour of the states and effects of the multipolar system on the states' behavior and strategies are discussed in the first two parts of the study. In the third part of the study the arguments that asserted are being tested through the crisis in Syria, Yemen and Libya. When performing this assay content analysis is performed regarding the sources which were benefited from. The findings obtained from the result of the analysis are as follows; states in the multipolar system tend to establish informal alliances. In an anarchic multipolar system states focus on all dimensions of the anxiety that pushes them to establish alliances. States benefit from the strategic flexibility offered by the systemic limits. It is not the ideologic solidarity which lies at the bottom of alliances, but it is the common concern which paves the way for alliances formation. Key Words: Alliances, Balance of Threat, Multipolar System, Threat Perception