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Iran's Influence in Afghanistan: Implications for the U.S. Drawdown
by Robert Stewart Alireza Nader Ali G. Scotten Ahmad Idrees Rahmani Leila MahnadThis study explores Iranian influence in Afghanistan and the implications for the United States after most U. S. forces depart Afghanistan in 2016. Iran has substantial economic, political, cultural, and religious leverage in Afghanistan. Although Iran will attempt to shape a post-2014 Afghanistan, Iran and the United States share core interests: to prevent the country from again becoming dominated by the Taliban and a safe haven for al Qaeda.
Iran's Nuclear Future: Critical U.S. Policy Choices
by Lynn E. Davis Alireza Nader Dalia Dassa Kaye Jeffrey Martini James T. QuinlivanAs Iran's nuclear program evolves, U.S. decisionmakers will confront a series of critical policy choices involving complex considerations and policy trade-offs. These policy choices could involve dissuading Iran from developing nuclear weapons; deterring Iran from using its nuclear weapons, if it were to acquire them; and reassuring U.S. regional partners. The U.S. Air Force will need to prepare to carry out whatever policies are chosen.
Iran's Nuclear Option: Tehran's Quest for the Atom Bomb
by Al J. Venter“The most systematic exposition to date about Iran’s nuclear program and its role in world affairs” (Middle East Quarterly).Since the Islamic Republic of Iran admitted that it was secretly producing highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium, nations have struggled to react appropriately. For the first time, and in full detail, this book explains exactly what the Europeans and United Nations have been trying to forestall.Iran could shortly have the ability to strike its immediate Middle Eastern neighbors—and more distant nations—with nuclear weapons. With the size to dominate its region, Iran also has an avowed mission to export its theocratic principles, and in recent decades, has been a notorious supporter of terrorist organizations. Its parallel development of atomic bombs represents the greatest threat to the balance of world power we’ve seen in the new millennium.Here, defense expert Al Venter reveals the extent to which Iran’s weapons program has developed and the clandestine manner in which its nuclear technology has been acquired. He demonstrates how Tehran has violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and details the involvement of several countries shown by the IAEA to have trafficked in illegal nuclear materials. He proves, for the first time, a direct link between the now-defunct South African apartheid regime’s nuclear program and Tehran’s current nuclear ambitions.Venter digs deep into subjects such as Iran’s fervor on behalf of Shiite Islam, its missile program—developed alongside its nuclear one—and the role of the Pasdaran, the Revolutionary Guards, whose tentacles have spread throughout the Middle East and increasingly farther afield. While noting Tehran’s support of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Venter follows closely how the Persian homeland itself has progressed toward a strategic nuclear capability that would make recent terrorist attacks look obsolete. Iran’s Nuclear Option is essential reading for anyone with an interest in global security, the perilous volatility of the Middle East, and America’s options, should it be willing and able to counter the threat while time remains.
Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities
by Keith Crane Rollie LalIran is one of the United States' most important foreign policy concerns. It has also been an extraordinarily difficult country with which to engage. Ironically, while the leadership has been hostile to the United States, Iranian society has evolved in ways friendly to the United States and U.S. interests. This monograph assesses current political, ethnic, demographic, and economic trends and vulnerabilities in Iran. For example, the numbers of young people entering the Iranian labor force are at an all-time high. The authors then provide recommendations for U.S. policies that might foster trends beneficial to U.S. interests. For example, greater use of markets and a more-vibrant private sector would contribute to the development of sources of political power independent from the current regime. The authors finally note a need for patience. Even if favorable trends take root, it will take time for them to come to fruition.
Iran's Rise and Rivalry with the US in the Middle East
by Mohsen M. MilaniThe 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States – former fast friends. Despite the US&’s relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. Its newfound status not only frustrates the US but has swiftly become a thorn in the side of Israel and Saudi Arabia. How did Iran rise so rapidly? And as it faces ever increasing pressure at home and abroad, can it hold onto its power? Mohsen Milani guides us through the twists and turns of the Iran–US rivalry in the battlefields of the Middle East. Going from the fall of the Shah to revolutionary Iran&’s alliances with Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and the Houthis in the Axis of Resistance, Milani lifts the veil on Iran&’s foreign policy strategy and its implications for the region, the US and Iran itself.
Iran-Saudi Arabia Relations and Regional Order (Adelphi series)
by Charles Tripp Shahram ChubinBoth countries will have strong incentives to test the artificial balance established by the US and from which they are excluded. Each state, in the face of continued embargoes, may find the lure of weapons of mass destruction correspondingly increased.
