The QUDS Force Model: What Makes Irregular Warfare Effective in Asymmetric Conflict
Abstract
In recognition of asymmetric handicaps concerning military, political, and economic power with the United States, weaker revisionist states complement diplomatic pursuit of their national security objectives with irregular warfare (IW) tactics. These tactics include subversion, sabotage, political manipulation, terrorism, smuggling, and utilization of proxy forces to compete with adversaries while not escalating to the level of conventional armed conflict. One revisionist state, the Islamic Republic of Iran, utilizes its extraterritorial special operations force, the Quds Force (QF), to conduct IW against its stronger and near-peer adversaries. The QF has intervened in no less than six wars over the past thirty years in pursuit of Irans goals. The unit provides us with a model for understanding how special operations forces can be utilized to coerce, deter, disrupt, and circumvent conventional strength of stronger foes. This thesis examines the conditions that enable the QF's IW campaigns to be effective. While a great deal of this study concerns the tactics, techniques, and procedures utilized by the QF, this thesis also surveys the social and political factors among the belligerents that shape the nature of the conflicts and their outcomes. Through qualitative analysis of six case studies, this thesis finds three conditions for effective use of a weak state actors special operations forces to compete with near-peer and stronger state actors via an IW strategy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1127101
Entities
People
- Christopher B. Smith
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School