Download or read book A Union of Iraqi States written by Pauline H. Baker and published by Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. This book was released on 2008-11-19 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the analysts who have looked at Iraq since 2003, few have conducted assessments from the perspective of a failed state, not only to examine the mistakes of the past, but to explore feasible options in the future. While the term “failed state” is controversial, it is an accepted part of the international vernacular that is widely used by scholars and practitioners alike, and therefore will be used in this analysis. Most observers would agree that, while there have been temporary gains in some areas – notably in the United States’ military “surge” tactic – Iraq remains, overall, a state in turmoil that has not been able to attain sustainable security. Indeed, there remains a high level of danger. Iraq could collapse violently – with various parts opting out of the state and going to war with each other – and become the battleground for a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran that could entangle the entire Middle East. This paper looks at Iraq from the failed state’s perspective with a view toward avoiding this worst-case scenario. It examines trends over the last five years and concludes by proposing a vision for the country’s future based on a framework that would allow the varying sects to live together in peace without genocidal revenge, sectarian domination, foreign occupation or a regional proxy war— all of which are possible if current trends continue. Instead of a centralized state, or a federal arrangement which is little more than a sum of its competing parts, the factions that make up Iraq could enter into a new political arrangement called a Union of Iraqi States, in which each major component would have political independence but be tied to a union of economic interdependence and co-prosperity. Imaginative thinking of this kind must be accepted by internal groups and come into being through engaging the region. Difficult and bold as it sounds, this could be a way forward.
Download or read book The Iraq Study Group Report written by Iraq Study Group (U.S.) and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2006-12-06 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which was formed in 2006 to examine the situation in Iraq and offer suggestions for the American military's future involvement in the region.
Download or read book The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq written by Brendan O'Leary and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2006-08-11 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq appraises the consequences of the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq for its most neglected region.
Download or read book Iraqi Kurdistan written by Gareth R. V. Stansfield and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-08-29 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed de facto statehood in the north of Iraq for over a decade but Intra-Kurdish fighting, military incursions by Turkey and Iran and the constant threat posed by Saddam Hussein have plagued this 'democratic experiment'. In this book, Stansfield explores the development of the Kurdish political system since 1991. He examines the difficult and often violent relations between the two dominant powers, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and their relationship with the Kurdish Regional Government in order to understand the current state of Iraqi Kurdish politics and the operation of the state. This topical in-depth study identifies the main dynamics of Iraqi Kurdish politics, analyzes the record and potential of the 'Kurdish democratic experiment', and identifies the present and future Kurdish leaders.
Download or read book Nationalism and Islamism in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq written by Mohammad Salih Mustafa and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-29 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring a new political phenomenon in the Middle East, this book studies the reconciliation of nationalism and Islamism by Islamic political parties in the context of nation states. Islamism in Kurdistan has become significantly framed by the politics of nationalism. Although the concept of religious nationalism has been discussed substantially before, this work highlights a new brand of religious nationalism that has emerged as a result of intertwining nationalism and Islamism. The focus of this study is on the development of religious nationalism in the continuously tumultuous region of the Middle East. The volume investigates whether Islamism in Kurdistan is limited by the politics of nationalism – which is an accentuated example for the whole Middle East region. By looking at the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the research studies Islamism in the Kurdistan Region to elaborate on this new type of politics. This is essentially due to the absence of a politically recognised nation state, which renders Kurds to be particularly susceptible to various manifestations of nationalism. Offering an account on the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Kurdistan Region, this original research on Kurdish nationalism will be a key text for students and researchers interested in nationalism, Islamism and Middle East politics.
Download or read book Iraq Its Neighbors and the United States written by Henri J. Barkey and published by US Institute of Peace Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[This book] examines how Iraq's evolving political order affects its complex relationships with its neighbors and the United States. The book depicts a region unbalanced, shaped by new and old tensions, struggling with a classic collective action dilemma, and anxious about Iraq's political future, as well as America's role in the region, all of which suggest trouble ahead absent concerted efforts to promote regional cooperation. In the volume's case studies ... [scholars] review Iraq's bilateral relationships with Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Arab states, Syria, and Jordan and explore how Iraq's neighbors could advance the country's transition to security and stability. The volume also looks at the United States' relations with and long-term strategic interests in Iraq and offers recommendations for how the United States can help Iraq strengthen and grow"--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book The USSR and Iraq written by Oles M. Smolansky and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the history of the relationship between these two centuries during the past twenty years and attempts to dispel the misconception that the Soviet Union has enjoyed undue influence over Iraq.
