Israel and Syria : the military balance and prospects of war / Anthony H. Cordesman ; with the assistance of Aram Nerguizian and Ionut C. Popescu.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-284).

Prospects for peace or war : military developments after the Israeli-Hezbollah War -- Israeli and Syrian alarms and excursions in 2007 -- The prospects for war -- Major trends in force strength -- Israeli force quality versus Syrian force quantity -- Looking at a snapshot of total forces -- Comparative manpower quantity and quality -- Comparative land force strength : active versus mobilized strength -- Comparative land force manpower -- Armor and anti-tank weapons -- Artillery weapons -- Anti-aircraft weapons -- Comparative air strength : quality over quantity -- Comparative air force strength -- Air force manpower -- Air force aircraft, weapons, and technology -- Comparative land-based air defense forces -- Comparative naval strength : peripheral missions -- Shifts in the role of seapower -- Naval manpower -- Naval ships, weapons, and technology -- Total resources : recapitalization, force modernization, and impact on effectiveness -- Comparative trends in military expenditures -- Comparative trends in arms imports -- Recent deals : the importance of the US, Russia and Iran -- The military forces of Israel -- Israel's struggle to maintain its conventional "edge" -- Adapting to asymmetric wars -- Seeking to add an asymmetric "edge" to a conventional one -- Adapting to new threats while retaining conventional military strengths -- Trends in manpower and total force strength before the 2006 Lebanon war : active versus reserve forces -- Israeli defense planning after the 2006 Lebanon war -- Israeli land forces -- Israeli air forces -- Israeli land-based air defenses -- Israeli naval forces -- Israel's counterterrorism and internal security forces -- Israeli weapons of mass destruction and missile defenses -- The military forces of Syria -- Syria's long proxy war with Israel -- Internal stability, Alawite rule, and the Shi'ite crescent -- Syria's broader regional issues -- The trends in Syrian forces -- Syrian land forces -- Syrian air and air defense forces -- Syrian land-based air defenses -- Syrian naval forces -- Syrian paramilitary, security, and intelligence forces -- Syrian weapons of mass destruction -- War on the Golan Heights -- The strategic geography of the Golan Heights -- The new dimensions of the strategic geography of the Golan -- The UN peacekeeping force on the Golan -- Israeli positions on the Golan -- Syrian positions near the Golan -- A Syrian surprise attack or "grab for the Golan -- Israeli options against Syria -- Continuing external asymmetric wars -- Israel's "haves" versus Syria's "haves not" -- The possible impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- Gaming a future Israeli-Hezbollah conflict? -- The Iranian wild card.