This groundbreaking volume offers a comprehensive look at the current state of IraqÕs political economy in the aftermath of the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Frank R. Gunter describes the unique difficulties facing the modern Iraqi economy and provides detailed recommendations for fostering future economic growth and stability. The book begins with an overview of IraqÕs current political, economic, and social status, including discussions of real growth, unemployment, inflation, health, poverty, education, and gender issues. This is followed by a comprehensive look at what the author identifies as the three dominant characteristics of the political economy of Iraq: corruption, political instability, and petroleum. Using these foundational ideas as a springboard, the book then provides a detailed breakdown of the Iraqi economy by sector, as well as discussions of IraqÕs fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies. The final chapter identifies the major trends that will determine the course of future economic development in Iraq and provides insightful recommendations for encouraging positive economic growth. Offering the most comprehensive and timely discussion of IraqÕs economy to date, this critical volume will appeal to students and professors of international studies, political economy, and Middle East studies as well as anyone considering doing business in this rapidly changing economy.

The second edition of The Political Economy of Iraq is as comprehensive and accessible as the first with updated data and analysis. Frank R. Gunter discusses in detail how the convergence of the ISIS insurgency, collapse in oil prices, and massive youth unemployment produced a serious political crisis in 2020. This work ends with a discussion of key policy decisions that will determine Iraq’s future. This volume will be a valuable resource for anyone with a professional, business, or academic interest in the post-2003 political economy of Iraq.

The second edition of The Political Economy of Iraq is as comprehensive and accessible as the first with updated data and analysis. Frank R. Gunter discusses in detail how the convergence of the ISIS insurgency, collapse in oil prices, and massive youth unemployment produced a serious political crisis in 2020. This work ends with a discussion of key policy decisions that will determine Iraq's future. This volume will be a valuable resource for anyone with a professional, business, or academic interest in the post-2003 political economy of Iraq.

This edited volume addresses the issues of Iraqi Kurdistan’s political economy with historically grounded, theoretically informed, and conceptually relevant scholarship that prioritizes comparative politics over international relations. The book seeks to explore the dynamics of Iraqi Kurdistan at the stage of referendum for independence from a political economy perspective within its own debates, conflicts, and interests. Overall, the authors contribute to these debates by exploring key questions in novel ways, focusing on comparative methodology that serve to expand the scope of scientific inquiry and place it into more solid understanding.

"This book contributes significantly ot the conversation seeking to understand the international forces at play in the threatening war on Iraq." —Nelson Mandela "Behind the Invasion of Iraq . . .synthesizes the seemingly disparate threads of the U.S. war drive in a blistering indictment of American foreign policy . . .The effect is of puzzle pieces clicking into place." —Counterpunch Since September 11, 2001, there have been many accounts of the ways in which the alignment of global power is changing or will be changed by the U.S.'s "war on terrorism." Most of them take as their starting point the options facing the wealthy and powerful nations of the world seeking to control an ever larger share of the world's resources. Behind the Invasion of Iraq is written from a different perspective, and one that makes possible a far more comprehensive point of view. Its authors, Research Unit for Political Economy, are rooted in the politics of a Third World country—India—which has long been on the receiving end of imperialist power. As a consequence, they have a more sober view of the workings of global power. In clear and accessible prose, weighing the evidence carefully and tracing events to their root causes, they move beyond moral outrage to a clear view of the process being set in motion by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They show that the invasion of Iraq is a desperate gamble by a section of the U.S. ruling elite to preserve their power, driven by the wish to stave off economic crisis through military means. Their efforts will not end with Iraq, but will require the recolonization of the middle East. Behind the Invasion of Iraq exposes the idea that war will bring democracy to the Middle East as so much propaganda. In a context where so many rulers are themselves clients of the United States, the war is aimed not at the rulers but at the masses of ordinary people whose hostility to imperialism has not been broken even by corrupt and autocratic rulers. This book describes the remaking of global power with a truly global awareness of what is at stake.

This book analyzes the failure of the EU's peace-through-trade policy in Iraq and Iran between 1979 and 2009 from a theoretical and empirical perspective. The author adds to the trade-peace theory debate and provides evidence supporting the need to review the EU's peace-through-trade-policy towards Iraq and Iran, and in general.