Table of Contents

ACRONYMS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1: US FOREIGN POLICY AND HYBRID WARFARE CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED CHAPTER 3: THE OFFSPRING OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN CHAPTER 4: LAYING THE FOUNDATION CHAPTER 5: A CIVIL-MILITARY REVOLUTION IN POST-WAR EXPANSION CHAPTER 6: THE IRGC ECONOMY CHAPTER 7: THE IRANIAN WAY OF WAR CHAPTER 8: ROUHANI AND THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT CHAPTER 9: AN IRANIAN CYBER COMMAND? CHAPTER 10: A MODERN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE AGE OF HYBRID WARFARE BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Explores Iran’s IRGC and Qods Force, with focus on its development following the Iranian Revolution and how they have transformed Iran’s defense doctrine to fight an irregular war that challenges the US and the West.

About the Author

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

Reviews

A detailed and informative discussion of Iran's development of a hybrid warfare strategy and the central role of the IRGC
*Russell A. Berman, Stanford University, USA*

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.
*Amira Jadoon, Clemson University, US*

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.
*General James N. Mattis, United States Marine Corps (Retired)*

This book provides an excellent analysis of the criticality of the IRGC and is very recommended both for policymakers and academics dealing with Middle Eastern security issues.
*Small Wars and Insurgencies*

Conflict in the 21st century has repeatedly shown how weaker, non-state entities can outmaneuver more technologically advanced and better resourced state adversaries. No state has been more effective at incorporating foreign militias into its broader foreign policy than the Islamic Republic of Iran, and no state military has used foreign groups more successfully than the IRGC. As Alma Keshavarz shows in this timely book, the IRGC has relied on proxies as part of its broader hybrid warfare strategy, which it has used to challenge the United States and its regional allies in the Middle East. Through exploring the IRGC’s approach to warfare, Keshavarz also identifies America’s disjointed policy toward Iran, and offers a way forward centered on understanding the utility hybrid warfare offers ambitious and disruptive middle powers. ­­––
*Afshon Ostovar, author of Vanguard of the Imam.*