Document Type

Blog

Department

Politics and Economics (CGU)

Publication Date

2007

Disciplines

Military and Veterans Studies | Political Science | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Abstract

The recent U.S. consideration to designate the 125,000 person strong Revolutionary Guard of Iran as a "specially designated global terrorist" (per Executive Order 13224) has quite a few international security implications. (1) On the most basic level, it highlights growing U.S. and Iranian tensions over Iran's nuclear weapons program and Iranian involvement—via its Quds Force belonging to the Revolutionary Guard—in both fermenting and supporting terrorist and insurgent activities in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

What may be far more significant, however, is the U.S. designating the military branch of a sovereign state as a terrorist organization. In the past, such designations have applied only to non-state entities. (2) While the intent of such a designation would be to target the Revolutionary Guard's multi-billion dollar business network with ties to over 100 companies, (3) broader implications concerning state sovereignty, political legitimacy, and, ultimately, non-state-on-state conflict readily emerge. Before these issues are discussed, a short overview of Iran's Revolutionary Guard or IRG should be provided with a focus on the Quds Force.

Comments

"Are We Prematurely Designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards as Criminal-Soldiers? " by Robert Bunker is reprinted from Small Wars Journal per the Creative Commons license granted upon its original publication.

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© 2007 Small Wars Foundation

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