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1412. Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces
- Author:
- Steven R. Ward
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Book
- Abstract:
- In 1978 Iran And Its Armed Forces seemed to stand at the peak of their power and prestige in the modern era. Bountiful oil revenues and a strategic position overlooking the vital Persian Gulf oil export routes boosted Iran's standing in the world. Cold War competition made Iran a recipient of Western and Soviet arms and attention. Iran had just passed Egypt, a far more populous country, in having the largest armed forces in the Middle East. In fact, the Iranian military was outpacing some large European countries in the quantity and sophistication of its equipment. Iran was the only country other than the United States to possess the state- of- the- art F- 14 Tomcat fighter. Iran's military also was funding the development of the advanced British Challenger tank with its then revolutionary Chobham composite armor. These programs rep- resented only the middle stages of an extravagant rearmament process, with numerous sophisticated ground, air, and naval systems on order. In addition, the Iranian armed forces, the Artesh, had polished their reputation by gaining combat experience battling rebels in neighboring Oman and by participating in a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- Iran and Middle East
1413. China-Russia Relations
- Author:
- Yu Bin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Comparative Connections
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- Between June 14-18 Russian and Chinese heads of state interacted on a daily basis at three summits: the Ninth annual SCO summit and the first ever Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) summit (both in Yekaterinburg), and their own annual bilateral meeting in Moscow. The locus of Russian-China relations was, therefore, “relocated” to Russia. Economic issues dominated these meetings as the global financial crisis deepened. Mounting danger on the Korean Peninsula and instability in Iran were also recurring themes. President Hu Jintao's five-day stay in Russia ended when he joined President Dmitry Medvedev to watch a spectacular performance by Chinese and Russian artists in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre for the 60th anniversary of Russian-China diplomatic relations.
- Topic:
- NATO and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Iran, India, and Brazil
1414. Groundbreaking U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Iran
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EastWest Institute
- Abstract:
- Does Europe face a military threat from Iran, and if so what is the nature of that threat? What is Iran's nuclear capability today and what might it be in the future? What ballistic missile capability does Iran have today and what might it have in the future? If Europe had a missile defense system, would that system protect Europe? These questions have been widely discussed in the popular media, often on the basis of misleading information. This report, which has been written by a group of U.S. and Russian specialists, provides an assessment of the Iranian nuclear and missile programs and an evaluation of the European Missile Defense system proposed by the Bush administration. It is not yet clear what the Obama administration's policy on missile defense will be.
- Topic:
- Treaties and Agreements and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, and Iran
1415. Turkey's Perspectives on Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament
- Author:
- Henri J. Barkey
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- In principle, Turkey would welcome the global elimination of nuclear weapons. For the current government, the possession of nuclear weapons by other states is a factor that, indirectly at least, reduces Turkey's regional (if not global) aspirations and power. However, in the medium term, it remains deeply ambivalent on the future of nuclear weapons and its own plans regarding nuclear energy and weapons development.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, Turkey, and Germany
1416. To Curtail the Iranian Nuclear Threat, Change Tehran's Threat Perceptions
- Author:
- Greg Thielmann
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- Iran’s pursuit of nuclear technology, and possibly nuclear weapons, stems from its complicated threat environment and the historical grievances it harbors concerning the United States. Tehran now faces large numbers of U.S. troops in its neighbors to the west and east with few regional allies. The most productive path for averting nuclear weapons development in Iran is for Washington to seek to alter Iran’s threat perceptions.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, National Security, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, and United States of America
1417. Strategic Missile Defense: A Reality Check
- Author:
- Greg Thielmann
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- Strategic Missile Defense offers no real disincentive for rogue regimes such as North Korea or Iran to develop or use ballistic missiles, nor does it offer any protection against the more acute threat of terrorist groups smuggling weapons of mass destruction into the United States. Instead, the aggressive pursuit of strategic missile defense makes it more difficult to constrain the potential offensive nuclear threat from Russia and China.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and Missile Defense
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and United States of America
1418. Preventive Military Action: The Worst Way to Deal With Iran's Nuclear Program
- Author:
- Greg Thielmann
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- Although the possibility of Iranian nuclear weapons is a major concern for Israel and the United States, leaving the "military option" on the table is counterproductive. Preventive military action by either country against Iran's nuclear facilities would only delay, rather than halt, Tehran's nuclear program, and it would cause Iran to retaliate against the United States as well as Israel. The aftermath of such an attack would be disastrous for the U.S. position in the region-particularly for relations with Israel and with Iraq-and its position in the wider world.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Military
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, Israel, and United States of America
1419. Conference Proceedings - America, Israel, and the Middle East: Confronting the Challenges of Tomorrow - 2008 Soref Symposium
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- As most of you already know,? there are many things that we in the intelligence community don't talk about. How's that for an understatement? Here's one thing you might not know about our work, however: our most privileged document, one of the things that, in a community of tens of thousands of people, is read by only a handful. It is called the President's Daily Brief, or PDB. It's the daily intelligence summary that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence prepares for the president. Whenever the president is in town, Director McConnell usually briefs him. About 20 percent of the time, I do it. Each morning, six days a week, one of us goes to the Oval Office with a few subject-matter expert briefers to lay out issues of concern around the world, as best we know them, from the top of the intelligence community. They are based on some of our best collection capabilities, coupled with our most exacting analysis.
- Topic:
- Islam
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Iran, Middle East, Israel, and Syria
1420. Special Report No. 206: Mullahs, Money, and Militias: How Iran Exerts Its Influence in the Middle East
- Author:
- Barbara Slavin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Iran has been a significant player in the Middle East, influencing and being influenced by its neighbors since long before the advent of the petrodollar or the Islamic revolution of 1979. But in the past five years, Iran's regional power has expanded considerably. Benefit - ing from Bush administration policies—especially the toppling of Saddam Hussein—as well as record oil prices, Iran has deepened its relationships with militant factions in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine and accelerated a nuclear program that could give it the ability to make atomic weapons within the next few years. President Bush, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and other administration officials have repeatedly labeled Iran a major, if not the major, threat to U.S. interests and U.S. allies in the Middle East. Yet Iran's reach remains constrained by an open-ended U.S. military presence in the region, domestic weakness, and historic divisions between Arabs and Persians, Sunnis and Shiites, and among Shiites. Though happy to take advantage of power vacuums, Iran neither wants nor is able to recreate the Persian Empire, nor is it about to become a second Soviet Union. As Mohammad Atrianfar, a veteran publisher of Iranian reformist newspapers, said in a March interview in Tehran, “We are not going to stretch our legs beyond the capacity of our carpets.”
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, and Middle East