




































AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 13(1) (2022), 1-8 

 

1 

 

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 

AIJSSR VOL 13 NO 1 (2022) P-ISSN 2576-103X   E-ISSN 2576-1048 
 

Available online at https://www.cribfb.com 
Journal homepage: https://www.cribfb.com/journal/index.php/aijssr 

Published by CRIBFB, USA 

OBSTACLES TO SUSTAINABLE SECURITY IN THE KURDISTAN 

REGION USING THE FUZZY DELPHI       

 
 Chiman Khayati  (a)1 
 

(a) Graduated Master of Management, Islamic Azad University, Iran; E-mail: Chiman.Khayati@gmail.com 

 

 
A R T I C L E I N F O 

      
 

Article History: 
 

Received: 29th June 2022  

Accepted: 1st August 2022 

Online Publication: 20th August 2022 

 
Keywords: 

Sustainable Security, Kurdistan 

Region, Fuzzy Delphi, Fuzzy 

DEMATEL 

 
      JEL Classification Codes:  

 

      A19, B10, B25, C10, C53 

 

 

       

 
A B S T R A C T 

 
This study aimed to investigate the obstacles to achieving sustainable security in the Kurdistan region. 

The statistical analysis of data was performed through EXCEL software. Based on the studies' content 

analysis, nine obstacles to the Kurdistan region's sustainable security were finally identified to enter 

Delphi. The fuzzy Delphi method was used to screen and ensure the importance of the identified indicators 

and select the final indicators. Experts' opinions were used to assess the importance of the indicators. In 

this study, fuzzy triangular numbers were used to fuzzy experts' views. The first-round results showed that 

all indicators gained more than 7, and as a result, remained in the evaluation. Based on the second-round 

results, it was found that the difference of all measures was less than 0.5, and thus Delphi was ended. The 

DEMATEL results showed that the sum of elements (D) indicated the extent to which that factor influenced 

other factors in the system. Accordingly, C2 had the greatest impact. The sum of column elements (R) for 

each factor indicated how that factor was affected by other system factors. Thus, C7 was heavily 

influenced by other system factors. Based on the horizontal vector (D + R), C2 had the most interaction 

with other criteria. 

 
 

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee CRIBFB, USA. This article is an open access article  distributed 
under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license  

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).  

 

INTRODUCTION 

Introduce the Problem 

Sustainable security plays a key role in stabilizing the sovereignty and people's sustainability and the development and 

progress of nations. Sustainable security is a multifaceted concept that complicates its emergence and deployment, especially 

in multi-ethnic communities such as the Kurdistan Region, and may often be fraught with different obstacles. Therefore, 

having a continuous and stable security model seems to be necessary to remove obstacles. Ethnic pluralism and diversity 

may create threats or opportunities for the central government that pose challenges at the ideological, legal, or agency level 

of the dominant government or ideology. It may also pose threats such as divergence and separatism. Recognizing the 

patterns and specific works of factors affecting sustainable security and their management and engineering plays a 

significant role in turning threats into opportunities (Pirali & Seadat, 2013). 

The meaning of security is freedom from danger and threat and absence of fear towards external factors. Security 

is the rejection of threatening opportunities and threats, which is not limited to the fields of economy, culture, and politics, 

but includes all aspects and social affairs. Security is the natural right of every person and the first condition for the 

continuation of life and coexistence, and just as the need for food, housing, etc. is necessary for human life, security is also 

a general and necessary good, and as stated in Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Sarukhani & Hashemnejad, 2011). The need 

for security is raised immediately after the basic and physiological needs, and in other words, the most important need is 

after the primary needs are met. Humans have always sought to protect themselves against threats, dangers and damages in 

different ways, but in new societies and due to the expansion of social institutions and social life becoming more complex, 

security has different types and types, and in other words, it can be said that security in It has penetrated all environmental, 

economic, political, social and cultural dimensions (Khademi, 2008) Also, the sense of security and the high security factor 

are indicators of development and the state of Basaman, which, as one of the most important indicators of social welfare, 

overshadows other indicators of this category. Growth and development have always been provided in the shadow of 

                                                      
1Corresponding author: ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6269-4277 

© 2022 by the authors. Hosting by CRIBFB. Peer review under responsibility of CRIBFB, USA.  

https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v13i1.1785 
 

To cite this article: Khayati, C. (2022). OBSTACLES TO SUSTAINABLE SECURITY IN THE KURDISTAN REGION USING THE FUZZY DELPHI. 

