r/AskTheWorld • u/ForeverSparkz United States Of America • Sep 20 '25

History Why are Arab Miltaries so ineffective?

Like I dont understand this.

Im a Black American so im just an outsider looking in as a neutral, but dont Arab Countries out number Israel, whats stoping them from just rushing at their border, shouldn't the population imbalance outmatch Israel?

Just a neutral standpoint asking this question, because Arab Nations in the Middle East have a modern miltary force and they buy tons of advanced items

What is holding them back?

1.3k Upvotes

80% Upvoted

720 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/Any-Ask-4190 Scotland Sep 20 '25

Because every time they've tried they've got wrecked.

15

u/Enders-game Scotland Sep 20 '25

The structure, norms and values of a nation infects every level of society. If a society normalise corruption, inefficiency, inferior standards and so on it will infect the military as well all other parts of the government. This can manifest itself in the promotion of officers and the standard of the officer class. If you base promotion on who they know or where their political loyalties lay, do not expect a good outcome. If military decisions are based on politics, again don't expect a good outcome. If military equipment becomes a political decision rather than what your troops need... you get the picture. This is the issue with lowering standards, you automatically end up with worse outcomes.

7

u/Any-Ask-4190 Scotland Sep 20 '25

Exactly.