Description
The border provinces of Iran and Georgia, characterized by high ethno-religious diversity, are sites of cross-border cooperation and conflict. In managing this diversity, Iran adopted securitization (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and opportunity framing (Hassan Rouhani) approaches, while Georgia has implemented the Civic Integration Law since 2005. Despite numerous separate studies on each country, no systematic comparative study across these three approaches has been conducted to date. This research aims to comparatively assess the impact of these approaches on indicators of "functional fragmentation" in local governance of the border provinces of Golestan and Kvemo Kartli. The theoretical framework combines five concepts: functional fragmentation, securitization, discourse shift (desecuritization), institutionalism, and borderland governance. The research methodology is based on a Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD) using comparative documentary analysis. The document timeframe is from 2005 to 2021. Data will be analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that in Golestan province, Ahmadinejad's securitization approach was associated with increased functional fragmentation in border control, cross-border actor influence, public service delivery, and minority trust in local institutions. Rouhani's opportunity framing approach only succeeded in increasing minority trust in local institutions. In contrast, Georgia's formal institution building approach in Kvemo Kartli reduced functional fragmentation in all areas except minority trust.