Irandam Ulagappor
by Pa. RaghavanA summary of events that led to the Second World War, the war that shook the entire world and the devastations it caused to the mankind, the role of Hitler in sustaining the war is well written and presents a fair protrayal in this book.
Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat
by Chris Davey Tom CooperSo formidable an opponent did the Iraqi airforce consider the F-14 that during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), they ordered their pilots not to engage F-14s and the presence of one in an area was usually enough to empty it of Iraqi aircraft. Officially losses where tiny; only one F-14 was lost in aerial combat (to a MiG-21), one to a control problem and one downed by a ground-to-air missile. This book looks at the F-14's Iranian combat history and includes first hand accounts from the pilots themselves. It will consider key engagements and the central figures involved, illustrating the realities, successes and failures of the Iranian air campaign.
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat
by Jim Laurier Farzad BishopDifferent versions of the jet have provided the backbone of the frontline strength of the Iranian air force since the 1970s, and whole generations of Iranian pilots and ground personnel have been trained to fly and maintain them. Indeed, the type bore the brunt of active combat operations during the long war with Iraq. Iranian F-4 Phantom IIs were also some of best equipped examples ever exported by the USA. Some Iranian Phantom II pilots gathered immense experience on the type, flying it in combat for more than ten years. This book removes the veil of secrecy surrounding Iranian Phantom II operations since the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
Iran’s Military Power Projection and the Empowerment of Ansar Allah (Non-State Actors in International Relations)
by Fatima MoussaouiThe Islamic Republic of Iran, although it has become famous for its foreign policy choices and actions on the international scene, it remains an enigma for the West. This book provides an introspective analysis of the foundation of this unique Islamic state, and reveal what makes it resilient, and attempts to sustain it. Taking a multidisciplinary approach using anthropological, philosophical, psychological, and military grids, the book revisits the power of the clergy and maps out its original meaning and its ability to be wielded to serve policies in line with Iran's contemporary political context. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of military strategy, international security, and geostrategy, as well as military officers and policy makers who will benefit from the fresh perspective it adds to the Western view of a country whose strategic and military thinking is still largely unknown or misunderstood.
Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Global South: The Foreign Policy Of India, Brazil, And South Africa
by Michal OndercoThis book studies the reactions of India, Brazil, and South Africa the three main non-proliferation actors of the Global South to Iran's nuclear program. Their responses are explained and situated in wider foreign policy context.
Iraq
by Mohamed El-ShibinyIraq: A Lost War deals with the impact of September 11th on the occupation of Iraq and the U. S. declaration of war on international terrorism. It investigates whether war in Iraq was morally justified and whether coalition forces capturing and hanging its president were morally and legally acceptable internationally.
Iraq Full Circle
by Darron WrightCol. Wright served three tours of duty in the Iraq War, commanding the last active combat brigade to withdraw from Operation Iraqi Freedom. His book personalizes the broader operational conflict we've all heard so much about, giving us a previously unknown insider command perspective that will fundamentally change how our nation thinks of the war. For Col Wright, the Iraq war was a good war fought well. In his new book, Iraq Full Circle, he offers a first-hand assessment of the US Army's eight year war in Iraq.As battalion operations officer for an infantry battalion from 2003-2004 operating in the dangerous and volatile Sunni Triangle, followed by a tour of duty as a Brigade Executive Officer from 2005-2006 in Baghdad, Wright witnessed some of the harshest fighting seen during the war. He saw the evolution from 'shock and awe' to the 'clear-hold-build' strategy during the height of sectarian violence and was on-hand for the transition to COIN followed by the handover of security operations to the Iraqi Security Forces. In August 2010, Wright, as a deputy brigade commander, was among the last combat soldiers to leave Iraq as part of President Obama's draw-down of troops.While Wright does not hesitate to criticize the political and military leadership that failed to foresee the insurgency, or the errors in judgment that led to the dismantling of the Iraqi Army in 2003, his overall assessment of the war is that the US Army achieved what it was asked to do by two Presidents. Calling upon his experience--and the examination of thousands of after action reports, combat operations orders, and over 100 interviews--Wright pieces together a compelling and cohesive narrative of the war. Readers will be surprised to learn:· Wright had a strong hunch beginning in September 2001 that he would be deployed to Iraq; he and his fellow Army leaders began preparing for an invasion soon after the 9/11 attacks.· Army leaders were already implementing much of the COIN doctrine in 2004 and 2005, well before the official change in doctrine and the publication of the new field manual on COIN.· For Wright and most other leaders at his level, President Bush's troop "surge" in November 2006 was completely uncontroversial and utterly inevitable. They knew that clear-hold-build was the right strategy and would work but that they did not have enough troops to make it stick.In his closing chapters, Wright discusses the growth and evolution of the Iraqi Security Forces, from an abjectly corrupt and militarily useless cohort in 2004 to a well-trained and stable entity capable of securing Iraq and providing for (mostly) safe and open national elections in 2010. He finishes his narrative with his thoughts on the future of Iraq, understanding that sectarian divisions persist, but that the Iraqi Security Forces have been well-trained by the US Army to secure Iraq's future.From the Hardcover edition.
Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam: Or, How Not to Learn from the Past
by John Prados Andrew J. Bacevich Christian G. Appy David Elliott Gabriel Kolko Alex Danchev Wilfried Mausbach Walter LaFeber Alfred W. McCoy Gareth Porter Elizabeth L. HillmanEssays by Christian G. Appy, Andrew J. Bacevich, John Prados, and others offer &“history at its best, meaning, at its most useful.&” —Howard Zinn From the launch of the &“Shock and Awe&” invasion in March 2003 through President George W. Bush&’s declaration of &“Mission Accomplished&” two months later, the war in Iraq was meant to demonstrate definitively that the United States had learned the lessons of Vietnam. This new book makes clear that something closer to the opposite is true—that US foreign policy makers have learned little from the past, even as they have been obsessed with the &“Vietnam Syndrome.&” Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam brings together the country&’s leading historians of the Vietnam experience. Examining the profound changes that have occurred in the country and the military since the Vietnam War, this book assembles a distinguished group to consider how America found itself once again in the midst of a quagmire—and the continuing debate about the purpose and exercise of American power. Also includes contributions from: Alex Danchev * David Elliott * Elizabeth L. Hillman * Gabriel Kolko * Walter LaFeber * Wilfried Mausbach * Alfred W. McCoy * Gareth Porter &“Essential.&” —Bill Moyers
Iraq at the Crossroads: State and Society in the Shadow of Regime Change (Adelphi series #354)
by Steven Simon Toby DodgeA war against Iraq will spur radical changes in the way the country is governed, how its people live, and its relationship to its neighbours and to the West. This book depicts the evolution of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and describes each side's battle plan and the war's likely aftermath.
Iraq's Armed Forces: An Analytical History (Middle Eastern Military Studies)
by Ibrahim Al-Marashi Sammy SalamaThis book provides the first comprehensive study of the evolution of the Iraqi military from the British mandate era to post-Baathist Iraq. Ethnic and sectarian turmoil is endemic to Iraq, and its armed forces have been intertwined with its political affairs since their creation. This study illustrates how the relationship between the military and
Iraq, 2003-4 And Mesopotamia, 1914-18: A Comparative Analysis In Ends And Means
by Lieutenant Colonel James D. ScudieriThis paper is a comparative analysis of the British campaign in Mesopotamia during the First World War, 1914-18 and the current campaign in Iraq, 2003-4. The study focuses on an examination of Phase III decisive operations and Phase IV reconstruction operations, including strategic imperatives, operational planning, and the impact of changes during operations. The British had no campaign plan for Mesopotamia upon the outbreak of war in 1914. Deployment to this theater began as a peripheral operation. Overriding politico-strategic requirements spurred further exploitation to reach Baghdad. Failure to match ends and means resulted in the disastrous surrender of a division at Kut on 29 April 1916. Sweeping reorganization and large-scale reinforcements resumed the advance; Baghdad fell on 11 March 1917. The British conducted ad-hoc reconstruction operations throughout this period, beginning in the Basra vilayet and expanding their scope with the capture of Baghdad. The British established viable civil institutions, to include police forces, a functioning legal system, Revenue and Customs Departments, a banking system, and even domestic mail.Conversely, the recent U.S. strategy of pre-emption in Iraq was a policy decision based upon the wider strategic perspective and benefited from exhaustive operational planning. However, the rolling start campaign utilized minimal forces. They had the capability to win the decisive operations phase rapidly, but this same troop level was woefully inadequate to conduct incompletely-planned, sorely under-estimated, post-conflict operations. Both campaigns suffered from a serious mismatch of ends and means at certain stages, especially for post-war reconstruction operations. They achieved significant success due to herculean efforts in theater. The study concludes with recommendations for strategic leaders related to planning and force structure.
Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation (Open Media Series)
by Pratap ChatterjeeMore than one year after the "fall of Baghdad," the reconstruction of Iraq was failing terribly. Ordinary Iraqis waited in line for basic necessities like clean water and fuel, while the number of civilians and soldiers killed escalated in tandem with the billions of U.S. tax dollars spent. In Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation, Pratap Chatterjee delivers an on-the-ground account of the occupation business, exposing private contractors as the only winners in this war.Chatterjee examines the big failings and even bigger swindles of Iraq's corporate managers, from the dangerous follies of an out-of-touch government-in-exile to the unchecked price gouging by Cheney's successors at Halliburton. In Iraq, Inc. Chatterjee contrasts the employment boom of mercenaries--more than 20,000 soldiers of fortune from apartheid-era South Africa, Pinochet's Chile, and elsewhere in Iraq--with the crowds of unemployed locals ripe for recruitment to the resistance.Drawing on years of research and first-hand experience in the region including his live reporting from post-invasion Iraq as he traveled around the country first in December 2003 when Saddam Hussein was captured and in April 2004 during the height of the siege of Fallujah, Chatterjee brings us the dilapidated hospitals, looted ministries, and guarded corporate enclaves that mark the plunderous road to America's free Iraq.
Iraq, Lies, Cover-ups, & Consequences
by Rodney Stichauthor alleges corruption and lies by all three branches of US government support Iraq war after September 11.
Iraq: Threat and Response
by Gerhard BeestermoellerThis volume of essays about the ongoing crisis concerning Iraq is written from the perspective of the "thoughtful opposition." German and American scholars from diverse backgrounds--moral theology, policy analysis, political science, Middle Eastern history--all criticize, albeit sometimes for different reasons, unilateral U.S. military action against Iraq.The chapters are uniformly free of intemperate language and careless argumentation characteristic of much opposition to American foreign policy. The authors address the moral, legal, political, or historical dimensions of the Iraq problem. They also assess the threat Saddam Hussein represents to his region and the world as well as the prospects for alternative strategies. The reasoning is well-informed, sensitive to complexity, and attentive to detail.Contributions include: Klaus Dicke, "Peace Through International Law and the Case of Iraq"; Hans J. Giessmann, "The Dubious Legitimacy of Preventive Military Action against Iraq"; John Langan, "Is Attacking Iraq a Good Idea?" and "Is There a Just Cause for War against Iraq?"; Gerhard Beestermller, "The United States: Legitimate Authority for War against Iraq?"; Drew Christiansen, "Holy See Policy towards Iraq"; Henner Frtig, "Iraq: How Severe is the Threat?"; and David Cortright, Alistair Millar, and George A. Lopez, "Sanctions, Inspections and Containment. Viable Policy Options in Iraq."While Iraq: Threat and Response may not be welcomed by uncritical supporters of U.S. policy, it is a reasoned, compassionate exploration of alternatives to military action in Iraq. The volume is clearly designed to strengthen opposition to unilateral action in the United States and abroad. It will be of great interest to students of foreign policy, military studies, and the Middle East.Gerhard Beestermller is deputy director of the Catholic Institute for Theology and Peace, near Hamburg. His focus of research is political ethics and peace ethics. David Little is T.J. Dermot Dunphy Professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity, and International Conflict and director of Initiatives in Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School. He is the author, with Scott W. Hibbard, of Islamic Activism and U.S. Foreign Policy.
Iraqigirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq
by Elizabeth Wrigley-FieldHadiya began her blog just under a year and a half into the U.S. occupation of Iraq. She writes from Mosul, a diverse city with many Sunni Muslims, like Hadiya's family. Mosul has become one center of resistance to the occupation. Hadiya's name is not really Hadiya. We have used pseudonyms for every Iraqi in this story because each of their lives could be in danger if they were identified. But Hadiya is a real teenager in Mosul, and this is her story.
Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency: Iraq's Sunni Insurgency (Adelphi series)
by Ahmed S. HashimFrom 2003 to 2008, the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq posed a key challenge to political stability in the country and to Coalition objectives there. This paper explains the onset, composition and evolution of this insurgency. It begins by addressing both its immediate and deeper sociopolitical origins, and goes on to examine the multiple ideological strands within the insurgency and their often conflicting methods and goals. Despite organisational incoherence due to the existence of a large number of competing groups, the insurgency in Iraq sustained a particularly high tempo of operations between 2004 and 2006, causing considerable military and civilian casualties. Some insurgent groups focused on attempting to foment civil war between two of Iraq’s major communities, the Sunni and Shia Arabs and, by late 2006, they had come close to unravelling Iraq and presenting the Coalition with a major defeat. The adoption of a new approach by the US in 2007 helped reduce the level of violence in Iraq. In addition, deep fissures within the insurgency itself, between those fighting for more practical, immediate goals and the transnational Islamists and their local allies fighting for wider-reaching goals – including the promotion of sectarian strife – contributed to the insurgency’s diminution. It remains to be seen whether there will be a widespread recognition among Sunni Iraqis of the need to work with the Coalition to facilitate their community’s reintegration into the new Iraqi body politic.
