Midtøsten som region og maktkampen mellom Saudi-Arabia og Iran. En studie av stortingspolitikeres oppfatninger

Abstract

The title of this thesis is The Middle East as a region and the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A study of the views of Norwegian politicians'. In this thesis I attempt to look at the Middle East as a region, discuss different definitions of region' and of the Middle East', and ask what makes the Middle East a region. In addition I look at the current power struggle between the regional powers - Saudi Arabia and Iran, at the tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and at what the future holds for Norway in relation to the Middle East. I have based the analysis on interviews with four members of Stortinget, the Norwegian Parliament. The four parliamentary representatives come from the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet), the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet), the Conservative Party (Høyre) and the Liberal Party (Venstre). Even tough there are few informants, the analysis shows that there are some differences between the various parties when it comes to the views on proxy wars, on the tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and on the ways Norway shall contribute in the future in the Middle East.

Oppgaven har forsøkt å vise hvordan fire stortingsrepresentanter fra henholdsvis Arbeiderpartiet, Fremskrittspartiet, Høyre og Venstre ser på hva en region er og hvorfor Midtøsten er en region. I tillegg har jeg undersøkt hvilket syn stortingsrepresentantene har på Saudi-Arabia og Iran som regionale stormakter, på spenningene mellom sunni- og sjiamuslimer, og på hvilken rolle Norge bør ha i Midtøsten i fremtiden.