Strategic Studies Quarterly

Abstract The purpose of this study is to answer the question that theoretically and according to the experience of contemporary Iranian history, what is the relationship between the Center-oriented Patterns and regional development. The hypothesis of the article is that the development and non-interactive construction of the center and the lack of a role for periphery in the process have led to the emergence of a pattern of unbalanced national development. The most important consequence of this has been the formation of a "center-periphery" position in political and economic relations in Iran. From a methodological point of view, the author has used the method of "deductive theoretical explanation" and research strategy "retrospective" to analyze the causal mechanisms affecting the dependent variable. Also, the approach of the article to explain the relationship between the two variables "Center-oriented Patterns" and "regional development" in Iran is historical sociology. Accordingly, the first part of the article examines the conceptual and theoretical foundations of "Center-oriented Pattern", "region" and "center-periphery" theory. The second part analyzes the effective components, historical and sociological trends of how the construction of the center or modern government in Iran evolved.
 
 

Abstract Based on the findings of the paper, continuous uneven development in Iran has led to problems as follows: continuation of migration from less developed regions to developed regions, inequality in population density, growing density of the population in developed regions, rising of marginalization around metropolitans, increasing risks for biosphere centers and tensions in utilization of the resources. These problems, in the medium and long term can lead to threat of social solidarity and cohesion, fragile national economy and political divergence which pose a threat against national security.