American International Journal of Social Science Research, 13(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v13i1.1785 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v13i1.1785
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6269-4277


Khayati, American International Journal of Social Science Research 13(1) (2022), 1-8

  

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minimum security, and the search for security has always been one of the most important motivations and needs of humans, 

which is considered the most important need of all local, national and regional communities. The feeling of security is the 

subjective aspect of this category and it can be said that it has all aspects of security in it. This concept is one of the important 

and influential concepts in social welfare issues; This means that prosperity without a sense of security has no meaning, but 

due to its high degree of sensitivity and importance and its impact on the lives of all people, it has not been addressed as it 

deserves, and this is while establishing security and its feeling can be a powerful potential. To grow and excel from the 

individual to the transnational level, and of course, the opposite is also true. In the conditions of lack of security, the spread 

of social damage and the increase in crime are considered as signs of its weakness and indicate the decline of social security. 

On the other hand, what is certain is that providing security and creating a sense of security in the society will not 

be possible only by the government, but people as active actors in the social arena have a significant role in achieving this. 

Therefore, in order to achieve prosperity, which is one of the most important goals and demands of any society, it is 

necessary to address the issue of security as one of the main indicators of prosperity and development. The feeling of security 

is influenced by several factors, one of which is the category of social trust (Movahed et al., 2012). The necessity of forming 

social bonds of people and as a result of that relationships between people, expresses an important component called social 

trust among people. Trust is a central concept in the classical theories of sociology, as well as the main axis of modern 

theories of social capital and the field of interactions and social relations. In fact, the concept of trust has a special place in 

the perspective of sociological experts. Trust can be the most important paradigm of order and the focus of sociologists' 

thoughts; considered Durkheim and Tonis. At the same time, trust is the basis of interactions and social relations and the 

focus of the concept of social capital. Granwater believes that when agreements are reached within the larger framework of 

personal relationships and social networks, trust is created and the motivation to violate regulations fades (Natiqpour & 

Firozabadi, 2005). Trust can be considered the most important component of social order. For this reason, Eisenstadt rightly 

notes that the most important issue of social order for the founders is trust and solidarity; That is, without cohesion and a 

kind of trust, the sustainability of social order is impossible (Chalabi & Mobaraki, 2005). In fact, trust allows people to 

easily communicate with each other and it is because of this facilitation of action that trust is mentioned as one of the most 

important dimensions of social capital (Preston & Colman, 2000). There are many evidences showing the reduction of social 

trust in all dimensions and emotional and special-oriented bias in the relations of activists at all levels in Iranian society 

(Chalabi & Mobaraki, 2005). The research that was conducted on the values and attitudes of Iranians in 2013 by the National 

Plans Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance shows that in general there is mistrust among people in the 

society. For example, "in relation to the prevalence of hypocrisy among the people, the most responses were high and very 

high, respectively 37.4% and 29.4% respectively (Ghaffari, 2004). Also, the results of this research in 2013 indicate that the 

level of people's trust to those who do not know, that is, the generalized trust is equal to 14.2%, which is very low are 

considered important indicators, therefore, the low level of this type of trust in any society is considered one of the main 

obstacles to development and progress. Lack of attention to such work may cause the weakness of citizenship culture and 

national identity in the future and face the society with more serious challenges. And delay the development movement of 

the country (Natiqpour & Firozabadi, 2005). 

Security and its effects on other major aspects of society, including economics, culture, science, and technology, 

are not hidden from anyone (Naderi et al., 2010). Undoubtedly, in societies with high security, the cornerstone of major 

economic and cultural activities can be established; however, society's economic and cultural foundations will collapse 

without security. Although various academic papers and works have discussed security in general, the comprehensiveness 

of the fuzzy Delphi research method regarding meta-analysis and modeling of qualitative issues and updating security 

research clarifies the need for this research is the difference between this study and previous studies. Researchers' efforts to 

find a multifaceted model of factors affecting the Kurdistan region's security have failed. Examining the internal and regional 

conditions and the causes and obstacles to sustainable security in the Kurdistan Region, this article seeks to answer these 

two questions: (1) what are the obstacles to sustainable security in the Kurdistan Region? And (2) what are the 

interrelationships between these factors? The necessity of any research is defined based on its spatial and temporal 

requirements. The Kurdistan Region's characteristics, including its location in the crossroads of three countries, history, war, 

etc., have doubled the need to consider sustainable security issues. Therefore, the Kurdistan Region is inherently one of the 

most threatened areas due to its location in an insecure strategic environment and challenging security environment. This 

region needs vigilant and rational land management based on modern scientific analyses and explanations, which depend 

on land planning, considering its human and natural requirements. Therefore, considering the Kurdistan region's situation 

and its neighboring countries, most of which are weak and unstable, it is necessary to pay attention to sustainable security 

and explain its obstacles. 

