Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness
Published By: Oxford University Press
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Named one of Choice’s Outstanding Academic Titles of 2019
Since the Second World War, Arab armed forces have consistently punched below their weight. They have lost many wars that by all rights they should have won, and in their best performances only ever achieved quite modest accomplishments. Over time, soldiers, scholars, and military experts have offered various explanations for this pattern. Reliance on Soviet military methods, the poor civil-military relations of the Arab world, the underdevelopment of the Arab states, and patterns of behavior derived from the wider Arab culture have all been suggested as the ultimate source of Arab military difficulties.
“Armies of Sand,” Kenneth M. Pollack’s powerful and riveting history of Arab armies from the end of World War II to the present, assesses these differing explanations and isolates the most important causes. Over the course of the book, he examines the combat performance of 15 Arab armies and air forces in virtually every Middle Eastern war, from the Jordanians and Syrians in 1948 to Hizballah in 2006 and the Iraqis and ISIS in 2014–17. He then compares these experiences to the performance of the Argentine, Chadian, Chinese, Cuban, North Korean, and South Vietnamese armed forces in their own combat operations during the 20th century.
The book ultimately concludes that reliance on Soviet doctrine was more of a help than a hindrance to the Arabs. In contrast, politicization and underdevelopment were both important factors limiting Arab military effectiveness, but patterns of behavior derived from the dominant Arab culture was the most important factor of all.
Pollack closes with a discussion of the rapid changes occurring across the Arab world — political, economic, and cultural — as well as the rapid evolution in war making as a result of the information revolution. He suggests that because both Arab society and warfare are changing, the problems that have bedeviled Arab armed forces in the past could dissipate or even vanish in the future, with potentially dramatic consequences for the Middle East military balance. Sweeping in its historical coverage and highly accessible, this will be the go-to reference for anyone interested in the history of warfare in the Middle East since 1945.
Praise for “Armies of Sand”
“Overall, ‘Armies of Sand’ is an expansive and important book, which compellingly illustrates how Arab military underperformance can largely be attributed to cultural traits, reinforced by a flawed educational system. All those who study or work on issues related to Arab military organizations should be required to closely read this book.”
“The research is thorough, the conclusions well-reasoned and defended, and Pollack’s writing combines an analyst’s terseness with a historian’s talent for making a fairly esoteric subject interesting and readable.”
“Ultimately, ‘Armies of Sand’ weighs an impressive number of political, economic and cultural factors and overturns a great many relic interpretations.”
“Pollack’s remarkable study has important if sobering implications for the region and states seeking to influence and control it.”
“Pollack’s masterful study of Arab militaries within a wide-ranging historical and geographical context across over 500 pages expresses his lifetime of wisdom on military matters. He provides essential reading for a critical understanding of Arab armed forces and the societies behind them. While military malfeasance will continue to bedevil Arabs for years to come, Armies of Sand’s solid scholarship will stand the test of time.”
“The author has done a masterful job of pulling together disparate pieces of recent Arab military history with the lessons learned and weaving together a scholarly and well-supported conclusion: The key to the Arab military deficiency in conventional warfare is cultural.”
“Ultimately, Armies of Sand weighs an impressive number of political, economic and cultural factors and overturns a great many relic interpretations.”
“Pollack’s remarkable study has important if sobering implications for the region and states seeking to influence and control it.”
“With its novel approach to military analysis, Pollack’s ‘Armies of Sand’ is an excellent addition to the literature on military effectiveness writ large and on the modern Middle East. It is an absolute must-read for any intelligence, diplomatic, or military leader hoping to effect positive change in the region.”
