National security strategies of the regional powers under unipolar system: The case of Saudi Arabia (1990-2015)

This study, by using structural realist theory, examines the national security strategies of Saudi Arabia, which is acknowledged as a regional power in the post-Cold War period (1990-2015). The main aim of this study is to reveal the causal relationship between national security strategies of the states, which have the regional power status, and the structure of the international system in an environment, which is dominated by a unipolar global system. In this context, the study seeks to answer the main research question which is formulated as; although there has been no change in global power distribution (unipolar), why national security strategies of the regional powers have changed in the post-Cold War era. The main argument of the study is that under the unipolar global power distribution, the pole leader's engagement form (grand strategy) in a strategic region, where main actors have regional power status, affects the power structure of the relevant region and this regional structure shapes the national security strategies of the regional powers. With regard to this argument, ten hypotheses have been developed during the research process and each of these hypotheses has been subject to testing through the case of Saudi Arabia.