none

Cette thèse se propose d’étudier un cadre général d’interprétation de l’évolution du comportement de la République islamique d’Iran dans sa région, comportement considéré comme la principale problématique internationale de cette dernière décennie. En d’autres termes, les éléments de focalisation de ce travail se situeront principalement au niveau de la région du Golfe, et plus précisément, au niveau de l’interaction existant entre l’Iran et son environnement immédiat. L’idée que sous-tend ce travail est qu’il existe une cohérence dans le cheminement politique et sécuritaire iranien qui se reflète suite à la problématique soulevée par l’intrusion d’un acteur global. Plus précisément, ce travail a pour objet la mise en lumière d’une corrélation forte entre, d’une part, les hypothèses offertes par l’analyse des dimensions sécuritaires, et d'autre part, l’évolution du positionnement iranien dans un système international à la structure singulière. / This thesis deals with the evolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s behavior in its region, this behavior being considered as the main international problem of the last decade. This research will focus on the Gulf Region and more precisely on the interaction existing between Iran and its immediate environment. The idea behind this work is that Iran’s political and safety evolution has been influenced by the issues arising from the intrusion of a global player. More precisely, this work intends to highlight a strong correlation between, on the one hand, theories coming from the analysis of safety aspects and, on the other hand, the evolution of Iran’s positioning within the new structure of the international system.

[pt] O objetivo da dissertação é apresentar a contribuição da Escola de Copenhague para a área de estudos de segurança internacional. Para tanto, será discutida a história da área de estudos de segurança, o contexto histórico no qual a Escola é fundada e por fim, as críticas feitas às teses formuladas por esta. Entretanto, creio que no fim desta dissertação, será possível afirmar que além desta Escola ter contribuído para o desenvolvimento de uma importante perspectiva na área de segurança, será possível sustentar que sua contribuição também se estende para a área de teoria das relações internacionais. / [en] This dissertation seeks to introduce the Copenhague School`s contribution to the area of international security studies. It does so by discussing the history of security studies, as well as the historical context in which the School was founded. It will also be necessary to analyse the main concepts and theoretical perpectives developed by the School. Thereafter, it shall present the criticism levelled at the School`s theoretical and conceptual perspectives. At last, it will become clear that the School`s contribution has surpassed the area of security studies since it has also contributed immensely to the area of international relations theory.

The commercialisation of military services has increased in importance since the end of the Cold War. Commercial Military Service Providers (CMSPs) have found increased respectability and worked in states on every continent. Writing on CMSPs has similarly increased. Several high profile incidents have come under intense scrutiny, and has led to some portions of the literature demonising their use. However, there are still conceptual and theoretical issues which have been under explored. This thesis contributes to the literature which has sought to address this theoretical lacuna. Historical Sociology and comparative analysis are employed to analyse the implications of CMSP use on the state. A modified version of the Ideological, Economic, Military and Political (IEMP) model developed by Michael Mann, is used to theorise the impact of commercial security providers on existing sources of power within the state, and the relationship between them. The thesis uses two case studies which are representative of the use of CMSPs during this time period. The Sierra Leone Civil War and the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq since 2003. It will be argued that CMSPs alter the balance between power structures within the state, positively and negatively affecting the power of the state. The short term use of CMSPs has proven to be useful and of increasing importance; especially when military weakness is an urgent problem. However, although there has been no example of CMSPs intentionally threatening state stability, they can also subvert the power of the state. CMSPs, particularly when used for an extended period, have undermined the relationship between the sources of power, undermining political stability. Most significantly they weakened the state by undermining the strength it gains from its embeddedness in society.