Military forces
and strategic issues always play an important role in the Middle East,
especially since several bilateral and regional conflicts have periodically
produced wars and other violence. Military questions are always high on the
priority list of governments and of national budgets. Armed forces often play an
important role in policymaking and have seized power on many occasions in the
past. Thus, researching these issues is a vital part of studying the Middle
East.
This MERIA
Research Guide is intended to help in that work by covering many of the most
useful sites and materials on these issues. Naturally, a selection must be made
and many aspects cannot be fully covered. By using the resources discussed
below, however, one can also arrive at other sites that can provide more
comprehensive coverage.
1. OVERALL
ASSESSMENTS
The Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC has impressive
Middle East Military Balance reports. See, for example, “The North African
Conventional Military Balance” <http://www.csis.org/mideast/reports/nafricabalance2000.pdf>.
Other .pdf files include: Arab-Israeli ring states; Gulf and Southwest Asia
(including Iran, Iraq and the 1990-91 Gulf War); the Red Sea and Yemen; Arms
Transfers; Energy, Oil and Gas; Population and Demography; U.S. Policy and Power
Projection; Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction; Net Assessments of Other
Regions of the World. For an overview Strategic Assessment and links to the
above files: <http://www.csis.org/stratassessment/>.
The Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) <http://www.sipri.org> is one
of the primary sources for military assessments.
Its site has information on Arms Transfers, Arms Control and
Disarmament Documentation, Caspian Sea Security, Chemical and Biological Warfare
and Arms Control, Study of Armed Conflicts and their Prevention, Export
Controls, Military Expenditure and Arms Production, Military Technology, and
more.
In London, the
Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Middle East programs are highly regarded:
<http://www.rusi.org/mideastprogs.html>.
The UK also hosts
the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) <http://www.iiss.org.uk>, the
institute which, in addition to its research in international security policy,
publishes Strategic Digest.
The ever-reliable Jane's
Defence Weekly offers an online service specializing in Middle Eastern and
African military affairs but a subscription must be purchased: <http://jdw.janes.com/meast.html>.
However, Janes has some free items so look through its materials. For a
sample and advertisement for the online, CD-ROM or two-volume edition of (the
expensive) Janes Sentinal Strategic Assessment-Eastern Mediterranean:
<http://catalogue.janes.com/jssa_emed.shtml>.
The Jewish
Students Online Resource Center has a valuable little statistical page giving
the Middle East military balance as of 1998: <http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Threats_to_Israel/milbal.html>.
The Jaffee Centre
for Strategic Studies (JCSS) runs projects on Middle East Military Balance,
Israel's National Security, U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy in the Middle East,
Low-Intensity Warfare, and other issues. Visit the page for brief descriptions:
<http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/longtrm.html>.
Their Strategic Assessment, November 2000: <http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/v3n3.htm>.
An abstract for their Middle East Military 2000:
<http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/Library.nsf/pubs/MidEastMil>.
Also, MERIA
Journal has published an excellent piece by Norville de Atkine on "Why
Arabs Lose Wars," Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue1/jv4n1a2.html>.
2. HISTORY OF 20TH
CENTURY WARFARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
A. Arab-Israeli
Wars
To investigate
this immense topic, you could start at Yahoo's collection: <http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Regions/Middle_East/Arts_and_
Humanities/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/20th_Century/Military_
History/Arab_Israeli_Wars/>.
There is also
Essam Shashaa's site on Arab-Israeli Wars: <http://members.nbci.com/palestine99/war.htm>.
From the Jordanian
Embassy in the U.S. comes a short account of The Arab Legion and the battle for
Jerusalem in 1948: <http://www.jordanembassyus.org/arabLegion.htm>.
The Israeli-based
Jerusalem Archives contains some 30 illustrated sub-folders and a map on the
1948 war: <http://www.jerusalem-archives.org/period4/index.html>.
A Jordanian
account of the same conflict: <http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_palestine.html>.
The Israel Virtual
Bookstore has a page on Books on the Israel-Arab conflict, with links to Amazon
reviews and listings: <http://www.iguide.co.il/books/english/115.html>.
Another deals
specifically with the 1967 War: <http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Regions/Middle_East/Arts_and_
Humanities/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/20th_Century/Military_History/Arab_
Israeli_Wars/Six_Day_War/>.
