The Shia Crescent discourse: A critical geopolitical approach

This thesis aims to study "the" Shia Crescent discourse through a critical geopolitical approach. King Abdullah II of Jordan claimed in 2004 that the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at creating a Shia Crescent under its own control and in accordance with its own interests. Moving from this discourse, on the one hand, this study analyses the effect of this discourse on the Middle Eastern countries ruled by Shia political elites, while on the other hand, it elaborates on the approaches taken by those Middle Eastern countries' political elites who have acknowledged the Sunni branch of Islam, but rule over substantial Shia populations, to what extent those elites are influenced by this discourse, and are susceptible to Iranian influence. While undertaking these tasks, this study offers a critical geopolitical analysis of "the" Shia Crescent discourse. Keywords: Shia Crescent, Iran, foreign policy, critical geopolitics, sectarianism,Shiism.