The strengths and weaknesses of joint warfare

The cultural and physical diversity added with the dramatic social changes of the last three decades on the continent makes the family pattern situation so variegated as to defy any sweeping generalizations. This difficulty in generalization bone of diversity was already apparent to many early scholars of the African traditional family like Mair1 and Goode2. This chapter will briefly explore traditional African family patterns describing the patrilineal and matrilineal families.

Search Toggle display of website navigation Argument: May 7,5: But there has always been a risk of escalation — and that risk will heighten dramatically on Tuesday if President Donald Trump withdraws from the Iran nuclear deal, as seems likely. That could lead to an increase in military provocations by Iran in the region, and embolden any Saudi response.

The outcome of the first Saudi-Iranian war would ultimately depend on the shape it ended up taking. The two countries differ markedly in the size and capabilities of their forces. Iran has the larger military, with two forces — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC and the Artesh regular military — composed of complementary air, naval, and land branches.

Unable to update its military capabilities, Iran has instead invested in other areas, especially ballistic missiles, to provide a competitive edge with its neighbors.

Its ground-to-ground ballistic missile variants, such as the Zolfaghar mile range and Shahab-3 mile rangecould potentially target strategic infrastructure and population centers well within Saudi territory.

Iran showcased that capability in June when it fired six Zolfaghar missiles at Islamic State-held territory near the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, The strengths and weaknesses of joint warfare miles from the launch points in western Iran.

The Saudi military is smaller but better armed. Its chief strengths lie in airpower and air defense. Saudi Arabia also has a small but perhaps growing stockpile of ballistic missiles.

Its Strategic Missile Force is believed to possess dozens of aging liquid-fueled Chinese DF-3 medium-range missiles 2, to 3,mile range and possibly some solid-fueled DF medium-range missiles 1,mile range as well.

Of course, capabilities are one thing, effectiveness on the battlefield another. Experience matters and can help a military identify its weaknesses and develop strengths. Both countries have had recent experience in combat, albeit in different ways and to different extents.

Although Iran and its clients have been inseparable from the ground successes in both Syria and Iraq, those advances have been paved by foreign air power by the United States in Iraq and Russia in Syria.

Further, they have relied on artillery bombardments, which essentially flattened the adversarial-held population centers before they were retaken. The Saudis have comparatively less combat experience. InSaudi and Kuwaiti forces struggled to defeat an Iraqi tank column that had occupied the Saudi town of Khafji.

They ultimately prevailed with U. The Saudi campaign, which included Jordanian and perhaps Moroccan troops, lasted only a few months and concentrated on the bombing of Houthi positions near the border.

Despite retaking some strategic high ground along the border, the aerial campaign had only a small impact on the overall ground war. That limited track record clearly did not prepare the Saudis for the current war in Yemen.

But the longer the current war continues, the more experience the Saudi military will gain. Thus, as crude as it might be to think of the ongoing Yemeni conflict as military practice for the Saudis, given the brutal toll it has had on civilians, that is precisely what it has been.

Still, the campaign has only had limited success. Although the Saudi-led coalition was effective early on in pushing pro-Houthi forces out of positions in the south, it has struggled to make advancements in the north. Given their respective capabilities and recent experiences in combat, both countries have strengths and weaknesses, but neither has a clear advantage over the other.

Saudi airpower would enable it to maintain dominance in the skies in any conflict with Iran. Iran, for its part, would likely be able to achieve primacy in the maritime domain, especially in the Persian Gulf, where its fast attack craft, diesel submarines, and mine-laying vessels could be used to target Saudi shipping, naval ships, and ports.

Iran could also strike Saudi strategic infrastructure and population centers with ballistic missiles.

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If a Saudi-Iran conflict were to occur in a vacuum, the war would not be about territory or regime change by force. Neither side can take the fight across the Persian Gulf, much less seize and hold strategic areas in adversarial territory.

The conflict would be about inflicting damage to both punish the other side and compel it to cease hostile behavior. While the Saudis — with their superior air power, access to foreign military technology, and far greater wealth — might be better situated to endure such a conflict, if not impose greater costs on the Iranians, the Islamic Republic has less to lose and has shown an ability to withstand years of warfare against greater powers.

However, it is unlikely that such a conflict would involve only those two parties and not grow to involve other states. Iran lacks state allies except for Syria, of course, which is hardly a state nowbut it does have a robust, transnational alliance with nonstate clients in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

Were such a conflict to occur, it is difficult to imagine that the United States would not become involved in one way or another in support of the Saudis. Although Iran could certainly raise the costs of American involvement by targeting U. Thus, the possible involvement of the United States would be the x-factor in any potential conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In other words, it would be incredibly risky for Iran to court escalation with Saudi Arabia. Afshon Ostovar is the author of Vanguard of the Imam:What are Russia's military strengths and weaknesses relative to NATO?

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31st May 1916

In Georgia, they tested out their Tactics of Manoeuvre Warfare, and it worked, essentially stopping the Georgian army from storming this City (forgot the name sadly), even though the Georgians were more or less armed with the same excitement. Argument The First Saudi-Iranian War Will Be an Even Fight What happens when the Saudi military's massive budget meets Iran's mastery of asymmetric warfare?

It is useful to consider strategy formulation as part of a strategic management process that comprises three phases: diagnosis, formulation, and implementation.

Strategic management is an ongoing process to develop and revise future-oriented strategies that allow an organization to achieve its objectives, considering its capabilities. A History of Air Warfare [John Andreas Olsen] on caninariojana.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

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Irregular warfare in World War II flourished in inverse proportion to the fortunes of conventional forces. By then Lawrence was gone, though not his influence, much to Orde Wingate’s consternation.

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