The recent civil war in Syria, since March of 2011 and the consequent upheavals in Iraq have created a new pattern of conflict in the Middle East which is illustrated in the competition between the coalition of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah in one hand, and the coalition of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other conservative Arabs of the region on the other. However, the role of Israel and Kurds along with the security strategies of Russia and the United States are affecting the outcome of the civil wars in the region. The fundamental question of this article is as follows: how the contrasting purposes and actions of regional and global actors in the civil wars of Syria and Iraq can be explained and which theory or pattern is more applicable? The findings of the authors demonstrate that the behavior of the mentioned actors can be explained by the theory of balance of threat. In fact, the general pattern of competing coalitions in the region is maintaining or changing the balance of power in the Middle East. The method used by the authors in doing their research is a descriptive analytical approach
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