Transcript Area of Responsibility

US Central Command
Area of Responsibility
Overview
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Area of Responsibility
Religion
Language
Political Systems
US Interests
Area of Responsibility
• Hotbed of activity in recent history
– Iran Hostage Crisis
– Attacks on Marines in Beirut
– Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait
– OEF and OIF
Area of Responsibility
• USCENTCOM established 1 Jan 83
• Focus on potential Soviet invasion of
Iran gave way to concern over
Saddam Hussein
– Desert Shield/Storm
• Humanitarian crisis in
Somalia—Operation
Provide Hope
• Khobar towers attack
Area of Responsibility
• Territory
– Establishment of USAFRICOM on 1 Oct 2008
pulled six countries from USCENTCOM
– USCENTCOM
currently responsible
for twenty countries
in Asia and Africa
Area of Responsibility
• History of the Region
– The Crusades
– Rise and Fall of Soviet Union
– Establishment of Israel
– Fundamentalist Islam and Militant
Islamic Terrorism
Religion
• Home of three of world’s major religions
– Judaism
– Christianity
– Islam
• Commonalities
– Abraham
– Sacred texts
– Jerusalem
Religion
• Dominance of Islam
– Majority of USCENTCOM nations are Muslim
– Except for five countries, 90% of countries’
population is Muslim
• Five Pillars of Islam
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Recitation of Creed
Daily Prayer
Almsgiving
Fasting
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Religion
• Sunni-Shi’a Split
– Sunnis
• 85-90% of Muslims
• Abu Bakr succeeded Mohammed
• Current imams not inspired
– Shi’as
• 10-15% of Muslims
• Ali ibn Abi Talib succeeded
Mohammed
• Current imams are infallible
manifestations of God
Language
• USCENTCOM AOR is linguistically diverse
– Most common languages are Arabic and Persian
• Great variety in regional and country dialects, e.g.,
Afghanistan has two official languages, Dari and
Pashto
– Arabic language somewhat standardized in
Middle Eastern countries
– Turkic languages—Kyrgyz and Kazak—are
common in Central Asian nations
Political Systems
• Majority of countries are republican or
democratic; however, some are only nominal
representatives of democracies
• Fallacy to assume all USCENTCOM nations
are authoritarian or anti-Western
Political Systems
Afghanistan—Islamic Republic
Oman—Monarchy
Bahrain—Constitutional Monarchy
Pakistan—Federal Republic
Egypt—Islamic Republic
Qatar—Emirate
Iran—Theocratic Republic
Saudi Arabia—Monarchy
Iraq—Parliamentary Democracy
Syria—Authoritarian Republic
Jordan—Constitutional Monarchy
Tajikistan—Republic
Kazakhstan—Republic
Turkmenistan—Presidential Republic
Kuwait—Constitutional Emirate
United Arab Emirates—Federation
Kyrgyzstan—Republic
Uzbekistan—Republic
Lebanon—Republic
Yemen—Islamic Republic
US Interests
• Continued focus of Global War on Terror
– Afghanistan and Iraq
– Usama bin Laden killed in Pakistan
– 200,000+ US military members
serving in USCENTCOM AOR
• USCENTCOM Mission
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Respond to crises
Promote cooperation among nations
Deter/defeat state and nonstate aggression
Support development/reconstruction to establish the
conditions for regional security, stability, & prosperity
Summary
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Area of Responsibility
Religion
Language
Political Systems
US Interests