This book traces the long history of Iran's wars, and the evolution of the Islamic Republic's military trajectory since 1979. Ahmed Hashim draws on Farsi, Arabic and European sources to explore Iran's efforts to create modern armed forces, the devastating Iran-Iraq War (1980-8), and Tehran's evolving fighting capabilities in Syria and Iraq. This analysis offers clues as to how Iran may fare--directly or by proxy--in future confrontations with its enemies, including the US and Israel. Above all, Iranian Ways of War addresses how Iran fights, and why. It offers a corrective to prevailing narratives about its bellicose character and alleged mischief-making throughout the Middle East and beyond. Hashim unpacks with nuance Iran's milestone agreement to curb its nuclear weapons development, within the context of an unstable regional environment that is full of myriad enemies and complicating historical factors affecting Iranian decision-makers' psyches. A long history of confrontation with America, and the feeling of perceived victimhood as a Shia entity in an overwhelmingly Sunni Middle East, have primed Iran for war.

About the Author
Ahmed S. Hashim is Associate Professor of Strategic Studies at Nanyang Technological University's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, where he specialises in contemporary warfare issues, Middle Eastern security and counter-terrorism. He is the author of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq and The Caliphate At War: The Ideological, Organisational and Military Innovations of Islamic State.


Book Information
ISBN 9781787380349
Author Ahmed Hashim
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Publisher C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd