Iraq Between Occupations: Perspectives from 1920 to the Present

A fresh look at Iraqi history through the twentieth century until today, this book identifies continuities and breaks in the Iraqi experience. It combines chapters that provide each an expansive bird's-eye view of a key issue spanning a century with chapters that focus on more specific case studies that have been largely overlooked so far but such that are of great significance for Iraq's present and future. Some of the events and developments discussed were enforced from the outside and some grew out of particular and historically changing configurations within Iraqi society, but all are highly relevant to the understanding of contemporary Iraq. Written by leading scholars in the field, the chapters focus on such topics as the changing features of the of Iraqi identity, the rise of Iraqi nationalism alongside competing identities, ethnic and sectarian communalism, the role of women, Iraq's military history, the Iraqi economy, state building after the 2003 invasion, and a comparative discussion of the British and U.S. colonial adventures and the implications of those developments for the future of the country. The volume raises some pertinent questions on the way Iraqi history and present are interpreted and adds knowledge to the existing scholarship.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Amatzia Baram, Ronen Zeidel, and Achim Rohde * Part I: Iraq between a Nation State and Ethno-Sectarian Divides: A Re-appraisal * One Iraq or Many: What has happened to Iraqi Identity? - Phebe Marr * Kurds, Arabs and Iraqis: A History of a Clash of Identities - Sherko Kirmanj * The Kurdish Phoenix: Nation-Building in a Failed Iraqi Nation-State - Ofra Bengio * A Kurdish Leadership in Iraq: Facing the New Challenges, the Danger and the Chances of the Post-Saddam Era - Michael Eppel * Part II: Aspects of Iraqi History under the Monarchy * The Roots of Democratic Thinking in Iraq and their Contemporary Implications: Discourses on Democracy in the Hashemite Period 1921-1958 through the Vision of 'Abd al-Fattah Ibrahim' - Orit Bashkin * Women under the Monarchy: A Backdrop for Post-Saddam Events - Noga Efrati * Part III: The Ba'th Era and Beyond * Understanding Ba'thist Iraq? Toward a Comparative Historiography of Dictatorships - Achim Rohde * Sadr the Father, Sadr the Son, and the 'Revolution in Shi'ism' - Amatzia Baram * On Servility and Survival: the Sunni Opposition to Saddam and the Origins of the Current Sunni Leadership in Iraq - Ronen Zeidel * The Iraqi Military under the Ba'th Regime: the Case of the Iraqi Armed Forces in Operation Desert Storm and the Impact of Desert Storm on its Performance in Operation Iraqi Freedom - Pesah Malovany * Iraq's Economy 2003-2008 - Joseph Sassoon * Part IV: The US in Iraq 2003-2007/8 * The U.S. in Iraq: The Dual Challenge of Insurgent and Sectarian Violence - Michael Eisenstadt * Amateur Hour in Iraq: A Worm's Eye View of the Failure of Nation Building - A. Heather Coyne * Until They Leave: Liberation, Occupation, and Insurgency in Iraq - Judith Yaphe

About the Author :
Amatzia Baram is Professor and Director of the Center for Iraq Studies at University of Haifa. Achim Rohde is Research Fellow at the Georg-Eckert-Institute for International Textbook Research, Germany, and a lecturer at the Asia-Africa-Institute of Hamburg University. Ronen Zeidel is Fellow in the Center for Iraq Studies at University of Haifa.

Review :
"The editors have assembled an impressive list of specialists on Iraq to evaluate salient and contested themes in Iraqi history, politics, and society from the days of the monarchy through the Republican and Saddamist periods to the current post-2003 era. The analysis is uniformly rigorous, balanced, and illuminating, and the various studies are extensively- researched yet concise and to the point. There is much of value in this book to the specialist as well as to the general reader." - Adeed Dawisha, Distinguished Professor, Miami University. Author of Iraq: A Political History from Independence to Occupation "This fine collection of essays is must reading for anyone who seeks to understand the past and present of Iraq and the implications for the country's future. The authors provide authoritative accounts of that troubled country's history and the interplay of external powers and internal actors. They deftly integrate the successive phases of Iraq's political evolution from the twentieth into the twenty-first century, treating questions of identity, religion, democracy, nation building, monarchy, dictatorship, war, occupation, and insurgency. This is an exceptional one-volume work, invaluable for understanding this complex land." - Robert J. Lieber, professor of Government & International Affairs, Georgetown University "Iraq Between Occupations assembles a superb set of scholars to critically assess a pivotal historical era that continues to influence post-Saddam Iraq. By elucidating the subtle and complex interplay of domestic and external factors in the shaping of the Iraqi state, the volume is an invaluable resource for policymakers and students of contemporary Middle East politics." - Robert S. Litwak, Vice President for Programs, Woodrow Wilson Center "This is perhaps one of the most comprehensive analyses of modern Iraq. It successfully tackles all the important aspects of Iraq's transformation, from its new identity to its societal divisions and the rise of new actors, without ignoring the historical context. Aptly named, Iraq Between Occupations, this collection of essays explore the trials and tribulations of state formation in Iraq. It is diverse, rich, and innovative in its approach and is bound to become an essential reading for all who want to understand Iraq's tortuous and unfinished trajectory." - Henri J. Barkey, Lehigh University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "This excellent collection brings together contributions by a new generation of Iraq historians with those of some of the most seasoned experts in the field. The quality and breadth of the articles is remarkable - from the latest trends in research to impressive overview essays. Both readers who seek reliable background information on Iraqi history and politics and those looking for exciting new insights will find this volume a most useful resource." - Peter Wien teaches Middle Eastern History at the University of Maryland