Vanguard of the Imam - Afshon Ostovar

Vanguard of the Imam

Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards

(Autor)

Buch | Hardcover
320 Seiten
2016
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-938789-2 (ISBN)
56,10 inkl. MwSt
Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today, but remain poorly understood to outside observers. In Vanguard of the Imam, Afshon Ostovar has written the first comprehensive history of the organization.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today. As the appointed defender of Iran's revolution, the Guards have evolved into a pillar of the Islamic Republic and the spearhead of its influence. Their sway has spread across the Middle East, where the Guards have overseen loyalist support to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and been a staunch backer in Iraq's war against ISIS-bringing its own troops, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Shiite militias to the fight. Links to terrorism, human rights abuses, and the suppression of popular democracy have shrouded the Revolutionary Guards in controversy.

In spite of their prominence, the Guards remain poorly understood to outside observers. In Vanguard of the Imam, Afshon Ostovar has written the first comprehensive history of the organization. Situating the rise of the Guards in the larger contexts of Shiite Islam, modern Iranian history, and international affairs, Ostovar takes a multifaceted approach in demystifying the organization and detailing its evolution since 1979. Politics, power, and religion collide in this story, wherein the Revolutionary Guards transform from a rag-tag militia established in the midst of revolutionary upheaval into a military and covert force with a global reach.

The Guards have been fundamental to the success of the Islamic revolution. The symbiotic relationship between them and Iran's clerical rulers underpins the regime's nearly unshakeable system of power. The Guards have used their privileged position at home to export Iran's revolution beyond its borders, establishing client armies in their image and extending Iran's strategic footprint in the process. Ostovar tenaciously documents the Guards' transformation into a power-player and explores why the group matters now more than ever to regional and global affairs. The book simultaneously serves as a history of modern Iran, and provides a crucial and engrossing entryway into the complex world of war, politics, and identity in the Middle East.

Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Senior Analyst at Center for Strategic Studies at CNA; PhD in History from the University of Michigan

1. Introduction
Brief Overview of the IRGC
Literature Review
Conceptualizing the IRGC
Pro-clerical Activism
Primacy of the Leader
Military Power and State-building
Chapters and Questions

2. From Ali to Khomeini
The Formation of Shiite Islam
Rise of the Clergy
The Islamic Movement
Revolutionary Ideology

3. Vanguard of the Imam
Enter the Vanguard
Roots and Radicals
Khomeini Über Alles
One System to Rule Them All

4. The Imposed War
Invasion
Civil Discord and a Stymied War Effort
The Islamic Republic Strikes Back

5. The Long War
The International Dimension
Running into Walls
In the Path of the Divine
A Fleeting Taste of Victory
The Bitter End

6. Exporting the Revolution and the Khomeinist Divide
Revolutionary Internationalism
A Conservative Turn
Toward the Liberation of Jerusalem
The Revolution Comes to Lebanon
Fall of the Radicals

7. Culture and Identity
The Islamic Model Army
Power of the Pen
Wartime Cultural Activism
Visual Identity
Iconology of the Self
Warriors of Karbala

8. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Postwar Reconstruction under Rafsanjani
Propagating Virtue, Prohibiting Vice
Taking Back the Revolution

9. The War on Terror
Fear of a Nuclear Iran
Electing Ahmadinejad
An Iran Ascendant
The Specter of War

10. Big Bang, Big Crunch
"Death to the Dictator!"
Rebranding the Basij
Springtime
A Cornered Lion
Knives Out

11. In Defense of the Family of the Prophet
In Defense of Sayyida Zaynab
A Return to Karbala

12. Conclusion

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort New York
Sprache englisch
Maße 236 x 155 mm
Gewicht 562 g
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Geschichte Regional- / Ländergeschichte
Geschichte Teilgebiete der Geschichte Militärgeschichte
Sozialwissenschaften Politik / Verwaltung
Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie
ISBN-10 0-19-938789-3 / 0199387893
ISBN-13 978-0-19-938789-2 / 9780199387892
Zustand Neuware
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