 

Importance of the Problem 

The Iraqi Kurdistan region consists of the five provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Erbil, Mosul, and Duhok, and the Kurds 

now make up 15-20% of the country's population (Akhwan Kazemi, 2013). The region now called Iraqi Kurdistan is one of 

the main, densely populated, and strategic regions established under the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), following an 

agreement between France and Britain to divide the Ottoman Empire and form a new state called Iraq. The issue of Iraqi 

Kurdistan and its accession to Iraq in Britain's Lausanne Treaty was changed differently. Following King Faisal's request 

for Kurdish annexation to Iraq and the success of Kemal Atatürk, the British decided to agree to Kurdish annexation to Iraq 

to avoid a possible conflict with Turkey over Mosul and Kirkuk. After the above developments and initial successes, the 

Iraqi Kurdistan Region tried to organize its actions and prepare for the formation of an independent state in the exceptional 

atmosphere created by the weakness of the central government and its conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 



Khayati, American International Journal of Social Science Research 13(1) (2022), 1-8

  

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(ISIS), the insensitivity of regional actors, and the support of trans-regional actors at the national and regional levels (Jannati, 

2017). 

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government is rapidly building and developing its political, administrative, and legal 

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, centered in Erbil, is an autonomous region located in the northern part of Iraq. 

This region shares land borders with Turkey from the north, Iran from the east, and Syria from the west. The region whose 

population is based on the last Estimates are around 6,200,000 people. 

Kurds, who comprise about 19 to 25 percent of the total population of Iraq, constitute the majority of the Iraqi 

Kurdistan region. According to unofficial statistics, Turkmens are ranked second in terms of population, and after them, 

ethnic groups such as Yazidis, Christians, including Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Suranis make up the population structure of 

Iraqi Kurdistan (Hafez, 2013). 

During the Baath regime of Iraq, Saddam's government destroyed about four thousand Kurdish villages following 

an operation called Anfal in order to create a buffer zone on its northern borders with Iran from 1983 until the end of the 

eight-year war in 1988 and forced the residents of these areas to deported to other parts of Iraq, during this inhumane and 

painful process, about 180 thousand Kurds lost their lives. One of the most painful of these operations was the chemical 

attack on Halabja, which can be considered as a full-scale genocide. The people of Kurdistan were reminded by the Iraqi 

Baath government that this chemical attack killed nearly 5,000 people and wounded nearly 7,000 to 10,000 civilians. 

Hundreds of them died years after the attack due to the consequences, diseases and defects of the body at birth. An incident 

that still remains the largest direct chemical attack on an urban area in history (Jafari et al., 2018). 

Given the geostrategic and geopolitical position of Iraqi Kurdistan, this region could have multiple implications 

for Iraq, peripheral states, and the Middle East policy of trans-regional powers. Therefore, this study seeks to address 

sustainable security in the Kurdistan region from a different perspective. 

 

Research Objectives 

 Identifying barriers to sustainable security in the Iraqi Kurdistan region 

 Explaining the relationship between the obstacles to sustainable security in the Iraqi Kurdistan region 

 

METHODS AND MATERIALS  

The research method is an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. In this design, the first qualitative data are collected 

and analyzed, and then in the second phase, quantitative data are collected and analyzed. A measurement tool is usually 

developed through qualitative research. Therefore, by collecting and analyzing qualitative data, the main aspects of the 

phenomenon under study are determined. These aspects are considered as the desired dimensions for the development of 

data collection tools.  

 

RESULTS 

Statistics and Data Analysis 

Data analysis consists of three main operations: (1) describing and preparing the data needed to test the hypotheses, (2) 

analyzing the relationships between the variables, and (3) comparing the observed results with the expected results of the 

hypotheses. In this process, data is refined both conceptually and empirically, and various statistical techniques play a 

significant role in inferences and generalizations. 

