Learning from the History of British Interventions in the Middle East

by Louise Kettle

Overview

Learning from history helps states to create foreign and security policy that builds upon successes and avoids past mistakes. Louise Kettle’s insightful analysis – drawing on a wealth of previously unseen documents, sourced by Freedom of Information requests, together with interviews with government and intelligence agency officials – questions whether the British government actually learns from history. This is achieved through an extended commentary on military interventions in the Middle East since the 1950s, including a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Whitehall decision-making and a critical examination of the 2016 Iraq Inquiry report.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474437967
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Louise Kettle is Assistant Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. She has won several awards for her work including from the British International History Group, the Royal Historical Society and the British Library.

Table of Contents

1. Learning from History Learning from History in Whitehall Politicians Learning from History Learning from the History of Military Interventions How Do We Learn? What is Learning from History? Who Learns from History? The Learning Process Learning from the History of British Interventions in the Middle East

2. No End of a Lesson – Suez 1956 Planning the Intervention During the Intervention After the Intervention Musketeer Learning

3. More like Korea – Jordan 1958 Planning the Intervention During the Intervention After the Intervention Fortitude Learning

4. Suez in Reverse – Kuwait 1961 Planning the Intervention During the Intervention After the Intervention Vantage Learning

5. A Re-Run of Port Stanley – The Gulf 1990–1 Planning the Intervention During the Intervention After the Intervention Granby Learning

6. Afghanistan Part Two – Iraq 2003–9 Planning the Intervention During the Intervention After the Intervention Telic Learning

7. Failing History or Lessons Learned? Learning from History since Iraq Conclusion

Notes Index

What People are Saying About This

Michael Goodman

Failing to learn historical lessons is not new.　 As Louise Kettle demonstrates in this absorbing account history is full of enough tantalising clues about the future that government should take heed, but it rarely has in the past and probably won’t in the future.　 As Kettle ably shows, this is a serious mistake and until someone sits up and takes notice, the mistakes of the past will become the mistakes of the future.

Editorial Reviews

Failing to learn historical lessons is not new.　 As Louise Kettle demonstrates in this absorbing account history is full of enough tantalising clues about the future that government should take heed, but it rarely has in the past and probably won’t in the future.　 As Kettle ably shows, this is a serious mistake and until someone sits up and takes notice, the mistakes of the past will become the mistakes of the future.

Michael Goodman