Armies of Sand asks, 'why have Arab militaries fought so poorly in the modern era?' It examines the performance of over two-dozen Arab militaries from 1948 to 2017, and compares them to a half-dozen non-Arab militaries, to conclude that politics, economics, and culture all contributed to the past weakness of Arab armies.

Introduction : the Six-Day War and the mystery of Arab military ineffectiveness -- Pattens of Arab military performance -- Soviet doctrine -- The Soviet way of war -- Arab militaries and Soviet doctrine -- North Korea, Cuba, and Soviet doctrine -- Politicization -- Politicization -- Arab militaries and politicization : Egypt -- Arab militaries and politicization : Iraq -- Politicization and the South Vietnamese armed forces -- Politicization and the Argentine armed forces -- Underdevelopment -- Economic development and military effectiveness -- Economic development and Syrian military effectiveness -- Economic development and the Libya-Chad wars -- Economic development and Chinese military effectiveness -- Economic development and Arab military effectiveness -- Culture -- War and culture -- Arab culture as an explanation for military ineffectiveness -- Arab culture : patterns and predilections -- Arab culture and Arab military effectiveness -- Arab culture and civilian organizations -- Culture and education : the causal link -- Arab military training methods -- Exceptional Arab militaries : state armed forces -- Exceptional Arab militaries : non-state armies -- Conclusions : the past, present, and future of Arab military effectiveness.