Understanding Iraq
The Whole Sweep of Iraqi History, from Genghis Khan's Mongols to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The destinies of Iraq and America will be entwined for the foreseeable future, due to U.S. incursion -- the latest in a long history of violent outside interventions. A country located directly over the world’s largest supply of crude oil, Iraq will continue to play an essential role in global economics and in Middle Eastern politics for many decades. Therefore, it is vitally important that Westerners have a clear understanding of this volatile, enigmatic land, its turbulent past and possibilities for the future.
In Understanding Iraq, noted Middle East authority William R. Polk presents the dramatic story of the “Land of Two Rivers” in one concise volume. This fascinating, in-depth study presents a comprehensive history of the events that shaped modern Iraq, while offering well-reasoned judgments on what we can expect there in years to come.
William R. Polk is the author of The U.S. and the Arab World and The Elusive Peace. He taught at Harvard and was professor of history at the University of Chicago. In 1961 he was a member of the Policy Planning Council of the State Department. Polk was past president of the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs. He has written articles on Iraq and the Middle East for Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun Times and the New York Review of Books.
“It is a well-written and important book with considerable relevance to the survival of Western democracy.” — Said Aburish, author of Saddam Hussein
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this tightly crafted book, even the introductory note on words and spellings makes for a lesson in misunderstandings. Not only have occupying armies, officials and journalists not known the local language, Polk observes, but because Arabic is grounded in religious and historical texts, outsiders have missed the allusions that inform Iraqis' perceptions. Polk's history of ignorance reads like a portent. As the events in his history of Iraq from the Sumerians to the U.S. war of 2003 unfold in chronological order, they read like historical echoes of Iraq's present. The effect is haunting, and Polk's knack for understatement he describes the recent American tactic of dismissing the Iraqi military but allowing them to keep their weapons as "maladroit" only adds to the feeling of dread. But Polk, a scholar of the Middle East and former adviser to John F. Kennedy, stops just short of a fatalistic view of history. In one of the clearest prescriptions for success in Iraq yet to emerge, Polk calls for "American political courage" in allowing Iraqis to re-establish neighborhood associations to run social affairs and provide security. These associations not only inspire more genuine political participation than voting or constitutions, he says, but are a natural part of Iraqi tradition and culture. Unlike current American policy, which, he says, inadvertently invokes the post-WWI British occupation by focusing on rulers and symbols and neglecting the citizens, Polk calls attention to the reality of human relationships. With this war's death toll already at over 100,000 people, Polk notes that virtually every Iraqi has lost a parent, child, spouse, cousin, friend, colleague or neighbor. To achieve true peace in Iraq, the U.S., he argues, must acknowledge the brutalizing effect of those deaths and rebuild the trust that he thinks has been eroding for centuries.
Customer Reviews
Excellent Historical Perspective - Needs Updating
The author's experience, knowledge and foresight are exceptional in a must read for those looking to understand the history and development if Iraq.
Published in 2005 the author's predictions are right on the money.
Perhaps, an update to the book is warranted to reflect developments over the past 5 years.