Download or read book Counterinsurgency in Iraq 2003 2006 written by Bruce R. Pirnie and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2008-01-25 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the deleterious effects of the U.S. failure to focus on protecting the Iraqi population for most of the military campaign in Iraq and analyzes the failure of a technologically driven counterinsurgency (COIN) approach. It outlines strategic considerations relative to COIN; presents an overview of the conflict in Iraq; describes implications for future operations; and offers recommendations to improve the U.S. capability to conduct COIN.
Download or read book The Iraqi Federation written by Farah Shakir and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-02-17 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political instability has characterised the modern history of Iraq, which has proven itself as a complex state to govern. However, the creation of a federal system in 2005 offers the potential for change and a deviation from a past characterised by authoritarian government, brutality and war. The Iraqi Federation explores why and how Iraq became a federal state, and analyses how the process of formation impacts on the operation of the Iraqi federal system. It argues that the different approaches taken by various federal theorists in the past, particularly William H. Riker’s bargain theory, are insufficient to explain the formation of the Iraqi federation completely. The process of the establishment of a federal Iraq must be understood in the context of its unique history and cultural specificity, as well as in the context of the other new federal models that have appeared since the end of the Cold War, including Belgium, the Russian Federation, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Nigeria. Drawing on interviews with contemporary political players in Iraq, this book helps to deepen our understanding of how one of the newest federal states operates in a practical sense. By linking the new federal models to the classic federal theory, it also provides a unique contribution to theories on federal state formation. It will therefore be of great interest to students and scholars of Middle East Politics, as well as those studying Federalism.
Download or read book Iran Iraq and the Arab Gulf States written by J. Kechichian and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-30 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A decade after the War for Kuwait and two decades after the Iran-Iraq War, the wider Gulf region remains mired in internal, regional and international conflicts. Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf States presents analytical perspectives - including solution-oriented assessments to identify major causes for actual and potential conflicts throughout the Gulf. The twenty-six papers assembled in this volume identify trends for the next decade. Studies on Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi and Arab Gulf States' political agendas on the domestic, regional and international fronts are included, along with assessments on pending legal issues, including border disputes, relations among the Gulf states themselves, as well as their complex and evolving ties with several Western powers. The study closes with four 'trends' chapters looking at the 2000-2010 period.
Download or read book The Iraqi Revolution of 1958 written by Juan Romero and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2011 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book advances the argument that the events of July 14, 1958, when Iraqi military officers overthrew the British-installed Iraqi monarchy, constituted simultaneously as a coup and a revolution for a number of reasons, including military involvement, popular participation, and policies that radically departed from those of the previous regime.
Download or read book U S Global Defense Posture 1783 2011 written by Stacie L. Pettyjohn and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2012-12-19 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debates over the U.S. global defense posture are not new. As policymakers today evaluate the U.S. forward military presence, it is important that they understand how and why the U.S. global posture has changed in the past. Today's posture is under increasing pressure from a number of sources, including budgetary constraints, precision-guided weapons that reduce the survivability of forward bases, and host-nation opposition to a U.S. military presence. This monograph aims to describe the evolution of the U.S. global defense posture from 1783 to the present and to explain how the United States has grown from a relatively weak and insular regional power that was primarily concerned with territorial defense into the preeminent global power, with an expansive system of overseas bases and forward-deployed forces that enable it to conduct expeditionary operations around the globe. This historical overview has important implications for current policy and future efforts to develop an American military strategy, in particular the scope, size, and type of military presence overseas. As new and unpredictable threats emerge, alliance relationships are revised, and resources decline, past efforts at dealing with similar problems yield important lessons for future decisions. The author draws recommendations out of these lessons that touch on the importance of strategic planning; the need to think globally; the desirability of a lighter, more agile footprint overseas; and more.
