ABSTRACT
The fourfold increase in OPEC mandated oil prices in 1973 created the unusual situation whereby Iran could design and purchase a radically different military establishment than previously. Such a shift rais.es three questions: (1) the military’s ‘back-end’ ability to absorb the new equipment and force increases; (2) the competitive ‘sidewards’ impact on the civil economy; and (3) ‘front-end’ military appropriateness.
