Geography and Regional Planning

Geography and Regional Planning

Designing a framework for international strategic cooperation between Iraq and countries in the Middle East region in drug control

Authors
Ibrahim Abdulkarim Abdulhussein 1
Alireza Jazini 2
Gholamhossein Biabani 3
Azim Alizadeh 4
1 PhD student in Strategic Management, Faculty of International Affairs, National Defense University, Tehran, Iran
2 Full Professor, Amin University of Law Enforcement Sciences
3 Associate Professor, Crime Detection Department, Iran University of Law Enforcement Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 PhD in Futures Studies, National Defense and Strategic Research University and Institute, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jgeoq.2025.564981.4382
Abstract
The prevalence of narcotics and psychotropic substances in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and neighboring countries, is a multidimensional threat to public health, political stability, and regional security. Iraq plays a pivotal role in the regional trafficking network due to its sensitive geopolitical location and bordering with producing countries and transit routes. This study aims to examine the feasibility and provide a framework for strategic cooperation between Iraq and neighboring countries, identifying key components of regional cooperation and categorizing them into three axes: technical, financial, and environmental-organizational. The findings show that regional cooperation is a multidimensional construct; the environmental-organizational dimension, including governance, rules, trust, and security conditions, plays a decisive role, while the technical and financial dimensions, focusing on infrastructure, surveillance technologies, and sustainable resource provision, play a reinforcing and facilitating role. The conceptual model presented shows that the simultaneous interaction of these three dimensions optimizes the effectiveness of regional cooperation and can be a practical guide to promoting border coordination, reducing the prevalence of drugs, and strengthening security cohesion and sustainable development in the region.
Keywords
Drugs
regional cooperation
strategic framework
منابع
مهدی، س. ع. (۲۰۲۵). نقش سازمان‌های جرم سازمان‌یافته در تضعیف امنیت دولت و جامعه در عراق: مطالعه‌ای درباره تجارت مواد مخدر. قضایا سیاسیة, 82, 229 244. https://doi.org/10.58298/822025771
رضایی، ص.، اسماعیلی گنهرانی، ب.، و شفیعی سروستانی، ا. (1402). زمینه‌های همکاری جمهوری اسلامی ایران و عراق در مبارزه با تروریسم در راستای سیاست‌های کلی نظام. فصلنامه سیاست‌های راهبردی و کلان، (41)، 157-182.
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