The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps - (Studies in Contemporary Warfare) by Alma Keshavarz (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has yet to be directly analysed as a military security complex with significant political influence. This book explores Iran's IRGC and Qods Force, focusing on its development following the Iranian Revolution, and how they have skilfully transformed Iran's defense doctrine to fight an irregular war that challenges the US and the West. Chapters detail the birth of the IRGC, its political development and influence within Iran, its relationship to militias and terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, and involvement in Yemen and Iraq. Keshavarz brings first-hand knowledge of what government institutions are looking for with respect to the IRGC, outlining Iran's hybrid war capabilities that the US and West often misunderstand or miss altogether, in order to provide a foreign policy analysis that identifies the challenges of Iran's irregular capabilities and what measures are needed to combat it"--

Book Synopsis

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has yet to be directly analysed as a military security complex with significant political influence. This book explores Iran's IRGC and Qods Force, focussing on its development following the Iranian Revolution, and how they have skilfully transformed Iran's defense doctrine to fight a hybrid war that challenges the US and the West.
Chapters detail the birth of the IRGC, its political development and influence within Iran, its relationship to militias and terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, and involvement in Yemen and Iraq. Keshavarz brings first-hand knowledge of what government institutions are looking for with respect to the IRGC, outlining Iran's hybrid war capabilities that the US and West often misunderstand or miss altogether, in order to provide a foreign policy analysis that identifies the challenges of Iran's irregular capabilities and what measures are needed to combat it.

Review Quotes

A detailed and informative discussion of Iran's development of a hybrid warfare strategy and the central role of the IRGC

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.

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.

About the Author

Alma Keshavarz previously served on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State.