Twin Pillars to Desert Storm

Twin Pillars to Desert Storm PDF

Author: Howard Teicher

Publisher: William Morrow

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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In an insider's account of America's policy in the Middle East over the past 20 years, a former member of the National Security Council shows why America's reliance on regional powers to protect U.S. interests in the Middle East from 1972 through 1991 led directly to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm.C.

The Persian Puzzle

The Persian Puzzle PDF

Author: Kenneth Pollack

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2005-08-09

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 0812973364

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In his highly influential book The Threatening Storm, bestselling author Kenneth Pollack both informed and defined the national debate about Iraq. Now, in The Persian Puzzle, published to coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis, he examines the behind-the-scenes story of the tumultuous relationship between Iran and the United States, and weighs options for the future. Here Pollack, a former CIA analyst and National Security Council official, brings his keen analysis and insider perspective to the long and ongoing clash between the United States and Iran, beginning with the fall of the shah and the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979. Pollack examines all the major events in U.S.-Iran relations–including the hostage crisis, the U.S. tilt toward Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, the Iran-Contra scandal, American-Iranian military tensions in 1987 and 1988, the covert Iranian war against U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf that culminated in the 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, and recent U.S.-Iran skirmishes over Afghanistan and Iraq. He explains the strategies and motives from American and Iranian perspectives and tells how each crisis colored the thinking of both countries’ leadership as they shaped and reshaped their policies over time. Pollack also describes efforts by moderates of various stripes to try to find some way past animosities to create a new dynamic in Iranian-American relations, only to find that when one side was ready for such a step, the other side fell short. With balanced tone and insight, Pollack explains how the United States and Iran reached this impasse; why this relationship is critical to regional, global, and U.S. interests; and what basic political choices are available as we deal with this important but deeply troubled country.

A World of Trouble

A World of Trouble PDF

Author: Patrick Tyler

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2010-02-16

Total Pages: 640

ISBN-13: 1429930853

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A spellbinding narrative account of America in the Middle East that "reads almost like a thriller" (The Economist) The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so—and as Patrick Tyler shows in A World of Trouble, a thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region. The story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy. Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Middle East across U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momentous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of this narrative—from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage crisis to George W. Bush's catastrophe in Iraq—lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into the affairs of the region against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Above all, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America on the streets of the region and confusion at home. A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he or she tries to restore America's standing in the region.

The Whirlwind War

The Whirlwind War PDF

Author: Frank N. Schubert

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9780160429545

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CMH Publication 70-30. Edited by Frank N. Schubert and TheresaL. Kraus. Discusses the United States Army's role in the Persian Gulf War from August 1990 to February 1991. Shows the various strands that came together to produce the army of the 1990s and how that army in turn performed under fire and in the glare of world attention. Retains a sense of immediacy in its approach. Contains maps which were carefully researched and compiled as original documents in their own right. Includes an index.

Powerlift--Getting to Desert Storm

Powerlift--Getting to Desert Storm PDF

Author: Doug Menarchik

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1993-09-30

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1573568902

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Logistics, the movement of forces to battlefields, their supply, and on-going support, is critical to military success. Although this principle is theoretically accepted, the importance of being well-prepared to rapidly transport troops and supplies to distant crisis points has not been complemented, as Menarchik shows, by adequate lift capabilities. The author uses the six-month buildup to Desert Storm as proof that the United States needs to increase the priority of logistics in strategy and improve its strategic transport capabilities, especially surge strategic lift. Current transport capabilities will not be positioned or structured to respond effectively to the contingencies associated with America's growing responsibilities given the realities of the New World Order. Menarchik, himself an experienced pilot, policy planner, and operational commander, clearly demonstrates that Powerlift directly affects choices, timing, strategy development and implementation, and sweeping policy options. He shows that although combat strategy and tactics receive high profile attention it is Lift capability and capacity as a prerequisite that is fundamental to attaining objectives. Readers will learn where, how, and why America needs to improve its capabilities.

Politics of Confrontation

Politics of Confrontation PDF

Author: Babak Ganji

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2006-04-28

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0857715755

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Did the United States know more than it acknowledges about growing unrest under the Shah in mid-1970s Iran? Have historians of American-Iranian relations focused too narrowly on prevailing historical theory and personal recollection? In a period of escalating tension between the United States and Iran, what can the two nations' history of conflict tell us about their diplomatic future? Covering Carter's policy from the end of the Shah's reign to the revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini, Babak Ganji explores the nature of their perpetually antagonistic relations and the mistrust and misunderstanding that fuels it. Politics of Confrontation is a penetrating critique of international relations theory within the historical framework of US-Iranian relations, as well as a thorough examination of American policy towards Iran. It is the first in-depth look at documents seized by revolutionary students from the American Embassy during the infamous hostage crisis, and debunks the myth that US officials were unaware of the nature of opposition to the Shah or of Soviet influence on senior clerics. These findings are an essential addition to the discourse of foreign policy theorists and invaluable for historians of the US, Iran and the Cold War.

Bombing to Win

Bombing to Win PDF

Author: Robert A. Pape

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2014-04-11

Total Pages: 547

ISBN-13: 0801471508

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From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.

Reagan on War

Reagan on War PDF

Author: Gail E. S. Yoshitani

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2011-11-30

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1603445773

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Even at the time it was announced near the end of the first term of the Reagan administration, such luminaries as William Safire mischaracterized the Weinberger Doctrine as a conservative retreat from the use of force in U.S. international relations. Since that time, scholars have largely agreed with Safire that the six points spelled out in the statement represented a reaction to the Vietnam War and were intended to limit U.S. military action to “only the fun wars” that could be relatively easily won or those in response to direct attack. In this work of extensive original scholarship, military historian Gail Yoshitani argues that the Weinberger Doctrine was intended to legitimize the use of military force as a tool of statecraft, rather than to reserve force for a last resort after other instruments of power have failed. This understanding sheds much clearer light on recent foreign policy decisions, as well as on the formulation and adoption of the original doctrine. With the permission of the family of former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, Yoshitani gained access to Weinberger’s papers at the Library of Congress. She is the first scholar granted access to General (ret.) John Vessey’s archive at the Library, and her security clearance has made it possible for her to read and use a large number of materials still classified as secret or top secret. Yoshitani uses three case studies from the Reagan administration’s first term in office—Central America and two deployments in Lebanon—to analyze how the administration grappled with using military force in pursuit of national interests. Ultimately, the administration codified the lessons it learned during its first term in the Weinberger Doctrine promulgated by Secretary of Defense Weinberger in a speech on November 28, 1984, two weeks after Reagan won reelection in a landslide. Yoshitani carefully considers the Weinberger Doctrine’s six tests to be applied when considering the use of military force as a tool of statecraft. Just as the Reagan administration was forced to dance an intricate step in the early 1980s as it sought to use force as a routine part of statecraft, current and future administrations face similar challenges. Yoshitani’s analysis facilitates a better understanding of the Doctrine and how it might be applied by American national security managers today. This corrective to the common wisdom about the Weinberger Doctrine’s goals and applicability to contemporary issues will appeal not only to diplomatic and military historians, but also to military leaders and general readers concerned about America’s decision making concerning the use of force.

The First War on Terrorism

The First War on Terrorism PDF

Author: David C. Wills

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 9780742531291

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The First War on Terrorism examines the response of the Reagan Administration to the political violence it confronted during the 1980s. David C. Wills takes the reader inside the negotiations over how to respond to terrorist acts and shows how the Reagan Administration's decision making process was a crucial obstacle to formulating a consistent and effective terrorism policy.