 

Fuzzy Delphi Technique 

Based on the studies' content analysis, finally, nine obstacles to the Kurdistan region's sustainable security were identified 

to enter Delphi. The fuzzy Delphi method is used to screen and ensure the importance of the identified criteria and select 

the final criteria. Experts’ opinions are used to assess the importance of criteria. Although experts use their mental 

competencies and abilities to make comparisons, the traditional process of quantifying people's opinions does not fully 

reflect the human thinking style. In other words, the use of fuzzy sets is more compatible with linguistic and sometimes 

ambiguous human expressions. Therefore, it is better to make long-term predictions and real-world decisions using fuzzy 

sets (fuzzy numbers) (Kahraman, 2008). In this study, fuzzy triangular numbers are also used for the fuzzification of experts' 

views. Experts’ views on the importance of each criterion are collected with a nine-degree fuzzy scale. 

 

 Table 1. Nine-degree fuzzy scale for evaluating criteria 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuzzy Number Scale Linguistic Variable Crisp Equivalent 

(1،1،1) Very Insignificant 1 

(1،2،3) Very Insignificant To Insignificant 2 

(2،3،4) Insignificant 3 

(3،4،5) Insignificant To Moderate Significance 4 

(4،5،6) Moderate Significance 5 

(5،6،7) Moderate Significance To  Significant 6 

(6،7،8) Significant 7 

(7،8،9) Significant To Very Significant 8 

(9،9،9) Very Significant 9 



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                Figure 1. Evaluation of criteria using fuzzy triangular numbers 

 

The First Round of the Delphi Technique 

Ten experts’ views on each criterion are shown in Table 2. 

 

Table 2. The fuzzification of expert panel’s views on each criterion 
 

   1   2   ....   10  

  L M U L M U L M U L M U 

Lack of civil liberties C1 7 8 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

Political instability C2 9 9 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

The role of regional actors C3 7 8 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

Lack of sustainable 

development infrastructure 

C4 9 9 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

Foreign terrorism C5 7 8 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

The growth of extremist currents C6 7 8 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 

 
9 

Lack of popular support for macro policies C7 7 8 9 7 8 9 7 8 9 9 9 9 

 

1) Round I 

The fuzzy mean and defuzzified output of the criteria' values are given in Table 4-5. In this study, a threshold value of 7 is 

considered. A defuzzified value greater than 7 is acceptable, and any criterion less than seven is rejected (Wu & Fang, 2011: 

751). 

 

Table 3. The fuzzy mean and fuzzy screening of the criteria (round I) 

 
R1 L M U Crisp Result 

Lack of civil liberties 6.563 7.504 8.428 7.498 Accepted 

Political instability 6.73 7.593 8.428 7.584 Accepted 

The role of regional actors 6.563 7.504 8.428 7.498 Accepted 

Lack of sustainable development infrastructure 7.054 7.815 8.642 7.837 Accepted 

Foreign terrorism 6.563 7.504 8.428 7.498 Accepted 

The growth of extremist currents 6.96 7.815 8.642 7.806 Accepted 

Lack of popular support for macro policies 6.941 7.865 8.777 7.861 Accepted 

 

All criteria less than seven will be removed. The results showed that all criteria gained more than seven and thus 

remained in the evaluation. 

 

2) Round II 

The fuzzy Delphi analysis continued for the criteria remaining in the second round. The defuzzification results of the 

elements in the second round are reported in Table 4. 

 

Table 4. The fuzzy mean and fuzzy screening of the criteria (round II) 

 
R2 L M U Crisp Result 

Lack of civil liberties 6.73 7.593 8.428 7.584 Accepted 

Political instability 6.96 7.815 8.642 7.806 Accepted 

The role of regional actors 6.787 7.723 8.642 7.718 Accepted 

Lack of sustainable development infrastructure 7.054 7.815 8.642 7.837 Accepted 

Foreign terrorism 6.563 .504 8.428 7.498 Accepted 

The growth of extremist currents 6.96 .815 8.642 7.806 Accepted 

Lack of popular support for macro policies 6.941 .865 8.777 7.861 Accepted 

 



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Comparison of Delphi technique rounds 

In the second round, no items were removed. In general, one approach to the end of Delphi is to compare the average scores 

of the first round and second round items. If the difference between the two stages is less than the low threshold (0.5), then 

the polling process will be stopped (Cheng & Lin, 2002). 

