Title:
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Iranian military modernisation, 1921-1979 : assessing the interrelationships between the internal politics, the nature of internal and external security environment and the processes of military modernisation and expansion
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Iranian Military Modernisation, 1921-1979:
assessing the interrelationships between internal politics, the nature of the internal and
external security environment and the processes of military modernisation and expansion
Gholamali Chegnizadeh
The objective of this thesis is to investigate the factors that positively and/or negatively
affected the process of military modernisation and expansion in Iran during 1921-79. In doing
so, the thesis will embark on a thorough historical study of the Iranian armed forces. This
involves an examination of the link between the changes which took place in the size,
mission and armament of the armed forces and the characteristics of Iranian society and polity
on the one hand, and the nature of the external and internal security environment on the other.
One important theme in this study is the radical break which took place in the process of
military modernisation and expansion in the period after 1963. Prior to this era, the process of
military modernisation was mainly influenced by the Shah's weak internal position, by the
internal struggle for power, internal uncertainty and instability, and by the objection of the
United States (as the main provider of financial and hardware resources) to any major change
in the size and/or armament of the military forces. Therefore, during this period Iran
possessed a modest and not even efficient military establishment preoccupied mainly with
internal sources of insecurity.
However, several internal, regional and international developments in the post -1965 period
changed the entire strategic context within which the army sought to operate. These changes
alongside an increase in oil revenues, on the one hand, paved the way for the formation of a
highly personalised form of internal politics; and on the other it created an opportunity for
Iran to gain predominance in the politics of the region. The study shows that it was these two
factors - the formation of a highly personalised, highly centralised form of internal politics
and the changing regional strategic environment - which greatly shaped the understanding and
definition of security threats and the process of military modernisation and expansion in the
latter half of the 1960' s.
The main characteristic of the established political system after the mid-1960s was the
centrality of the Shah in the decision-making process. This, in conjunction with the Shah's
personal interest in military and strategic affairs, hindered the formation of any meaningful
bureaucratic organisation and frustrated the emergence of any independent power base in the
armed forces. This consequently led to a one-man system of control. As a result, the Shah's
personal characteristics and psychological make-up became the sole determining factor in
issues such as the definition of security threats and the structure, organisation, armament and
mission of the military forces. The armed forces, accordingly, became identified with the
Shah's personal apprehension and aspirations and organisationally became totally dependent
on him for its reproduction.
A second important theme is that the army, in the midst of its wholesale reorganisation, was
faced with a major civil upheaval in 1978179. This study shows that the army was neither
trained or equipped, or morally or organisationally capable of dealing with the emerging
political crisis. With the Shah's mental and physical health in dramatic decline, and with the
economic recession intensifying, the above factors combined resulting in a total collapse of
the Shah's regime and paralysation of the armed forces. This characterised the end of hali a
century of efforts towards military modernisation in Iran.
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