Isabella Ginor’s
article in MERIA "The Russians Were Coming: The Soviet Military
Threat in the 1967 Six-Day War" Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2000)
examines a different aspect of that war. <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a5.html>
Egyptian military
commander Saad Shazly's book, Crossing of the Suez, is reviewed: <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0960456201/meria>.
A U.S. National
Defense University paper (chapter 2) analyzing the 1973 war in terms of
deterrence and its influence on peace: <http://www.ndu.edu/ndu/inss/macnair/mcnair45/m45c2.html>.
That hard-working
"History Guy", Roger A Lee, has built a number of sub-sites covering
wars in the Middle East. Each includes useful detailed summaries of events and a
list of recommended links. The parent site is: <http://www.historyguy.com/War_list.html>. One sub-site is on
the 1956 war (1956) <http://www.historyguy.com/suez_war_1956.html>.
From "Made in
Syria" comes a short historical summary, including some military facts:
<http://www.made-in-syria.com/syriahistory.htm>.
B. The Two Gulf
Wars (1980-88 and 1990-91)
The Federation of
American Scientists has a long page on the Iran-Iraq War: <http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/war/iran-iraq.htm>.
The Iran-Iraq War
(1980-88) is also covered by a Yahoo link list:
<http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Regions/Middle_East/Arts_and
_Humanities/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/20th_Century/Military_
History/Iran_Iraq_War/>.
The Kuwait
Information Office of Washington DC provides a colossal (249K!) page listing
books on the Gulf War: <http://www.kuwait-info.org/Resource_Library/Gulf_War_Bibliography/
Gulf_war_books/gulf_war_books.html>.
From the History
Guy comes the Second Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)
Scott Lasensky looks at how the U.S. dealt with Israeli threats to enter the Second Gulf War in his piece "Friendly Restraint: U.S.-Israel Relations during the Kuwait Crisis." MERIA Journal Vol. 3, No. 2 (June 1999) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1999/issue2/jv3n2a3.html>.
3. Military Factors in Contemporary Issues
A. Arab-Israeli
Conflict
A useful short
summary and link list is: <http://www2.prestel.co.uk/simonides/links/wars/isreali-arab/israel-arab.html>.
CSIS has a good
report on The Arab-Israeli Conventional Military Balance: <http://www.csis.org/mideast/reports/ArabIsraeliBal2000.pdf>.
A short list of
links from the Canadian Forces College: <http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/links/milhist/mid.html>.
On Lebanon-Israel
border tensions, see Ha'aretz: http://www2.haaretz.co.il/special/soldiers-e
and Janes, "The Battle over Shebaa Farm" (subscription fee
needed): <http://jdw.janes.com/subscribe/analysis/jdw6672.html>.
In September 2000, MERIA Journal (Vol. 4, No. 3) published two articles on Lebanon in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal: Eyal Zisser, "Hizballah: New Course or Continued Warfare?" <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a3.html> and Laura Eisenberg, "Israel's Lebanon Policy in a New Era" <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a2.html>.
On the dispute
over Golan Heights, see MERIA's “Guide to Syrian-Israeli Peace Talks On
The Web,” compiled by Lawrence Joffe: <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/research-g/syria-israel-talks.html>.
A very long historical and discursive essay (240K) by the Texan lawyer, Chris La
Vigne. It is called "Peace and War on the Golan Heights: The Prospects for
Peace in the Middle East": <http://wassom.com/chris.htm>.
The National Information Centre's Golan site provides a comprehensive
description of Damascus's military actions there. <http://www.golan-syria.org/index1.htm>. For an official
Israeli view of the same issue, see the Foreign Ministry account: <http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00tj0>.
B. Gulf Security
Issues
A good place to
start any project dealing with the Gulf is Columbia University’s Gulf 2000
Project’s Website <http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/>.
CSIS Conventional
Military Balance in the Gulf: <http://www.csis.org/mideast/reports/GulfBalance2000.pdf>.
Summary, May 2000
Royal United Services Institute conference, "The Gulf: Future Security
& British Policy <http://www.rusi.org/gulfsecurityconf.html>.
Details of a 1998
conference on Gulf security: <http://www.ecssr.ac.ae/Activites/03uae.Gulfsecurity.html>.
