Scott A. Shaw

Technology, Concepts, and Tactics and the Islamic Way of War Scott A. Shaw

The United States has attempted for several decades to assist in the modernization of armies in the Middle East. These armies are rich in tradition and heritage of medieval and pre-modern Islamic armies. Islamic armies possess an ability to assimilate technology, concepts, and tactics from external sources, but refuse to assimilate the associated culture of that technology. Instead, they choose to use foreign ideas and technology in an Islamic manner. They create massive land armies of untrained soldiers unable to assimilate modern technology, concepts, and tactics. Their inability to develop new technology and effectively utilize imported technology, concepts, and tactics inevitably adversely affects their performance. This challenge will continue to plague the United States unless there is a significant effort to understand the underlying culture of those armies. In order for modern Islamic nations to bring their armies out of the Ottoman decay, they must professionalize. Well-educated, well-trained, professional armies are superior to larger less well-trained and educated armies. Perfect examples of this are the wars between Israel and Egypt in the 1960s and early 1970s. Understanding the complexity of developing a well educated, well trained Islamic will assist US military personnel advise Islamic armies in the pursuit of modernization.