The Iraq War: Origins and Consequences / Edition 1

by James DeFronzo

Overview

This book explains why the Iraq War took place, and the war's impacts on Iraq, the United States, the Middle East, and other nations around the world. It explores conflict's potential consequences for future rationales for war, foreign policy, the United Nations, and international law and justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813343914
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	08/25/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

James DeFronzo is emeritus faculty of sociology at the University of Connecticut. His books include Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements (Westview Press, 2007) and the award-winning three-volume encyclopedia Revolutionary Movements in World History (2006), and he is the author of numerous articles on criminology, social policy related to crime, political sociology, and revolutionary movements.

Table of Contents

Preface — Introduction — Culture and History of Iraq — From the British Mandate to the 1958 Revolution — The Iraq Revolution and the Establishment of the Baathist Regime — Saddam Hussein, the Iranian Revolution, and the Iran–Iraq War — The Invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Persian Gulf War — The Iraq War — Iraq in the Context of Previous US Interventions and the Vietnam War — Postinvasion Iraq — Counterinsurgency and US Corporate Presence — Impacts of the Iraq War — Major Personalities — Chronology of the Iraq War — Selected Documentaries

Editorial Reviews

DeFronzo (Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements) delivers a straightforward summary of the Iraq war's historical roots and future possibilities. He argues that the war is "best understood within the context of the importance of Iraq's energy resources" and that the "U.S. and British intervention in Iran in 1953 set in motion a series of momentous processes... [that led] eventually to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq." For all his research, the author doesn't prove either theory. He makes frequent statements to the effect that America's need for Iraq's natural resources "appear to have influenced the decision to invade" or that many "suspected" or "believed" as much, and quotes Alan Greenspan saying that the war was about oil (but doesn't note that Greenspan immediately said he'd been misquoted)-but such speculations don't amount to hard evidence. Furthermore, DeFronzo consistently draws a straight line from the events of 1953 to 2003, but there is far too little in the way of explanation or analysis-given the 50-year time span and the sheer number of players and regional upheavals. (Sept.)

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