School of International Studies

The Middle East Transition starting from 2010 was an important turning point in the region in which there were several countries experienced regime changes, and the regional order was facing readjustment. The U.S. Middle East policy was the most important external factor in this regional order readjustment, and the regional great power, Saudi and Iran, were seeking dominance in the region under this background, which made the trilateral relations experienced a complex development. This dissertation holds that under the two major factors, there are several specific factors that affect the trilateral relations: The change of state power caused by the Middle East transition, intrastate conflicts, the fight against extremist groups, the Iran nuclear issue, Saudi domestic reform and foreign policy changes, etc. After that, this dissertation divides the four stages of development in the eight years since the Middle East Transition, and each stage has different landmark events that affect the development of trilateral relations of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Different interactive relations and game situation among three countries in those four stages illustrate complexity of the regional order. The first stage is from the occurrence of the Middle East Transition to completion of regime changes in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. The main character of this stage is the game of political transition among three countries. Saudi Arabia and Iran sought to pull the transition countries into their own side to safeguard their regional interests under the contraction policy of the United States. The second stage began with the rapid expansion of the Islamic State and Rouhani's election. The main factors affected the trilateral relations were conflict in Syria, the Islamic State and the negotiation of Iran nuclear issue in this stage which can be seen as a rising period after Iran's policy changes. The final stage is from Trump's presidency till now, and the symbols of this stage were Trump's new policy and the upgraded game of Saudi and Iran. At the end of Obama's tenure, he adjusted the relationship between regional power
* "Middle East Transition" in Chinese: " 中东变局 " , which is equal to the "Arab Spring". Because of the standing of Chinese government, it is better to describe it as "Middle East Transtion" .

Internet can be considered as one of the greatest achievements of humanity of the last century, which connected the entire world. It created a new space for connections, information and communications, as well as cooperation. Thus, it created also a new platform for conflicts that involved not only individuals but also states. The invention of the twentieth century, the Internet, has become another sphere for international relations, and a new space for defensive and offensive policies for regulating and balancing those affairs. The space called cyberspace has become a platform for interactions not only between individuals , but also between states. The interactions on their side were not only developed in a positive manner, but were also transformed into attacks, which pose a real threat to the security of states. Thus, the following questions arise: Can cyberspace be considered a new sphere for war? Can conflicts and offensive and defensive operations in cyberspace be considered a real war? The aim of this article is to specify offensive and defensive actions occurring in cyberspace and to explain the differences and similarities between them and the classical approach to war present in other spheres: land, water, air, and space. Despite the overgrowth of offensive interactions in cyberspace and defensive strategies for enriching the cyber arsenal of states, military specialists have concerns over the reality of cyberwars in general. Parallels are drawn to show the similarities and differences between definitions and perceptions of war, and whether concepts from the classical approach can be transferred to describe wars in the cyber sphere. This research puts cyberwars in line with other wars, thus analyzing their peculiarities, whilst Cyberspace is seen as another sphere for war and international relations in addition to the existing spheres of land, water, air, and space * Doctoral Student, Nanjing University, School of International Studies.

On the establishment of the Democratic Party of Aturpatakan (1945-1946)

In the end of World War II Democratic Party of Azerbaijan was created under the immediate interference of USSR. Due to it USSR tried to give birth to separation movement in Iranian Azerbaijan. Research paper touches upon the problems of the existence and functioning of the party as well as the sides standing behind it.