Several reports on
Gulf security issues from 1997: <http://www.gcss.org.uk/gulf%20report.htm>.
November 2000
transcript of U.S. Defense Secretary Cohen on U.S.-Kuwait security relations:
<http://www.usis.it/file2000_11/alia/a0112009.htm>.
AP report on GCC
defense pact, January 2001: <http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/secret/article.asp?mador=14&datee=1/1/01&id=105198>.
The 1998 military
build-up in the Gulf:
Jon B. Alterman, "The Gulf States and the American Umbrella," MERIA Journal Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a8.html>.
Anthony Cordesman
and Burke Chairholder, "Gulf in Transition,": <http://www.csis.org/gulf/index.html>.
On U.S. and
British military actions against Iraq from 1991 to the present: <http://www.historyguy.com/Iraq-U.S._Conflict.html>.
Yahoo provides an excellent dossier of articles dealing with this issue:
4. Armed Forces by Country
Egypt
An informative,
well-designed official site for Egypt's armed forces: <http://www.mmc.gov.eg/>;
air force: <http://af.mmc.gov.eg/>; and navy: <http://navy.mmc.gov.eg/>.
Egyptian Army
demands Arab military bloc, reported the Middle East Times in June 1998: <http://metimes.com/issue98-26/eg/army_demands_arab.htm>.
Galal Nassar asks
about the efficacy of an Arab military alliance, al-Ahram in 1998, reacting to
remarks by Egyptian Defense Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein: <http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/1998/383/eg3.htm>.
Iran
Darius Bazargan,
"Iran: Politics, The Military and Gulf Security," MERIA
Journal Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2000)
<http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1997/issue3/jv1n3a4.html>.
Also from MERIA,
Michael Eisenstadt’s recent assessment, “The Armed Forces of the Islamic
Republic of Iran” <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2001/issue1/jv5n2a2.html>,
Vol. 5, No. 1 (March 2001)
Jane's Intelligence Digest on Iran's arms build-up: <http://www.janes.com/security/regional_security/news/jid/jid001130_1_n.shtml>.
Iraq
A CNN special of
1998 focused on the Iraqi Army:
Iraq Kenneth M. Pollack, "Current Iraqi Military Capabilities" MERIA News 1998, Issue 4 (February 1998) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/news/1998/98news4.html>.
Amatzia Baram, "Saddam
Husayn: Between his Power Base and the International Community" <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a2.html>
MERIA Journal Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2000).
Amin Tarzi, “Contradictions of U.S. Policy on Iraq and its Consequences” MERIA
Journal Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue1/jv4n1a3.html>.
Israel
The official site
for the Israel Defense Forces in English: <http://www.idf.il/english/news/main.stm>.
In Hebrew: <http://www.idf.il/>.
Israel's Ministry
of Defense comprehensive site in Hebrew: <http://www.mod.gov.il/>.
Also in Hebrew is
Israel's official site commemorating those who fell in various wars, Izkor: <http://www.izkor.gov.il/>.
The Israel Air
Force's attractive website has details of aircraft, history and activities: <http://www.iaf.org.il/>.
At present, it, too, is only in Hebrew. An English version is promised soon.
Interested readers can register to be informed when it opens:
Yahoo has a new
category of items on the Israeli military:
I-Guide provides a
list of books on Israeli military policy:
On the debate
about drafting Haredim (so-called ultra-orthodox Jews) into the Israel Defense
Forces: <http://www2.haaretz.co.il/special/tal-e/>.
The Sword and the
Olive: A Critical History of the Israeli Defense Force, by Martin Van Creveld is
reviewed in detail at: <http://www.belisarius.com/modern_business_strategy/mie/mie_2.htm>
and
<http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/library/extra/blbsword.htm>.
Yoram Peri on
Israel's military and security establishment, a summary:
A brief article
from Janes Defence Weekly, January 18, 2001, Israel Air Force's strategy on
self-sufficient airborne systems: <http://jdw.janes.com/sample/jdw7005.html>.
A subscription fee
is required to access an August 2000 Janes special report, "Looking into
the Future: What are Israel's Options?:
Efraim Inbar,
director of the BESA Center, "Israeli military strategy in a changing
Middle East," MERIA Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4 (November 1998): <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1998/issue4/jv2n4a2.html>.
