Research Catalog

Title

Iraq's road to war / edited by Amatzia Baram and Barry Rubin.

Publication

New York : St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Baram, Amatzia, 1938-
• Rubin, Barry M.

Description

xv, 304 p.; 22 cm.

Summary

Twice in a decade, Iraq marched to war. In 1980 it invaded Iran and started an eight-year-long slaughter; and in 1990 it seized Kuwait, pitting itself against America and an international coalition. These actions propelled a little-known country into the very center of world affairs. What forces and factors set Iraq on this course? Iraq's Road to War shows how President Saddam Husayn's decision making and Iraq's domestic politics, economics, and foreign relations combined in a volatile mix. When Iran's Islamic revolution made that country seem simultaneously threatening and weak, Iraq's strong, well-armed regime seized the chance to attack its neighbor. But when fighting ended in 1988, Iraq faced economic crisis and feared social unrest. Perceiving a changing power balance - including a far weaker Iran and USSR - the regime embarked on a new effort to become the regional superpower. Finding little Arab or U.S. opposition to its escalating aggressive rhetoric, Iraq struck again to annex Kuwait and its wealth of oil. With contributions from leading experts and much new information, Iraq's Road to War provides a comprehensive picture of Iraq, its neighbors, its predicament at the end of a devastating eight-year conflict, and its decision to launch a war that shook the world.

Subject

• Iraq > Foreign relations > 1979-1991
• Iraq > Politics and government > 1979-1991
• Persian Gulf War, 1991 > Causes

Note

• "In cooperation with the Gustav Heinemann Center for Middle East Studies, University of Haifa."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction / Amatzia Baram and Barry Rubin -- The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait : decision-making in Baghdad / Amatzia Baram -- Iraq's Army : military weakness, political utility / Mark A. Heller -- Iraq's Shia and Kurdish communities : from resentment to revolt / Ofra Bengio -- Iraq's economy and international swnctions / Patrick Clawson -- Iraq and the world oil market : oil and power after the Gulf War / Robert J. Lieber -- Kuwait : confusing friend and foe / Joseph Kostiner -- Saudi Arabia : the bank vault next door / Jacob Goldberg -- Jordan's relations with Iraq : ally or victim? / Joseph Nevo -- Iraq and the PLO : brother's keepers, losers weepers / Barry Rubin -- A modus vivendi challenged : the Arabs in Israel and the Gulf War / Ilan Pappe -- Syria : Iraq's radical nemesis / Michael Eppel -- Egypt in the Gulf Crisis / Yoram Meital -- Turkey : Iraq's European neighbor / David Kushner -- Iran : war ended, hostility continued / Shaul Bakhash -- Israel faces Iraq : the politics of confrontation / Avner Yaniv -- The United States and Iraq : from appeasement to war / Barry Rubin -- Western Europe and Iraq : the cases of France and West Germany / Helmut Hubel -- The Gulf Crisis in historical perspective / P.J. Vatikiotis.

ISBN

0312101716

LCCN

^^^93024709^

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library