رضا سیمبر

This article has chosen the theoretical framework of ontological security to explain the impact of Salafism on Saudi Arabia's Middle East policy. The question is why Saudi Arabia has moved towards more support for the Taqlidi Salafist movement over the past decade, and what the identity and security implications of this support have been? The argument of the article is that the role and position of Salafism in Saudi Arabia's Middle East policy should be considered as a continuation of the historical alliance between Al-Saud and Al-Sheikh, which has played an important role in maintaining the identity and security of this actor. But the internal dynamism of the Salafi discourse, the emergence of regional rivalries, and the emergence of the so-called global counter-terrorism literature have shifted the discourse into Saudi Arabia's Middle East policy, leading to differences in identity and security with other Salafi, Sunni, and Islamism currents. The findings of the article show that between 2011 and 2020, Saudi Arabia placed Taqlidi Salafism as a pragmatic current with a conservative reading and close to the official institution of Wahhabism at the center of its Middle East policy, especially in Yemen and Libya. The present article is based on explanatory-analytical approach and the required information has been collected by library method and internet sources.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a strategic technology, has provided a platform for international competition; ever since the development of the first AI strategy in 2017, to the final days of 2021, more than fifty countries drafted or declared their national strategy aiming at becoming one of the pioneering countries in this field. Although the United States is known as the current pioneering country in the field of AI, China has been able to lead in various areas related to AI, such as occupational opportunities, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Blockchain, and G5, which, due to the historical significance of emerging technologies in changing the balance of power, present a clear image of what is to come at the international stage. Given the novelty of artificial intelligence in the balance of power, the author asks about the effect of China’s artificial intelligence on the international balance of power. The answer is the hypothesis that China tries to effectively interact with its leading private artificial intelligence companies and implement this technology in internal, economic, and military governance. Thus, China aims to raise its national power and challenge the American hegemony through hard internal balance, paving the way for a multipolar world order alongside other regional powers leading in artificial intelligence. This could lead to further instability in the international system. The research hypothesis was analyzed using the explanatory method and Mearsheimer's Balance of Power Theory, and the data collection method consisted of library research.