Ireland and International Peacekeeping Operations 1960-2000
by Katsumi IshizukaThe Republic of Ireland has won its status as a leading contributor to international peacekeeping operations, which has been its key 'foreign policy' since the 1960s. But why is Ireland so keen to be involved? This new book asks and answers this and other key questions about Ireland's close involvement with the EU. It cannot simply be for charitable reasons, so is it because it is a neutral state or because it is a middle power? Overall, is Ireland's peacekeeping policy based on realism and liberalism? The characteristics of peacekeeping operations have changed significantly, especially since the end of the Cold War. Can Ireland survive as a traditional peacekeeping contributor or does it have to change its peacekeeping policy radically? And will it be able to maintain its distance from NATO and the EU in terms of peacekeeping operations? This title attempts to answer all of these questions, drawing on a wide range of resources from literature, Irish and UN documents, to newspapers and interviews.
Irena's War
by James D. Shipman&“Shipman dazzles in this historical tour-de-force based on the real-life story of WWII Polish resistance fighter Irena Sendler . . . spellbinding." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)Based on the gripping true story of an unlikely Polish resistance fighter who helped save thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, bestselling author James D. Shipman&’s Irena&’s War is a heart-pounding novel of courage in action, helmed by an extraordinary and unforgettable protagonist. September 1939: The conquering Nazis swarm through Warsaw as social worker Irena Sendler watches in dread from her apartment window. Already, the city&’s poor go hungry. Irena wonders how she will continue to deliver food and supplies to those who need it most, including the forbidden Jews. The answer comes unexpectedly. Dragged from her home in the night, Irena is brought before a Gestapo agent, Klaus Rein, who offers her a position running the city&’s soup kitchens, all to maintain the illusion of order. Though loath to be working under the Germans, Irena learns there are ways to defy her new employer—including forging documents so that Jewish families receive food intended for Aryans. As Irena grows bolder, her interactions with Klaus become more fraught and perilous. Klaus is unable to prove his suspicions against Irena—yet. But once Warsaw&’s half-million Jews are confined to the ghetto, awaiting slow starvation or the death camps, Irena realizes that providing food is no longer enough. Recruited by the underground Polish resistance organization Zegota, she carries out an audacious scheme to rescue Jewish children. One by one, they are smuggled out in baskets and garbage carts, or led through dank sewers to safety—every success raising Klaus&’s ire. Determined to quell the uprising, he draws Irena into a cat-and-mouse game that will test her in every way—and where the slightest misstep could mean not just her own death, but the slaughter of those innocents she is so desperate to save.
Irgun: Revisionist Zionism, 1931–1948 (History of Terror)
by Gerry van TonderA history of the controversial underground group that employed political violence in its quest to create an independent Israel. Includes photos. In October 1944, the US Office of Strategic Services described the Irgun Tsvai Leumi—National Military Organization—as &“an underground, quasi-military organization with headquarters in Palestine . . . fanatical Zionists who wish to convert Palestine and Transjordan into an independent Jewish state [and] advocate the use of force both against the Arabs and the British to achieve this maximal political goal.&” This book delves into the origins and history of Irgun. In 1925, Ze&’ev Jabotinsky founded the Revisionist Zionism organization, whose secular, right-wing ideology would lead to the formation of the Irgun and, ultimately, of the Likud Party. Commencing operations in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1931, Irgun adopted a mainly guarding role, while facilitating the ongoing immigration of Jews into Palestine. In 1936, Irgun guerrillas started attacking Arab targets. The British White Paper of 1939 rejected the establishment of a Jewish nation, and as a direct consequence, Irgun guerrillas started targeting the British. The authorities executed captured Irgun operatives found guilty of terrorism, while deporting hundreds to internment camps overseas. As details of Jewish genocide—the Holocaust—emerged, Irgun declared war on the British in Palestine. Acts of infrastructural sabotage gave way to the bombing of buildings and police stations, the worst being the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem—the hub of British operations and administration—in July 1946, killing ninety-one. Freedom fighters or terrorists, Irgun was only dissolved when the independent Jewish state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948. This is their story.