Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings. Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies.

It is not uncommon to hear states and their leaders criticized for "mixing oil and politics." The U.S.-led Iraq War was criticized as a "war for oil." When energy exporters overtly use energy as a tool to promote their foreign policy goals, Europe and the United States regularly decry the use of energy as a "weapon" rather than accept it as a standard and legitimate tool of diplomacy.In "Energy Politics," Brenda Shaffer argues that energy and politics are intrinsically linked. Modern life--from production of goods, to means of travel and entertainment, to methods of waging war--is heavily dependent on access to energy. A country's ability to acquire and use energy supplies crucially determines the state of its economy, its national security, and the quality and sustainability of its environment. Energy supply can serve as a basis for regional cooperation, but at the same time can serve as a source of conflict among energy seekers and between producers and consumers.Shaffer provides a broad introduction to the ways in which energy affects domestic and regional political developments and foreign policy. While previous scholarship has focused primarily on the politics surrounding oil, Shaffer broadens her scope to include the increasingly important role of natural gas and alternative energy sources as well as emerging concerns such as climate change, the global energy divide, and the coordinated international policy-making required to combat them. "Energy Politics" concludes with examinations of how politics and energy interact in six of the world's largest producers and consumers of energy: Russia, Europe, the United States, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

The Operational Energy textbook provides military officers the knowledge and skills to effectively plan for the operational energy needs of their forces and missions. After completion, students should be able to carry out relevant analysis, planning and strategy across the Services and organizations of the US national security enterprise. The Pentagon defines Operational Energy (OE) as "energy required for training, moving, and sustaining military forces and weapons platforms for military operations." Planning and strategizing for these energy needs is an integral part of all combat and regular operations. Energy is one of the biggest constraints and at the same time most important enablers of ability to fulfill military missions. Moreover, proper operational energy strategies and tactics can reduce casualties and save lives. The most recent example is that fuel and water delivery missions accounted for more than one-tenth of the US military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book also examines issues that have not been discussed in previously published academic or policy literature, such as the impact of civilian demands for the military to use increased amounts of renewable energy as well as threats from the use of civilian supply chains for energy supplies. The US military is the largest consumer of energy in the US federal government. In light of this, many US public officials as part of their drive to promote greater use of renewable energy and reduction of climate altering emissions, may require that the military fuel mix include significant amounts of renewable energy and that the military reduce its carbon emissions. Accordingly, the book will examine how the US armed forces can adjust to these rising public demands, while still fulfilling its military mission. The book will also look at the security challenges of use of civilian supply chains. The US military procures most of its energy from civilian suppliers. In 2019, the US military purchased 49 percent of its fuel supplies from outside the United States, including in Asia and the Middle East. As the Covid-19 challenge revealed, critical US supply lines depend on production in China and other US adversaries. Washington recently initiated policies to reduce US vulnerability to supply disruptions of critical materials and products through reducing exposure to needs of products and materials produced in China and other countries. The implementation of these initiatives will require new strategies and policies for the US military to meet its energy needs securely.

When countries discover that they possess large deposits of oil and natural gas, the news is usually welcome. Yet, paradoxically, if they rely on their wealth of natural resources, they often set down a path of poor economic performance and governance challenges. Only a few resource-rich countries have managed to develop their economies fully and provide a better and sustainable standard of living for large segments of their populations. This phenomenon, known as the resource curse, is a core challenge for energy-exporting states. "Beyond the Resource Curse" focuses on this relationship between natural wealth and economic security, discussing the particular pitfalls and consistent perils facing oil- and gas-exporting states.The contributors to this volume look beyond the standard fields of research related to the resource curse. They also shed new light on the specific developmental problems of resource-rich exporting states around the globe, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, East Timor, Iran, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.Policy makers and academics think of energy security solely in terms of the interests of energy importers. "Beyond the Resource Curse" shows that the constant volatility in energy markets creates energy security challenges for exporters as well.