Missions Accomplished?

The United States and Iraq Since World War I

Peter L. Hahn

Despite the central role that Iraq occupies in modern American diplomacy, there is relatively little scholarly literature on the topic. Author Peter L. Hahn is the first to synthesize the entire complicated, power-driven relationship between the United States and Iraq over the last ninety years. Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq since World War I takes a straightforward, chronological approach, emphasizing the formulation of U.S. policy toward Iraq in its political, strategic, and military dimensions. The book pays careful attention to the context of the political situation in Baghdad; regional developments (including the Arab-Israeli conflict, intra-Arab rivalries, and Iraqi-Iranian tensions); and global dynamics, such as decolonization and the Cold War. Hahn boldly identifies the key players in Washington and Baghdad, evaluating the successes of every policymaker and each mission in the history of the United States-Iraq relationship.

Missions Accomplished?

The United States and Iraq Since World War I

Peter L. Hahn

Description

Despite the central role that Iraq occupies in modern American diplomacy, there is relatively little scholarly literature on the topic. Author Peter L. Hahn is the first to synthesize the entire complicated, power-driven relationship between the United States and Iraq over the last ninety years. Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq Since World War I takes a straightforward, chronological approach, emphasizing the formulation of U.S. policy toward Iraq in its political, strategic, and military dimensions. The book pays careful attention to the context of the political situation in Baghdad; regional developments (including the Arab-Israeli conflict, intra-Arab rivalries, and Iraqi-Iranian tensions); and global dynamics, such as decolonization and the Cold War. Hahn boldly identifies the key players in Washington and Baghdad, evaluating the successes of every policymaker and each mission in the history of the United States-Iraq relationship.

Incorporating insights from several sources--including books on the military aspects of the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91 and declassified documents on the political and military dimensions of the Iraq War of 2003--Hahn provides a balanced and nuanced discussion of recent and current events. Supplemented with lavish illustrations and maps and colorful vignettes of Americans who experienced Iraq first-hand, Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq Since World War I offers, above all, a discussion that remains mindful of deep historical antecedents.

Missions Accomplished?

The United States and Iraq Since World War I

Peter L. Hahn

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Legacies of Empire: The Emergence of U.S. Relations with Iraq, to 1958
Chapter 2: The Pursuit of Stability in Revolutionary Iraq, 1958-1979
Chapter 3: From Tension to Rapprochement: U.S.-Iraqi Relations in a Turbulent Decade, 1979-89
Chapter 4: The Gulf War of 1990-91
Chapter 5: The U.S. Containment of Iraq in the 1990s
Chapter 6: George W. Bush and the March to War in Iraq, 2001-2003
Chapter 7: The Occupation of Iraq
Conclusion: Missions Accomplished?
Bibliography

Missions Accomplished?

The United States and Iraq Since World War I

Peter L. Hahn

Author Information

Peter L. Hahn is Professor of History at The Ohio State University. He is the author of several books, including Historical Dictionary of U.S.-Middle East Relations (2007), Crisis and Crossfire: The United States and the Middle East since 1945 (2005), and Caught in the Middle East: U.S. Policy toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1945-1961 (2004).

Missions Accomplished?

The United States and Iraq Since World War I

Peter L. Hahn

Reviews and Awards

"For instructors, students, and general readers looking for a sound, balanced, and accessible general history of the U.S. relationship with Iraq, look no further. Peter Hahn's incisive and dispassionate study expertly fills that great need. It provides the deep historical context essential for understanding the tortured course of American policy toward the Saddam Hussein regime-and all the turmoil and controversies surrounding the recent war with Iraq and its tangled aftermath."--Robert J. McMahon, Ohio State University

"In this concise and illuminating book, Peter Hahn provides a wonderful historical backdrop that helps us to understand our present challenges in Iraq."--Melvyn P. Leffler, University of Virginia