An analysis of the impact of American arms transfers on political stability in Iran.
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Authors
Gates, Gregory Francis
Subjects
Iran
arms transfers
civil strife
economic growth
defense expenditures
arms transfers
civil strife
economic growth
defense expenditures
Advisors
Laurance, E.J.
Looney, Rob E.
Date of Issue
1980-09
Date
September 1980
Publisher
Language
en_US
Abstract
During the decade of the 1970s, the United States sold more arms to
Iran than to any other country. In spite of Iran's vast oil wealth, the
billions of dollars spent by the Shah on arms aquisitions had a measurable
impact on both the country's economy and its ability to maintain a steady
rate of developmental growth. Iran has traditionally been regarded as a
non-resource constrained nation. However, in the latter half of the 1970s
Iran's trade surpluses dwindled, its foreign exchange reserves shrank, and
government expenditures outran revenues. All of which indicated that Iran
was becoming resource constrained. As such, the nation's tremendous defense
budget proved to be an economic burden. Spiralling inflation, failing
development plans and rising unemployment were the result. The people's
rising expectations, brought on by the oil boom of 1973, were quickly replaced
by a perception of relative deprivation. This prompted a linkage of
various disenchanted groups within Iranian society who together formed
the basis for Iran's civil strife in 1977-78, and the eventual downfall
of the Shah.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.