Vanguard of the Imam

Vanguard of the Imam PDF Author: Afshon Ostovar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199387893
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today, but remain poorly understood to outside observers. In Vanguard of the Imam, Afshon Ostovar has written the first comprehensive history of the organization. Situating the rise of the Guards in the contexts of Shiite Islam, Iranian history, and international affairs, Ostovar takes a multifaceted approach in demystifying the organization and detailing its evolution since 1979. The book documents the Guards transformation into a power-player and explores why the group matters now more than ever to regional and global affairs. It is simultaneously a history of modern Iran, and an engrossing entryway into the complex world of war, politics, and identity in the Middle East.

The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution

The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution PDF Author: Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520083691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this groundbreaking study, Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr examines the origins, historical development, and political strategies of one of the oldest and most influential Islamic revival movements, the Jama'at-i Islami of Pakistan. He focuses on the inherent tension between the movement's idealized vision of the nation as a holy community based in Islamic law and its political agenda of socioeconomic change for Pakistani society. Nasr's work goes beyond the exploration of a single party to examine the diverse sociopolitical roots of contemporary Islamic revivalism, challenging many of the standard interpretations about political expressions of Islam.--Publisher description.

Defending Iran

Defending Iran PDF Author: Gawdat Bahgat
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108476783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book Here

Book Description
An authoritative analysis of Iran's defense doctrine and security policies set within the context of security and political relations in the Middle East.

The Pasdaran

The Pasdaran PDF Author: Emanuele Ottolenghi
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780981971292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami) is more commonly known as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), or the Pasadran. Sworn by an oath of loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader, the IRGC is the regime's Praetorian Guard, the custodian of its nuclear program, and now a juggernaut in Iran's economy. Since 1979, the Guards have played a key role in protecting the Revolution internally against domestic opposition while actively seeking to export it abroad. The IRGC has been at the forefront of repression every time ordinary Iranians have protested their lack of freedoms, including after the fraudulent presidential elections of June 2009. Iran's sponsorship of terrorism abroad is also executed through the IRGC's overseas operations' branch, the Qods Forces. In The Pasdaran: Inside Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Emanuele Ottolenghi offers a detailed overview of how the IRGC came into being, how the Guards rose to a position of prominence in Iran's current power structure, how they have penetrated Iran's economy, how they are working to help Iran attain nuclear weapons, and why they will likely play a key role in Iran for decades to come.

The Warriors Of Islam

The Warriors Of Islam PDF Author: Kenneth Katzman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000306968
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 163

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book shows that the revolutionary guard has resisted professionalization on the key aspect of war decision making. It explains how the Guard was able to resist ideological dilution despite its need to adopt a rationalized and complex organizational structure.

No Conquest, No Defeat

No Conquest, No Defeat PDF Author: Ariane M. Tabatabai
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197566928
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Get Book Here

Book Description
In early 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran marked its fortieth anniversary, despite decades of isolation, political pressure, sanctions and war. Observers of its security policies continue to try and make sense of this unlikely endurance. Some view the regime as a purely rational actor, whose national security decisions and military affairs are shaped by the same considerations as in other states. Others believe that it is ideology driving Tehran's strategy. Either way, virtually everyone agrees that the mullahs' policies are fundamentally different from those pursued by their monarchical predecessors. No Conquest, No Defeat offers a historically grounded overview of Iranian national security. Tabatabai argues that the Islamic Republic is neither completely rational nor purely ideological. Rather, its national security policy today is largely shaped by its strategic culture, a product of the country's historical experiences of war and peace. As a result, Iranian strategic thinking is perhaps best characterized by its dynamic yet resilient nature, one that is continually evolving. As the Islamic Republic enters its fifth decade, this book sheds new light on Iran's controversial nuclear and missile programs and its involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

Captive Society

Captive Society PDF Author: Saeid Golkar
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231801351
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Get Book Here

Book Description
Iran's Organization for the Mobilization of the Oppressed (Sazeman-e Basij-e Mostazafan), commonly known as the Basij, is a paramilitary organization used by the regime to suppress dissidents, vote as a bloc, and indoctrinate Iranian citizens. Captive Society surveys the Basij's history, structure, and sociology, as well as its influence on Iranian society, its economy, and its educational system. Saied Golkar's account draws not only on published materials—including Basij and Revolutionary Guard publications, allied websites, and blogs—but also on his own informal communications with Basij members while studying and teaching in Iranian universities as recently as 2014. In addition, he incorporates findings from surveys and interviews he conducted while in Iran.

The Position of Women from the Viewpoint of Imam Khomeini

The Position of Women from the Viewpoint of Imam Khomeini PDF Author: Ruhollah Khomeini
Publisher: Alhoda UK
ISBN: 9789643355043
Category : Muslim women
Languages : en
Pages : 334

Get Book Here

Book Description


Iran’s Networks of Influence in the Middle East

Iran’s Networks of Influence in the Middle East PDF Author: The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000163040
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
Tehran’s ability to fight by, with and through third parties in foreign jurisdictions has become a valuable and effective sovereign capability that gives Iran strategic advantage in the region. Tehran has possessed a form of this capability since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but its potency and significance have risen sharply in the past decade, to the point where it has brought Iran more regional influence and status than either its nuclear or ballistic-missile programmes. The IISS Strategic Dossier Iran’s Networks of Influence provides an understanding of how Iran builds, operates and uses this capability. Based on original field research, open-source information and interviews with a range of sources, the dossier conducts an audit of Iran’s activities in the principal regional theatres of Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and its reach into Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It includes an examination of Tehran’s nurturing of groups such as the Houthis in Yemen, the Badr Organisation in Iraq, Hizbullah in Lebanon and Shia militias in Syria, and details related to recruitment, weapons supply, logistics and command-and-control systems. Iran’s Networks of Influence is intended through objective, fact-based analysis to inform both policymakers and practitioners, and to stimulate debate on the wider significance of Iran’s use of third-party partners and the strategic depth they afford Tehran. The dossier also examines the advantages that Iran possesses through its recent experience of conflict, and its ability to mobilise and deploy sympathetic Shia communities across theatres. In a time of rising tension in the region, the dossier looks at how Iran might further develop the use of its partnership capability and the risks and constraints it might face.

Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran PDF Author: Ali Alfoneh
Publisher: Bookbaby
ISBN: 9781098312152
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description
What will happen after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's passing? How is the factional struggle for power in Iran over succession of Khamenei, between technocratic elites within the regime led by President Hassan Rouhani on the one side, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its allies on the other, likely to impact the trajectory of the Islamic Republic and future of U.S.-Iranian relations? This book answers these questions, concluding that Khamenei's successor, whoever he may be, will, for all practical purposes, be beholden to the IRGC, which also will decide the fundamental tenet in U.S.-Iranian relations. Based on this scenario, U.S. policymakers involved in shaping policies toward Tehran must take into consideration the implications of succession rivalries in the Islamic Republic. U.S. policymakers must also strategically plan how to face the challenges of a future transformation of the Islamic Republic into a military dictatorship, albeit one with a clerical figurehead.