 

Table 5. The distance between the crisp value of the first round and the second round 

 
Criteria The result of the 

round I 

The result of the 

round II 

Difference Result 

Lack of civil liberties 7.498 7.584 0.086 Accepted 

Political instability 7.584 7.806 0.222 Accepted 

The role of regional actors 7.498 7.718 0.22 Accepted 

Lack of sustainable development infrastructure 7.837 7.837 0 Accepted 

Foreign terrorism 7.498 7.498 0 Accepted 

The growth of extremist currents 7.806 7.806 0 Accepted 

Lack of popular support for macro policies 7.861 7.861 0 Accepted 

 

The results in Table 5 show that the difference of all measures is less than 0.5, so the Delphi process is terminated. 

 

Fuzzy DEMATEL 

DEMATEL is one of the multi-criteria decision-making techniques aiming to evaluate research factors in terms of causal 

relationships. The steps of the fuzzy DEMATEL technique are given below (Yeh & Huang, 2014). 

 

Step 1: Determine the direct relation matrix (D) 

In this step, respondents were asked to show the effect of criterion i on criterion j using Table 1. 

According to Formula (2-1), their arithmetic mean is obtained for considering all experts' opinions. 

 

Table 6. Average experts’ views 

 
 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 

H L M U L M U L M U L M U L M U L M U L M U 

C1 .2667 .3667 .4667 .0000 .0000 .0000 .1000 .1000 .1000 .4000 .5000 .6000 .3333 .4333 .5333 4.000 .5000 6.000 6.000 .7000 .8
0
0
0
 

C2 .2667 .1667 .2000 .4000 .5000 .6000 .0000 .0000 .0000 .2677 .3667 .4667 .2000 .3000 .4000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .1667 .7000 .8
0
0
0
 

C3 .1333 .5000 .6000 .4000 .5000 .6000 .0000 .0000 .0000 .2667 .3677 .4667 .2000 .3000 .4000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .1677 .2333 .3
0
0
0
 

C4 .4000 .5000 .1000 .4000 .5000 .6000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .0000 .0000 .0000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .6000 .7000 .8000 .2000 .3000 .4
0
0
0
 

C5 .1000 .1000 .1000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .2000 .3000 4.000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .0000 .0000 .0000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .6000 .7000 .8
0
0

0
 

C6 .4000 .5000 .6000 .6000 .7000 .8000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .1000 .1000 .1000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .000 .0000 .0000 .2000 .3000 .4000 

C7 .2667 .3667 .4006 .4000 .5000 .6000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .4000 .5000 .6000 .2000 .3000 .4000 .0000 .0000 .0000 

 

Step 2: Normalize the direct relation matrix 

According to Equation (2-2), we normalize the mean matrix and call it the H matrix. Equations (2.8) and (2.9) are used to 

normalize the obtained matrix. 

 

Table 7. The defuzzified values 

 
DF C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 

C1 0.326 0.482 0.327 0.360 0.404 0.502 0.453 

C2 0.457 0.489 0.334 0.476 0.518 0.590 0.645 

C3 0.359 0.509 0.226 0.368 0.388 0.435 0.423 

C4 0.482 0.627 0.384 0.340 0.480 0.643 0.542 

C5 0.351 0.478 0.325 0.361 0.322 0.444 0.555 

C6 0.441 0.602 0.338 0.334 0.428 0.390 0.487 

C7 0.388 0.568 0.352 0.395 0.492 0.491 0.417 

 

 



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Step 3: Network Relations Map (NRM) 

The threshold value must be calculated to determine the network relations map (NRM). In this way, it is possible to ignore 

minor relations and draw a network of significant relations. Only relations whose values in the matrix T are greater than the 

threshold value will be displayed in NRM. For determining the value of the relationship threshold, it is enough to obtain the 

average defuzzified values of the matrix T. After the threshold is set, all values less than the threshold become zero, i.e., 

that causal relationship is not considered. 

 

Table 8. Pattern of causal relationships 

 
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 

2.854 3.508 2.707 3.500 2.838 3.019 3.103 

2.806 3.755 2.285 2.633 3.033 3.495 3.521 

5.660 7.263 4.992 6.133 

 

5.871 6.515 6.624 

0.049 -0.246 0.422 0.866 -0.196 -0.476 -0.419 

 

In Table 8, the sum of each row's elements (D) indicates the influence of that factor on other system factors. 

Therefore, C2 is the most influential factor. The sum of the column (R) elements for each factor indicates the degree to 

which that factor is affected by other system factors. Therefore, C7 is highly influenced by other factors. The horizontal 

vector (D + R) indicates how the factor is influential or influenced by the system. In other words, the higher the D + R, the 

more it interacts with other factors in the system. Accordingly, C2 has the most interaction with other studied criteria. The 

vertical vector (D - R) indicates the influence of each factor. In general, if D - R is positive, it is considered a causal variable, 

and if it is negative, it is considered an effect variable. 

 

 
Figure 2. The final research model 

 

DISCUSSION 

The sense of security is basically a subjective-objective category and is directly related to people's mentality and perception 

of vulnerability and threats. Also, the role of security on individual and social life is much more complicated than previously 

expected, because it has wide dimensions and many hidden and obvious angles. The feeling of insecurity is more important 

than the insecurity itself; For example, a crime may have only a few victims, if the same incident causes fear and insecurity 

among a large number of people (Babakhani, 2010). 

As societies develop and become more sophisticated, the community members’ demands also increase. Therefore, 

the government must meet people's demands in proportion to the increase in their demands to achieve sustainable security. 

The extent to which people's demands are met is effective in creating security or insecurity (Khojasteh Nejad et al., 2017). 

It should be noted that the Kurdistan Region is in a highly evolving security environment in the Middle East and is competing 

with regional powers. Kurdistan Region needs sustainable security to play its active role in the current challenging 

environment. Continuous progress and sustainable security complement each other, and each paves the way for the 

development of the other. 

Currently, the existence of security challenges in the region is undeniable, and various efforts and policies have 

failed to build sustainable security in the region. However, they have even led to the spread of disputes and challenges within 

the region and increased instability (Zakeri-Hamane et al., 2012). The formation of sustainable security in the Kurdistan 

region is associated with various obstacles, including intra-regional and extra-regional barriers. At the regional level, the 

main obstacles to the sustainable security are the dominance of various disputes and conflicts between regional actors, 

including territorial and border disputes and political and ideological disputes in the patterns of friendship and enmity in the 

Kurdistan region, as well as the conflicting interests of the three actors influencing the region, i.e., Iran, Turkey, and Syria. 

Sustainability perspective makes the basic contribution to the security issues analysis through systemic linking of 



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economic, social and environmental spheres into a long-term, dynamic perspective. It also represents a paradigm shift in 

examining security concerns of a state and beyond. Sustainability, as a set of principles or practices may be applied on 

different levels, from tactical to strategic, where the latter is also the most important. I am confident that the research will 

be beneficial for decision makers, strategists and long term planners as they have to take in consideration the broadest picture 

possible in determining ends, ways (concepts) and means (capabilities) that will enable adequate response to the threats and 

challenges for the security of a state. 

 

CONCLUSIONS 

One of the most important common concerns of all countries is to establish stable order and security in the border areas. 

Therefore, in order to establish stable order and security in these areas, the levels of development of border settlements 

should be analyzed so that managers can make the right decisions in this field, because underdevelopment and spatial 

imbalance in most border areas cause insecurity and It becomes difficult to establish stable security in these areas and they 

provide a lot of life and financial costs to the government. If the development of these areas is not paid attention to, insecurity 

may be transferred from the border and marginal areas to the center of the country and the national security of the country 

will face many challenges. One of the tools that can be widely used in planning for the integrated development of different 

regions of the country is the classification of regions in terms of their development or lack of development, for this purpose 

it is necessary to use different indicators in each sector, in other words One of the necessary and basic measures for regional 

development and reducing inequalities is the study of regional economic, social and cultural inequalities and the 

identification and position of regions relative to each other in terms of development. According to the results of the current 

study it is suggested that this research be done in other border cities. Also it is suggested to study the relationship between 

the feeling of security and motivation to progress. It is suggested to study the relationship between the feeling of security 

and the type of leadership. 

 

 
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, C.K.; Methodology, C.K.; Software, C.K.; Validation, C.K.; Formal Analysis, C.K.; Investigation, C.K.; 
Resources, C.K.; Data Curation, C.K.; Writing – Original Draft Preparation, C.K.; Writing – Review & Editing, C.K.; Visualization, C.K.; Supervision, 

C.K.; Project Administration, C.K.; Funding Acquisition, C.K.. Authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. 

Institutional Review Board Statement: Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable 

groups or sensitive issues. 

Funding: The authors received no direct funding for this research. 

Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. 

Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available 
due to restrictions. 

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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