This anthology covers Small Wars Journal writings on Iranian and Hezbollah hybrid warfare activities around the world. Writings date from 2007 to 2015, including coverage on the nuclear deal, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and Qods Force global movements, and Hezbollah’s expanding influence as Iran’s proxy. This anthology is meant to support the U.S. security debate on a post-nuclear deal Iran and an increasing Hezbollah presence in Middle East affairs as well as Latin America. This volume is composed of sixty chapters divided into four sections on Iran’s military capabilities and nuclear ambitions, Hezbollah’s global operations, Iranian and Hezbollah influence in Middle Eastern security affairs and their activities in Latin America. Also included is a foreword by Jason Rivera, an afterword by Dr. Luis Fleischman, a postscript by Dr. John P. Sullivan, an acronym listing, chapter notes, suggested readings following each section, and short biographies of the fifty-three contributors showcased in this work.

The rapid proliferation and growing sophistication of aerospace weapons--rockets, missiles, and drones--have altered the landscape of warfare. The influence of these weapons on the battlefield is felt profoundly, yet the mechanism of coercion by which these weapons alter the will of the adversary is poorly understood. In Bombing to Provoke, Jaganath Sankaran argues that it is not what these aerospace weapons physically do but what they prompt the target state to do in response that matters for understanding their coercive effect. By threatening a chemical, biological, or nuclear strike or demonstrating the ability to bombard the target's economic and political core repeatedly, aerospace weapons coerce by weaponizing fear and triggering a sense of defenselessness. Sankaran provides a series of historical and current case studies to show how these fears amplify the political vulnerabilities of the target state, coercing it to divert substantial military resources away from other vital missions to redress the threat. This scenario is playing out in real time right now in both the Russo-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza theaters, both of which are seeing barrages of cross-border missile and rocket fire aimed at weakening the target's resolve. For anyone seeking to understand why states at war in the age of aerospace weapon warfare operate and react in the ways that they do, this book's methodical dissection of the strategic rationale behind these weapons makes it necessary reading.

The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is now in its fourth decade and shows no signs of ending. Raphael D. Marcus examines this conflict since the formation of Hezbollah during Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in the early 1980s. He critically evaluates events including Israel’s long counterguerrilla campaign throughout the 1990s, the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, the 2006 summer war, and concludes with an assessment of current tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon related to the Syrian civil war. Israel’s Long War with Hezbollah is both the first complete military history of this decades-long conflict and an analysis of military innovation and adaptation. The book is based on unique fieldwork in Israel and Lebanon, extensive research into Hebrew and Arabic primary sources, and dozens of interviews Marcus conducted with Israeli defense officials, high-ranking military officers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), United Nations personnel, a Hezbollah official, and Western diplomats. As an expert on organizational learning, Marcus analyzes ongoing processes of strategic and operational innovation and adaptation by both the IDF and Hezbollah throughout the long guerrilla conflict. His conclusions illuminate the dynamics of the ongoing conflict and illustrate the complexity of military adaptation under fire. With Hezbollah playing an ongoing role in the civil war in Syria and the simmering hostilities on the Israel-Lebanon border, students, scholars, diplomats, and military practitioners with an interest in Middle Eastern security issues, Israeli military history, and military innovation and adaptation can ill afford to neglect this book.

Providing an unbiased analysis of the past, present, and future of the hostile relationship between Iran, Israel, and the United States, this book presents an up-to-date discussion of the security implications for each of the two states as well as the entire region. Ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel are highly dangerous for the Middle East and have the potential to spark another major war in the region, perhaps on a much larger scale than prior conflicts. Such a confrontation between the two nations would jeopardize regional and international security, and is of immediate concern for the United States. In this new book noted scholar Jalil Roshandel provides an in-depth look at topics such as Iranian state support for terrorism, its pursuit of nuclear capability and weapons, the implications of this activity for Israel, and their relations with the Iraqi Kurdish region. The United States' role in this conflict is also detailed, including a history if its relations with Iran, policy with Israel, and position as potential mediator. This book offers valuable context that explains the evolution of these relationships rather than simply summarizing the past and present situations, and concludes with thought-provoking policy alternatives for decision makers.

This is the story of an airpower-dominated campaign, one that was deeply flawed in its design yet impressive in its efficiency. This quick-look study is based upon visits to damaged sites, villages, towns, and cities; discussions with government and military officials; and experience of having evaluated airpower and its effects in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia (and previously in Lebanon). Months of follow-up research included exchanges with Israeli, Lebanese, Hezbollah, and US experts. The intent was to develop a timely airpower narrative to enhance professional military education and planning. About the author: William M. Arkin is an independent military analyst, journalist, and author. He writes the "Early Warning" column for washingtonpost.com (where he previously wrote the "DOT.MIL" column from 1998 to 2003) and is a longtime NBC News military analyst.(Originally published by Air University Press)

On July 12, 2006, Israel went to war with Hezbollah in response to the killing and capture of Israeli soldiers along the southern Lebanese border. Believed at the time by many in the West to be an overreaction to a relatively minor border incident resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths in Lebanon, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border, and the deaths of dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians. More important to Israeli nation security, the war exposed basic flaws in Israel’s national security assumptions, and defense strategy. This study reveals that Israel went to war without having clearly defined its critical political, diplomatic, or military goals and objectives. In the years immediately prior to the beginning of the war the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) rejected the long proven principles of war in favor of a novel, incoherent, and confusing doctrine. The war revealed the debilitating impact of a long counterinsurgency campaign on training, and traditional combined arms capabilities. Finally, despite the superb performance of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), airpower and technology proved to be inconclusive and a poor substitute for well-trained resolute maneuver forces directly engaging enemy forces.

Children of the Stone is the unlikely story of Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan, a boy from a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah who confronts the occupying army, gets an education, masters an instrument, dreams of something much bigger than himself, and then inspires scores of others to work with him to make that dream a reality. That dream is of a music school in the midst of a refugee camp in Ramallah, a school that will transform the lives of thousands of children through music. Daniel Barenboim, the Israeli musician and music director of La Scala in Milan and the Berlin Opera, is among those who help Ramzi realize his dream. He has played with Ramzi frequently, at chamber music concerts in Al-Kamandjati, the school Ramzi worked so hard to build, and in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that Barenboim founded with the late Palestinian intellectual, Edward Said. Children of the Stone is a story about music, freedom and conflict; determination and vision. It's a vivid portrait of life amid checkpoints and military occupation, a growing movement of nonviolent resistance, the past and future of musical collaboration across the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and the potential of music to help children see new possibilities for their lives. Above all, Children of the Stone chronicles the journey of Ramzi Aburedwan, and how he worked against the odds to create something lasting and beautiful in a war-torn land.

There is almost unanimous agreement that civilians should be protected from the direct effects of violent conflict, and that the distinction between combatant and non-combatant should be respected. But what are the fundamental ethical questions about civilian immunity? Are new styles of conflict making this distinction redundant? Eloquently combining theory and practice, leading scholars from the fields of political science, law and philosophy have been brought together to provide an essential overview of some of the major ethical, legal and political issues with regard to protecting civilians caught up in modern inter- and intra-state conflicts. In doing so, they examine what is being done, and what can be done, to make soldiers more aware of their responsibilities in this area under international law and the ethics of war, and more able to respond appropriately to the challenges that will confront them in the field. 'Protecting Civilians During Violent Conflict' presents a clear-eyed look at the dilemmas facing regular combatants as they confront enemies in the modern battlespace, and especially the complications arising from the new styles of conflict where enemy and civilian populations merge.