Identifying and prioritizing political-economic factors affecting Baloch ethnic challenges Inside the political geography of Iran

ABSTRACT
Iran consists of various Baloch, Kurdish, Azeri, Persian, Arab, and other cultures. The settlement of Iranian ethnic groups, mainly in the border areas and adjacent to the country of their own language, provides a suitable ground for the occurrence of ethnic crises, which has led to the emergence and growth of divergent ideas among this ethnic group. The current research, with a descriptive-analytical approach and targeted sampling method based on the statistical community of academic experts familiar with the political and economic issues of the Baloch people and with a practical purpose, has investigated the economic and political factors affecting the divergence of the Baloch people. The results of the research showed that among the political factors, five factors are the attitude of the government towards the Baloch ethnic group, the geographical (border) location of the Baloch ethnic group, the way of political organization of the space (unified and centralized government) on the space of Iran, the difference between the political and religious ideology of the country with the Baloch ethnic group and the type of political system ruling the country of Iran have had the greatest impact on the divergence of the Baloch people. Also, among the items of the economic dimension, five factors are the income of the ethnic group compared to other citizens of the country, the lack of attention of the macroeconomics to the studied area, the level of access to facilities and services, the existence and spread of poverty among the ethnic group (compared to across the border) and the situation Development indicators and human poverty have had the most significant impact on the divergence of the Baloch ethnicity in Iran.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The changes that have taken place in recent decades due to globalization and the entry into the information age have expanded the flow of awareness and ethnic particularism in the country and have caused challenges. Based on this, this article tries to identify the influencing factors in the divergence of ethnicities (with an emphasis on the Baloch people) in the political geography of Iran to provide principled and codified strategies for guiding and integrating ethnic identity into the Iranian national identity and avoid ethnic divergence as much as possible in the direction of division. Recognizing the most important reasons for the divergence of each ethnic group in the political geography of Iran can help to develop appropriate strategies to overcome the challenges caused by the ethnic debate.
 
Methodology
The current research is descriptive-correlational and based on the structural equation model (SEM). It is also applied in terms of its purpose, and the data collection method is a survey. The statistical population of this research includes 100 elites and cultural activists of Baloch ethnicity. All the questionnaire questions were closed-ended and evaluated based on a five-point Likert scale, so each answer was assigned a score from 1 to 5. For more certainty, the questionnaires were revised using the opinions of 8 political geography professors, and their ambiguities were resolved to some extent.
 
Results and discussion
Based on the findings of the research on the political factors effective in the divergence of the Baloch people, the attitude of the government towards the Baloch ethnic group, with a score of 0.791, was in the first place; the geographical (border) location of the Baloch ethnic group, with a score of 0.79, was in the second place; the way of political organization of space (unified government and focused) on the atmosphere of Iran, with a score of 0.731, was in the third place; the difference between the political and religious ideology ruling the country with the Baloch ethnic group, with a score of 0.73, was in the fourth place; the type of political system ruling the atmosphere of Iran, with a score of 0.663, was in the fifth place; and the geographical policies of the government (balancing or unbalancing the space), with a score of 0.662, was in the sixth place.
Also, in the section on economic factors, based on the obtained data, the income of the ethnic group compared to other citizens of the country, with a score of 0.773, was in the first place; the lack of attention of the macroeconomy to the studied area, with a score of 0.764, was in the second place; the level of access to facilities and services, with a score of 0.73, was in the third place; the existence and spread of poverty among the ethnic group (relative to across the border), with a score of 0.707, was in the fourth place; the state of development indicators and human poverty, with a score of 0.706, was in the fifth place; and the amount of investment in the area of residence of the ethnic group compared to other countries, with a score of 0.705, was in the sixth place.
The results of the research showed that in the political dimension, the attitude of the government towards the Baloch ethnic group, the geographical (border) location of the Baloch ethnic group, the way of political organization of the space (unified and centralized government) on the space of Iran, the difference between the political and religious ideology of the country and the Baloch ethnic group, the type of political system in the country of Iran are five important factors in the political dimension that have a great impact on the divergence and challenges of the Baloch ethnic group.
In the economic dimension, five factors of high importance in the ethnic challenges of Baloch include the following:
The ethnic group's income compared to other citizens of the country, the macroeconomics' lack of attention to the studied area, the level of access to facilities and services, the existence and spread of poverty among the ethnic group (compared to across the border), the status of development indicators, and human poverty.
 
 
Conclusion
In general, as can be inferred from the research findings, the nature of the demands or divergence of Baloch, both from the political and economic perspectives, is more than the economic aspect. Suppose the central government of Iran takes action to alleviate poverty, establish geographical justice, eliminate the center-periphery development gap, and address regional inequalities. In that case, the divergence of Baloch will be in a neutral state. In the next stages, through cultural approaches, the direction of strengthening this nation within the political geography of Iran moved in the direction of national unity and cohesion. Sistan and Baluchestan province have a strategic position for trade and transit and have agriculture and horticulture (especially tropical fruits) as well as many historical and natural attractions and a growing industry, the discovery of mines (gold, copper, chromite, manganese, marble, limestone), the neighborhood with Pakistan and Afghanistan and the existence of Iran's only oceanic port (Chabahar) has a high ability and capacity for development. The central government of Iran can prevent the escape of the labor force from the province by encouraging capital, giving concessions, and encouraging strong financial centers such as banks to support producers and provide facilities to experts and provide the basis for economic development and reducing the unemployment rate of the province and as a result, the economic participation rate of the province will increase.
In the context of the political dimension, as long as the government's approach to ethnic diversity is based on ethnicity as a threat and not an opportunity, Baloch have divergence from the government and consider themselves separate from the main body of the government. Therefore, help should be sought from the local elites and expert forces of the province for political management at the local, provincial, and national levels, and border control should be increased for the illegal entry of immigrants and terrorist groups in order to minimize security challenges. In addition to these cases, the central government can use the help of the national media (such as radio and television, etc.) to change attitude towards ethnicity and change the mentality of the society (feeling of insecurity towards the province). After that, the presence of tourists and using the province's tourism capacity will also be provided.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.