2009 · 14 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesInternational RelationsStrategyArmed ConflictInternational SecurityInternational StrategyDefense PolicyGulf StudiesMilitary OperationsMilitary StrategyMilitary TacticsArab WarfareConduct Of Military ForcesGulf PoliticsGulf SecurityMilitary Capabilities DistributionMilitary Power
Abstract : Gulf Arabs are increasingly taking measure of Iran's capabilities to wage war. Military power is relative, not absolute, and to gauge Iran's capabilities to wage war and threaten the Persian Gulf, one must compare Iran's power against that of its regional rivals. A rough net assessment of strategies and military forces in the Gulf needs to weigh Iranian conventional military power-both in its regular military and Revolutionary Guard forces-against the conventional militaries of Saudi Arabia, the other Arab Gulf states, and the United States. By this scale, Arab and American forces are heavier than Iranian capabilities. But because they are, Iran is likely to turn to its time-tested unconventional ways of war to exploit Arab Gulf state and American vulnerabilities in future conflicts.