This volume examines the Middle East's leading armed forces and their role in both military and political affairs. It considers their missions, doctrine, training, equipment and effectiveness as fighting forces. At the same time, the various expert contributors discuss the relations between the armed forces and their respective governments, with the issues raised ranging from internal repression to budgetary matters. On some issues, high-ranking officers force Arab regimes to meet their demands. In other ways, regimes impose restrictions on the armies in order to maintian their own political control. These mechanisms also reduce the soldiers' military quality, and hence their ability to wage war. Among the armed forces specifically examined in this volume are those of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Turkey. Other chapters provide an overview of the Middle Eastern militaries' political role and strategic value; of why Arab armies have performed poorly in warfare; and of the part played by the United States and Russia in training, arms supplies, shaping the doctrine of local militaries, and engaging in direct intervention.

Table of Contents:
The military in contemporary Middle East politics, Barry Rubin; why Arab armies lose wars, Norvell De Atkine; US policy and Middle East armed forces, Marvin C. Feuer; Russia's military involvement with the Middle East, Oksana Antonenkio; guns and butter in the Egyptian Army, Hillel Frisch; the Syrian Army on the domestic and external fronts, Eyal Zisser; soldiers without fortune - Palestinian militarization in the post-statehood era, Gal Luft; the Jordanian Army - between domestic and external challenges, Alexander Bligh; the Israel Defence Force - continuity and change, Stuart A. Cohen; the military and politics - a Turkish dilemma, Umit Cizre Sakallioglu; Saddam Husayn, the Ba'th Regime and the Iraqi Officer Corps, Amatzia Baram; the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran - an assessment, Michael Eisenstadt.