Revolutionary State Formation Essay

Yasmin Vega

POL 135

Professor Zeev Maoz

3 March 2014

Iran, Iraq, War and the effect of State Formation

Introduction

Theory

The theory of revolutionary state formation serves as an explanation for international conflict and the outbreak of war in the Middle East. The way in which a new state or an old state comes into being or changing the kind of regime matters in terms of the domestic and international implications for the nation. Evolutionary state formation, the opposite of revolutionary, explains how the gradual transference of power from a colonial power to the newly established government means that the likelihood of war and conflict with neighboring states will be greatly reduced in comparison to revolutionary state formation.

Revolutionary state formation entails the process of intense and violent struggle between an indigenous population and a colonial power, or between factions or sub-state entities leading to the establishment of one or more states (Maoz). The duration of the struggle and violence is typically short in duration and a result of the pressures felt from both domestic and international pressures. At the beginning of the formation of a new state of regime, acceptance is not guaranteed into the club of nations. The relevance of this fact is that the newly established regime needs to have solid grounds for validation and self-autonomy, without it is left unstable and liable to be brought down by old neighboring states. During the period of instability following the formation of a new regime, there is the additional internal threat which means that those who were in power before will be looking for the first opportunity to return to the status qou (Maoz). An additional aspect of the revolutionary state fo...

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...truggle and violence. From the Iran Revolution to the end of the Iran-Iraq War, the struggle and violence lasted from 1979-1988. If only applied to the Iranian revolution then the period of violence was short, only a year, but without knowing what would have happened had Iraq not invaded Iran, it is hard to say how long that period would have lasted. As I used both the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, the period of violence in this case turns out to be nine years. The implications of policy application of this theory is knowing that the pressure on newly formed regimes to secure internal security through outside conflict means that policies may change or pass with the intention of inciting a state to enter into conflict with the new state. The purpose of this would be to give the newly formed state an opportunity to strengthen and consolidate its authority.