Stuart Cohen, "Portrait of the New Israeli
Soldier" MERIA Journal
Vol. 1, No. 4 (December 1997) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1997/issue4/jv1n4a3.html>.
J-Source runs a good list of short
often illustrated articles, "Threats to Israel": <http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Threats_to_Israel/threattoc.html>.
Israel's
domestically manufactured Merkava main battle tank is covered at a lovingly
crafted Czech site: <http://www.voodoo.cz/merkava/>.
A smart site is
devoted to Israel's wares on display at Eurosatory (an arms exhibition and air
show held outside Paris in June 2000): <http://www.airshow.mod.gov.il/eurosatory/>.
Jordan
A useful page on
Jordan's military: http://www.janes.com/regional_news/africa_middle_east/sentinel/country_focus/jords110.shtml.
James Phillips,
"The U.S. Stake in Post-Hussein Jordan, which focuses on military affairs:
<http://www.heritage.org/library/execmemo/em574.html>.
Palestinians
Gal Luft,
"Palestinian Military Performance And the 2000 Intifada," MERIA
Journal Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2000): <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a1.html>.
Also by Gal Luft in MERIA Journal, (June 1999), "The Palestinian
Security Services: Between Police and Army": <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1999/issue2/jv3n2a5.html>.
There is some
description of paramilitary sections of the PLO at this Palestine Authority
site: <http://www.pna.net/plo/pal_plo_1.htm>.
Syria
The U.S. State
Department background notes has much on the Syrian military: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/syria_0499_bgn.html.
A short
description of the Syrian army's strength appears at the end of this page,
which, as its title implies, is "Made in Syria": <http://www.made-in-syria.com/gnrlsyr.htm>.
The potential of a
Syria-Turkey confrontation: <http://www.theestimate.com/public/100998.html>.
Mistaken rumors of
an Israel-Syrian war in 1996 triggered some interesting analyses of Syria's
military. For example, Ronald Lewis and Alijandra Mogilner: <http://www.emergency.com/syriawar.htm>.
A semi-official
Syrian position on strategic from January 2001, Mahmoud Salameh in Al Thawra:
<http://www.middleeastwire.com/syria/stories/20010107_5_meno.shtml>.
For more on Syria
under Bashar al-Assad, see MERIA's research guide on this topic: <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/research-g/syria.html>.
On Syrian laws
governing military service in Arabic, see Decree 11: <http://www.syriatoday.com/decree11.htm>.
Eyal Zisser,
"The Syrian Army: between the Domestic and the External Fronts" MERIA
Journal Vol. 5, No. 1 (March 2001) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2001/issue1/jv5n2a1.html>.
Turkey
Kemal Kirisci,
"Post Cold-War Turkish Security and the Middle
East," MERIA
Journal Vol. 1, No. 2 (July 1997): <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1997/issue2/jv1n2a6.html>
A 1999 report on
Turkish defense procurement:
A substantial
report on this topic and Turkish military planning for the 21st century written
by Lale Sariibrahimoglu, Ankara correspondent for Jane's Defense Weekly but
costs nearly $600!: <http://www.smi-online.co.uk/publishing/default.asp?body=../reports/rep_intro.asp&id=16>.
Yemen
Tribal Uprisings:
<http://www.historyguy.com/Yemeni_Tribal_Uprising.html>.
Saudi-Yemen Border
Conflict: <http://www.historyguy.com/Saudi_Yemen_Conflict.html>.
Further good
detail on successive wars in Yemen can be found from the
Yemen General
People's Conference: <http://www.gpc.org.ye/history2.htm>.
Related information is available at the State Department's site: <http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/yemen_1096_bgn.html>.
A brief summary of
a 1994 symposium, "The Yemeni War: Causes and Consequences: <http://www.ecssr.ac.ae/Activites/03uae.sympo2.html>.
5. EXTERNAL STATES
AND ARM
China
Yitzhak Shichor,
"Mountains Out Of Molehills: Arms Transfers In Sino-Middle Eastern
Relations," MERIA Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3 (September 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a6.html>.
Also in MERIA, Bates Gill, "Chinese Arms Exports to Iran" Vol. 2, No. 2 (May 1998) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1998/issue2/jv2n2a7.html>.