Download or read book State of Repression written by Lisa Blaydes and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new account of modern Iraqi politics that overturns the conventional wisdom about its sectarian divisions How did Iraq become one of the most repressive dictatorships of the late twentieth century? The conventional wisdom about Iraq's modern political history is that the country was doomed by its diverse social fabric. But in State of Repression, Lisa Blaydes challenges this belief by showing that the country's breakdown was far from inevitable. At the same time, she offers a new way of understanding the behavior of other authoritarian regimes and their populations. Drawing on archival material captured from the headquarters of Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'th Party in the wake of the 2003 US invasion, Blaydes illuminates the complexities of political life in Iraq, including why certain Iraqis chose to collaborate with the regime while others worked to undermine it. She demonstrates that, despite the Ba'thist regime's pretensions to political hegemony, its frequent reliance on collective punishment of various groups reinforced and cemented identity divisions. At the same time, a series of costly external shocks to the economy—resulting from fluctuations in oil prices and Iraq's war with Iran—weakened the capacity of the regime to monitor, co-opt, coerce, and control factions of Iraqi society. In addition to calling into question the common story of modern Iraqi politics, State of Repression offers a new explanation of why and how dictators repress their people in ways that can inadvertently strengthen regime opponents.
Download or read book America s Role in Nation Building written by James Dobbins and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2003-08-01 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The post-World War II occupations of Germany and Japan set standards for postconflict nation-building that have not since been matched. Only in recent years has the United States has felt the need to participate in similar transformations, but it is now facing one of the most challenging prospects since the 1940s: Iraq. The authors review seven case studies--Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan--and seek lessons about what worked well and what did not. Then, they examine the Iraq situation in light of these lessons. Success in Iraq will require an extensive commitment of financial, military, and political resources for a long time. The United States cannot afford to contemplate early exit strategies and cannot afford to leave the job half completed.
Download or read book Surge written by Peter R. Mansoor and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The definitive account . . . A fascinating combination of grand strategy and personal vignettes” (Max Boot, The Wall Street Journal). Finalist for the 2013 Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History Surge is an insider’s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new US Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, DC, and the halls of the Pentagon, where the joint chiefs of staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Amb. Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent history. Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other US and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington. “This is one of the best books to emerge from the Iraq War. I expect it will be remembered as one of the most insightful accounts from an insider of the key ‘surge’ phase of that conflict. The chapter on the Sunni Awakening especially stands out as a terrific overview of that critical development.” —Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco
Download or read book Ugly American written by William J. Lederer and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1999-01-05 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ineffectual Ambassador is just one of the handicaps facing the Americans as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly involved with Communism.
Download or read book The Seventh Member State written by Megan Brown and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The surprising story of how Algeria joined and then left the postwar European Economic Community and what its past inclusion means for extracontinental membership in today’s European Union. On their face, the mid-1950s negotiations over European integration were aimed at securing unity in order to prevent violent conflict and boost economies emerging from the disaster of World War II. But French diplomats had other motives, too. From Africa to Southeast Asia, France’s empire was unraveling. France insisted that Algeria—the crown jewel of the empire and home to a nationalist movement then pleading its case to the United Nations—be included in the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community. The French hoped that Algeria’s involvement in the EEC would quell colonial unrest and confirm international agreement that Algeria was indeed French. French authorities harnessed Algeria’s legal status as an official département within the empire to claim that European trade regulations and labor rights should traverse the Mediterranean. Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany conceded in order to move forward with the treaty, and Algeria entered a rights regime that allowed free movement of labor and guaranteed security for the families of migrant workers. Even after independence in 1962, Algeria remained part of the community, although its ongoing inclusion was a matter of debate. Still, Algeria’s membership continued until 1976, when a formal treaty removed it from the European community. The Seventh Member State combats understandings of Europe’s “natural” borders by emphasizing the extracontinental contours of the early union. The unification vision was never spatially limited, suggesting that contemporary arguments for geographic boundaries excluding Turkey and areas of Eastern Europe from the European Union must be seen as ahistorical.
