Future Gulf War: Arab and American Forces Against Iranian Capabilities

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.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA515967

Entities

People

  • Richard L. Russell

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Arabia
  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Boats
  • Combat Areas
  • Helicopters
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Saudi Arabia
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies