ACRONYMS
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER 1: US FOREIGN POLICY AND HYBRID WARFARE
CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED
CHAPTER 3: THE OFFSPRING OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
CHAPTER 4: LAYING THE FOUNDATION
CHAPTER 5: A CIVIL-MILITARY REVOLUTION IN POST-WAR EXPANSION
CHAPTER 6: THE IRGC ECONOMY
CHAPTER 7: THE IRANIAN WAY OF WAR
CHAPTER 8: ROUHANI AND THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 9: AN IRANIAN CYBER COMMAND?
CHAPTER 10: A MODERN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE AGE OF HYBRID
WARFARE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Explores Iran’s IRGC and Qods Force, with focus on its development following the Iranian Revolution and how they have transformed Iran’s defense doctrine to fight an irregular war that challenges the US and the West.
Alma Keshavarz previously served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State.
A detailed and informative discussion of Iran's development of a
hybrid warfare strategy and the central role of the IRGC
*Russell A. Berman, Stanford University, USA*
Set within the framework of hybrid warfare, Keshavarz's
authoritative study offers a unique insight into the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an essential cornerstone of
Iran's security infrastructure and foreign policy. With a
compelling narrative tracing the IRGC's birth, rise to prominence,
and its role in shaping Iran's military doctrine, this work not
only demystifies the complex Iranian security landscape but also
reveals the strategic calculus behind the Islamic Republic's
geopolitical manoeuvres.
*Amira Jadoon, Clemson University, US*
There may be no greater danger to global stability that is less
well understood than Iran and its principal arm of influence, the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. While the focus of the
public and policy makers in the Middle East in the past 20 years
has understandably centered on Iraq and Afghanistan due to the
significant US military presence in each country, the deeper and
arguably more dangerous threat posed by Iran continues to grow,
even as it often remains only in the margins of our public policy
dialogue.
In this thoughtful and meticulously researched study of the IRGC
and its role in modern “hybrid warfare,” Dr. Alma Keshavarz
provides both a thorough account of the trajectory of the IRGC
since its earliest days and a chilling but clear-eyed assessment of
its reach and escalating malign influence today, including the role
of the Quds Force in exporting terrorism in the region and
worldwide. She also argues persuasively that the occasionally
muddled and reactive nature of US policy towards Iran over the
years has, in its way, unintentionally contributed to the IRGC
growing even stronger and more dangerous.
Policymakers have rightly focused on how to counteract Iran’s
nuclear ambitions, and that focus remains important. But Dr.
Keshavarz’s book is a timely analysis of the much broader nature of
the Iranian threat. This includes sponsoring proxy groups across
the Middle East such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere,
the PMF and other militias inside Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in
Yemen, to name only a few. Also, Iran’s Ballistic Missile program
and the role it plays not only in the nuclear program but as a
broader destabilizing factor in the region remains a key concern.
The IRGC is at the center of these and other threats and in nearly
every facet of Iran’s social, economic, religious, industrial,
military and political life — indeed, it is elemental to the very
survival of the Iranian state. This book should be required reading
for those who wish to truly understand the Iranian threat and how
the free world must respond.
*General James N. Mattis, United States Marine Corps (Retired)*
This book provides an excellent analysis of the criticality of the
IRGC and is very recommended both for policymakers and academics
dealing with Middle Eastern security issues.
*Small Wars and Insurgencies*
Conflict in the 21st century has repeatedly shown how weaker,
non-state entities can outmaneuver more technologically advanced
and better resourced state adversaries. No state has been more
effective at incorporating foreign militias into its broader
foreign policy than the Islamic Republic of Iran, and no state
military has used foreign groups more successfully than the IRGC.
As Alma Keshavarz shows in this timely book, the IRGC has relied on
proxies as part of its broader hybrid warfare strategy, which it
has used to challenge the United States and its regional allies in
the Middle East. Through exploring the IRGC’s approach to warfare,
Keshavarz also identifies America’s disjointed policy toward Iran,
and offers a way forward centered on understanding the utility
hybrid warfare offers ambitious and disruptive middle powers.
––
*Afshon Ostovar, author of Vanguard of the Imam.*
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