The majority of the literature on maneuver warfare begins with an examination of German "stormtrooper" tactics of World War One or the German blitzkrieg campaigns of World War Two. Soviet deep maneuver campaigns and Israeli campaigns of the last...
In 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini's indirect approach ignited existing socio-economic conditions during the Iranian Revolution to topple the Shah. A similar indirect approach using psychological operations to target audiences through key vulnerabilities...
This study attempts to answer the following questions on the role of the Iranian armed forces in the fall of the Shah in 1979: (a) Did the armed forces do something that contributed to the causes which led the people of Iran to rise against the...
This thesis examines the intent of Iran's sea power strategy, and discovers that it is a definitive component of a coherent national security strategy of strategic deterrence designed to protect its strategic center of gravity--its oil....
This study attempts to determine why the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was successfully overthrown by a religion, Shiite Islam. The investigation is focused on the large and powerful Imperial Iranian Armed Forces, the Shah's political...
Since 1925, Iranian governments purposefully shaped the Iranian national identity in an attempt to socially prioritize membership in nationalist and religious social groups, over others such as ethnicity or profession. Further, successive Iranian...
Crane Brinton's analysis of popular revolutions offers the strategic and operational planner a valid model for checking the consistency of ends, ways and means, for campaign plans. As a planning tool, Brinton's model fills a gap in FM 100-20, which...
The interaction between politics and military professionalism is a delicate balancing act in war. When the politics involves a revolutionary ideology, military professionalism can be subordinated to the point of hurting the war effort. The Iranian...
The progress of the Iran-Iraq War has surprised analysts. In order of gain insight into events in the region and their implications, I propose an analytical framework using Carl Von Clausewitz and Martin Van Creveld, which is used to analyze the...
The present state of tension between the United States and Iran signifies a failure of current and past diplomatic approaches to influence Iran. Curiously, the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian elections over the last decade indicate that support...
Iran in the 1950s was in the cross hairs of the Cold War power struggle between the US and USSR. Strategically located, Iran became critical in the foreign policy endeavors of the Eisenhower Administration in the Middle East. After the decision to...
Iran is pursuing a public nuclear policy, which will lead it into regional power status. The Persian Gulf is a vital region for its natural resources that America and its trading powers require to maintain their economies. A disruption of Persian...
The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has pursued a nuclear program since 1985. In February 2006, with the last round of international negotiations having failed and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) having reported the dossier to the United...
War, diplomacy and economic sanctions are three cornerstones of strategy that have, in the past, successfully coerced rogue regimes to capitulate. However, it may be time to look beyond these persuasion techniques and develop a new method that can...
The Army is in the midst of formalizing its operating concept for the land component of AirLand Operations (ALO). This concept stresses the avoidance of attritional, mass on mass, linear warfare. ALO seeks quick and decisive victory with minimal...
In 1979 the age old struggle for the control of Islam between the Shiite and Sunni sects re-emerged in the Middle East. Four events occurred in 1979 that defined the context of contemporary Middle Eastern politics: the Islamic revolution in Iran,...
This effort attempts to provide the reader with an understanding of the dynamics and rational context for Iranian Strategic power projection in the 21st century. Using the Iran-Iraq War as a lens through which to examine Iran during a stressing...
This study shows that thirteenth century Mongol warfare is an example of emerging operational art. There is significant debate on the origins of operational art. The School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) advances two arguments. Both arguments...
TRANSCRIPT: General Petraeus on the way ahead in Iraq. General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army; "Hard but not hopeless": The new commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq assesses the war and previews the way ahead.