Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991

Ken Pollack of the White House's National Security Council describes and analyzes the military history of six of the most important Arab statesv - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Syria - during the post-World War II era. For all of these countries, except Jordan, this is the first time their complete postwar military histories have been recorded in unclassified form. In particular Pollack focuses on the Arab armies themselves, helping to illuminate the reasons for seeming Arab military ineffectiveness in the modern era. He shows in detail how each Arab military grew and learned from its own experiences in response to the specific objectives set for it and within often constrained political, economic, and social circumstances. This first ever overview of the Arab approach to warfare provides a better understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the Arab militaries, some of which are the United States' most likely adversaries, while others are some of our most important allies.