The United States and Iraq Since 1979 - by Steven Hurst (Paperback)

About the Book

Provides a comprehensive overview of the US-Iraqi relationship since 1979 and places the 2003 American invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq in that wider historical context.

Book Synopsis

This book represents the first comprehensive overview of the US-Iraqi relationship since 1979 and the first attempt to place the 2003 American invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq in that wider historical context.Using a modified version of World Systems Theory, the book places American policy toward Iraq at the centre of a number of dynamics, including America's dominant role in managing the world capitalist system, the fundamental importance of Persian Gulf oil to that system, and long-term change in the American political system.It argues that American policy towards Iraq since 1979 has been shaped above all by the importance of Persian Gulf oil to the world economy and the consequent need to restore America's position as regional hegemon and guarantor of the global oil supply, which had been destabilized by the Iranian revolution.It also emphasizes the role of American domestic politics and above all the 'conservative ascendancy' which brought George W. Bush to the presidency, as a critical factor in explaining the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Key Features*Provides a comprehensive analysis of US-Iraqi relations from 1979*Demonstrates that the second Iraq War is a result of a longer historical process and not just the product of 9/11 and the War on Terror*Deepens understanding of the underlying factors of US policy towards the Persian Gulf, and its oil*Uses World Systems Theory to analyse US foreign policy

From the Back Cover

The United States and Iraq since 1979 Hegemony, Oil and War Steven Hurst The current Iraq War is the end point of a twenty-year relationship that began with the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, included an earlier US-Iraq war in 1991 and a subsequent 10 year effort to contain and disarm Iraq through sanctions and weapons inspections. Over this period the US relationship with Iraq has gone from an initial quasi-alliance in the early 1980s to the overthrow of the regime in 2003. Placing the current war in the context of this history allows Steven Hurst to present a better explanation than accounts which focus solely on the US administration responsible for the war. The book adds to explanations of US-Iraqi relations over the past twenty-five years, using a theoretical framework that places the actions of the various US administrations in a wider context. This serves to emphasise the role of the US in managing the world capitalist system, the importance of Persian Gulf oil to that process, and long-term change in the US socio-economic system. Key Features *Provides a comprehensive analysis of US-Iraqi relations from 1979 to the present *Demonstrates that the second Iraq War is a result of a longer historical process and not just the product of 9/11 and the War on Terror *Deepens understanding of the underlying factors of US policy towards the Persian Gulf, and its oil *Uses World Systems Theory to analyse US foreign policy Steven Hurst is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He is author of The Carter Administration and Vietnam (1996), The Foreign Policy of the Bush Administration (1999) and Cold War US Foreign Policy (2005).

Review Quotes

Steven Hurst has written a first-rate and very readable book. This is an authoritative and comprehensive explanation of the most important and controversial foreign policy adventure that the United States has embarked upon in the post-Cold War era. Hurst manages to confidently tell this complex and multifaceted story without resorting to polemics, moralising or simplistic generalisations.--Dr Toby Dodge, Senior Consulting Fellow for the Middle East, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London

About the Author

Steven Hurst is Reader in Politics at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is the author of The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme: A Critical History (Edinburgh University Press, 2018) and The United States and Iraq Since 1979: Hegemony, Oil and War (Edinburgh University Press, 2009) as well as three other books on US foreign policy.