Description
Book SynopsisOriginally published: 2009. With a new foreword by the author.
Trade Review"Anyone who thinks that Iraq has no history of democratic government needs to read this book immediately."--Choice "We are fortunate to have scholars, such as Adeed Dawisha, who continue to grapple with Iraq's political complexities... A highly accessible and insightful work on one of the most important and complex countries in the Middle East."--Eric Davis, Middle East Journal "Dawisha's ... reliance on the many memoirs, monographs, and histories written by Iraqis themselves, plus his own intimate knowledge of Iraq in its domestic, regional, and international setting, makes for a fine (if disheartening) study of abortive state building."--L. Carl Brown, Foreign Affairs "Dawisha has only the worst superlatives for Saddam's tyrannical regime... And yet we should not give up on Iraq, for Dawisha doesn't. He never loses his calm or objectivity."--Robert D. Kaplan, National Interest "This book should be required reading for all those involved in building a brighter future for Iraq."--Alison Webster, European Legacy "Adeed Dawisha's well-written and flowing book makes an important contribution to understanding the complex history of Iraq... Dawisha's approach indeed provides a multidimensional, complex, and nuanced picture of the development of Iraq... Dawisha's important book is recommended for anyone who is interested in the comprehensive view of Iraqi history or for anyone who is interested in Middle Eastern affairs and history."--Michael Eppel, Historian
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Consolidating the Monarchical State, 1921-1936 8 Chapter Three Framing Democracy with a Certain Indifference, 1921-1936 40 Chapter Four The Uncertain Nation, 1921-1936 67 Chapter Five Turbulence in Governance, 1936-1958 92 Chapter Six Potholes in the Democratic Road, 1936-1958 120 Chapter Seven Nationalism and the Ethnosectarian Divide, 1936-1958 136 Chapter Eight The Monarchy's Political System, 1921-1958 148 Chapter Nine The Authoritarian Republic, 1958-1968 171 Chapter Ten The State Rules without Rules, 1968-2003 209 Chapter Eleven Politics in the New Era, 2003- 242 Chapter Twelve W(h)ither Iraq? 275 Notes 291 Bibliography 343 Afterword to the 2013 Edition: So Much Promise, So Many Disappointments 359 Index 375
