This book analyzes the ways in which US policy toward Iraq was dictated by America's broader Cold War strategy between 1958 and 1975. While most historians have focused on “hot” Cold War conflicts such as Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, few have recognized Iraq's significance as a Cold War battleground. This book argues that US decisions and actions were designed to deny the Soviet Union influence over Iraq and to create a strategic base in the oil-rich Gulf region. Using newly available primary sources and interviews, this book reveals new details on America's decision-making toward and actions against Iraq during the height of the Cold War and shows where Iraq fits into the broader historiography of the Cold War in the Middle East. Further, it raises important questions about widely held misconceptions of US-Iraqi relations, such as the CIA's alleged involvement in the 1963 Ba'thist coup and the theory that the US sold out the Kurds in 1975.

Presents a discussion on the effects of U.S. policy toward Iraq since the Gulf War. The particular focus is on how U.S. pressure has forced concessions from the Iraqi government.

Placing the second US-Iraq conflict in the context of emerging trends in international relations, this exceptional, timely volume examines the broad framework of US policy toward Iraq under the administration of George W. Bush. The Second Iraq War marks the third time since 1991 that the United States has invaded a Muslim country, and this book details not only the specifics of the conflict, but the war's broad impact on US relations with Muslim states, both in a regional and global context. It analyzes the development of the previous US policy of containment to the new doctrine of preemption. The volume also: ¢ Examines the linkages between Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 and the prosecution of the Second Iraq War. ¢

Dr. F. Gregory Gause III has been Associate Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science, University of Vermont, since 1995. In 1998, he was appointed Director of Vermont’s Middle East Studies Program. His research focuses on political and social change in the Middle East, particularly the GCC countries and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Dr. Gause was Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University from 1987 to 1992, and Associate Professor from 1992 to 1995. He acquired academic and research experience in Syria, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel, the Occupied Territories, Egypt and Morocco. He is proficient in Arabic. Dr. Gause has numerous publications to his credit. He contributed to various edited volumes, and his articles have been published in the Middle East Report, Foreign Affairs, the Journal of Arab Affairs, the Middle East Journal, the Journal of International Affairs and the Review of International Studies. He has published two books, Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (1994), and Saudi-Yemeni Relations: Domestic Structures and Foreign Influence (1990). The latter was translated into Arabic in 1993. From 1993 to 1994, Dr. Gause was Fellow for Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University in 1987.