India
P.R. Kumaraswamy, "Strategic Partnership Between India
and Israel"
MERIA Vol. 2, No. 2 (May 1998)
<http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1998/issue2/jv2n2a6.html>.
U.S. Policy
On U.S. Middle
East policy, see Cameron Brown's Research Guide <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/research-g/us-policy.html>
The main U.S. Army
site: <http://www.army.mil/>.
U.S. Department of
Defense: <http://www.defenselink.mil/>.
A site devoted to
U.S. Army Forces Central Command in Saudi Arabia: <http://www-sa.arcent.army.mil/>.
U.S. Defense
Department's Annual Defense Reports from 1995 to 2001:
<http://www.dtic.mil/execsec/adr_intro.html>.
In Fall 2001 the
Pentagon will issue its second Quadrennial Defense Review. This page
follows the review process and offers more than 100 analyses: <http://www.comw.org/qdr>.
An official
version of the USS Cole incident: <http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/news_stories/cole.html>.
Yahoo also runs a site collating articles on the probe of the attack on the USS
Cole, including revealing information about how the United States intends to
counter regional security threats: <http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/USS_Cole>.
President George
W. Bush's proposals on missile defense:
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010127/pl/missile_defense_2.html>.
Michael
Eisenstadt, "U.S. Military Capabilities In The Post Cold-War Era:
Implications For Middle East Allies," MERIA Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4
(November 1998): <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1998/issue4/jv2n4a5.html>.
Russia
Jane's
Intelligence Digest, Russian arms sales to Iran: <http://www.janes.com/regional_news/africa_middle_east/news/jid/jid001208_1_n.shtml>
Requiring a
subscription fee, Janes, January 2001, "Iranian, Russian links ring
US alarm bells": <http://jdw.janes.com/subscribe/analysis/jdw7006.html>.
Oksana Antonenko,
"Russia's Military Involvement in the Middle East" <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2001/issue1/jv5n2a3.html>
MERIA Journal published
two pieces by Robert O. Freedman, "Russia and the Middle East: The Primakov
Era" Vol. 2, No. 2 (May 1998) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/1998/issue2/jv2n2a1.html>
and "Russian-Iranian Relations in the 1990s" Vol. 4, No. 2 (June 2000)
<http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue2/jv4n2a5.html>.
Arms Sales
James Bruce,
"Policy and [Arms] Procurement in The Middle East." an excellent
overview, still relevant though written in 1997: <http://pollux.com/dsr97/05-mide1.htm>.
A detailed account
of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia from the Federation of American Scientists:
<http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/saudi_arabia.htm>.
6. WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION
CSIS,
"Weapons of Mass Destruction": <http://www.csis.org/mideast/reports/WMDMEarmes.pdf>.
George Tenet, "Weapons of Mass Destruction: A New
Dimension in U.S. Middle East Policy"
MERIA Vol. 4, No. 2 (June 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue2/jv4n2a4.html>.
On Syria's
chemical weapon capability: <http://www.fas.org/news/syria/960808-il.htm>.
Gawdat Bahgat,
"An Overview of Gulf Security: Oil and Weapons Of Mass Destruction":
<http://www.acronym.org.uk/33gulf.htm>.
The official
Egyptian position criticizing Israel's possession of nuclear weapons: <http://www.sis.gov.eg/nuclear/nukes00.htm>.
FAS photographic
report on Israel's nuclear arsenal: <http://www.meib.org/articles/0009_me3.htm>.
Al J Venter's
cover story for The Middle East, January 2001, "Saddam And The West's Worst
Nightmare": <http://www.africasia.com/icpubs/me/jan01/cover.htm>.
Seth Carus,
"Iran and Weapons of Mass Destruction" MERIA Vol. 4, No.
3 (September 2000) <http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a5.html>.
The Middle East
Intelligence Bulletin often runs features on regional arms acquisitions. One was
an article on Iran's Shihab-3 missile: <http://www.meib.org/articles/0008_me2.htm>.
Dore Gold,
"Middle East Missile Proliferation, Israeli Missile Defense, And the ABM
Treaty Debate": <http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl430.htm>.
Geoffrey Kemp,
"Iran's Nuclear Weapons Options: Issues and Analysis": <http://www.nixoncenter.org/>.
Lawrence Joffe is
London correspondent of MERIA.