Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy, or Division - Hardcover

Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1403963541 ISBN 13: 9781403963543

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004

Synopsis

An introduction to the history and political dynamics of Iraq offers insight into the ethnic, religious, and political factors influencing its future while contending that current stabilization plans may best be enabled through a managed division of the country.

About this title

Book Description:

Knowledge of Iraq's history and politics is crucial to understanding the challenges America faces in its mission to bring democracy to Iraq. This trenchant analysis of why stability in Iraq is uncertain suggests a controversial, little-discussed solution: managed partition. This up-to-date edition provides basic information that will frame this ongoing debate.

From the Inside Flap:

"A well-organized primer....offering some refreshing takes on past events....An excellent volume for Iraq-bound civilians and soldiers seeking to bone up, and for the general reader trying to get a mental toehold in the region."--Publishers Weekly

"This is a provocative, readable and realistic examination of a country that never worked. Anderson and Stansfield provide an insightful history focused on the core dilemma of Iraq--no one wanted to be an Iraqi, preferring ethnic, sectarian, or tribal identities--and focus on exactly the right prescription for the future: voluntary union or partition. Far from transforming the Middle East, a democratic Iraq could well splinter into its Arab and Kurdish components. The Future of Iraq explains why this is far from the worst outcome. This book should reshape the debate about what to do in Iraq."--Peter W. Galbraith, Former Ambassador

"This is the book that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair--and everyone else vitally interested in the future of Iraq--should read. Anderson and Stansfield’s cogent account of Iraq's bloody history, its failure to create national identity or unity, and the erosion of its governmental institutions under Saddam, supports their skepticism that a democratic, unified Iraq will somehow emerge from the ashes. Given animosities among Kurds and Arabs, Shi’a and Sunnis, and a Hobbesian world of revived tribalism, the authors offer the sobering suggestion that a unified Iraq may be untenable and that the country might better be partitioned. This provocative perspective will surely generate a much needed debate."--Robert Springborg, MBI al Jaber Professor of Middle East Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

"Moving at a cracking pace, with some trenchant indictments of scheming imperialists and a chilling analysis of Saddam's Baathist order, this account lays bare the faultlines that now threaten Iraq with disintegration. No one who played a role in the evolution of this fractured polity escapes unscathed, except possibly the beleagured Kurds and disaffected Shia. Anderson and Stansfield offer an important perspective on how we reached this point, and a thoughtful set of possible alternatives of the country's future."--Dr. Rosemary Hollis, Head of Middle East Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs (London)
|"A well-organized primer....offering some refreshing takes on past events....An excellent volume for Iraq-bound civilians and soldiers seeking to bone up, and for the general reader trying to get a mental toehold in the region."--Publishers Weekly

"This is a provocative, readable and realistic examination of a country that never worked. Anderson and Stansfield provide an insightful history focused on the core dilemma of Iraq--no one wanted to be an Iraqi, preferring ethnic, sectarian, or tribal identities--and focus on exactly the right prescription for the future: voluntary union or partition. Far from transforming the Middle East, a democratic Iraq could well splinter into its Arab and Kurdish components. The Future of Iraq explains why this is far from the worst outcome. This book should reshape the debate about what to do in Iraq."--Peter W. Galbraith, Former Ambassador

"This is the book that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair--and everyone else vitally interested in the future of Iraq--should read. Anderson and Stansfield’s cogent account of Iraq's bloody history, its failure to create national identity or unity, and the erosion of its governmental institutions under Saddam, supports their skepticism that a democratic, unified Iraq will somehow emerge from the ashes. Given animosities among Kurds and Arabs, Shi’a and Sunnis, and a Hobbesian world of revived tribalism, the authors offer the sobering suggestion that a unified Iraq may be untenable and that the country might better be partitioned. This provocative perspective will surely generate a much needed debate."--Robert Springborg, MBI al Jaber Professor of Middle East Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

"Moving at a cracking pace, with some trenchant indictments of scheming imperialists and a chilling analysis of Saddam's Baathist order, this account lays bare the faultlines that now threaten Iraq with disintegration. No one who played a role in the evolution of this fractured polity escapes unscathed, except possibly the beleagured Kurds and disaffected Shia. Anderson and Stansfield offer an important perspective on how we reached this point, and a thoughtful set of possible alternatives of the country's future."--Dr. Rosemary Hollis, Head of Middle East Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs (London)

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1403963541
• ISBN 13: 9781403963543
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 260