Iran’s Revolutionary Guard: How Revolutionary?

by Henry Johnson Ayatollah Khomeini once declared that if it weren’t for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), there would be no revolutionary Iran. In many ways, he was right. From its humble roots among disorganized militias fighting the Shah,… Continue Reading

America’s Persian and Arabian Wars

by Chas Freeman Sometime between 460 and 450 B.C.E., Herodotus wrote The Persian Wars, his account of the Greeks’ two wars with the Persians, which spanned thirteen years. Even in a time when trends and events unfolded more slowly than… Continue Reading

Tikrit: Threat or Opportunity for Iran’s Regional Hegemony?

by Arash Reisinezhad Although Iraq’s regular army, along with U.S.-led coalition aircraft, eventually restored Baghdad’s control over Tikrit last week, major credit for the victory over the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or IS) belonged to Iraq’s eastern neighbor. It was… Continue Reading

Purim: When Bad History Makes Bad Policy

Is it really a good idea for a US President to look to a biblical novella (especially one whose “happy ending” is the death of tens of thousands of people), or to any religious text, as his guidebook on foreign affairs? Continue Reading