ABSTRACT

This book addresses the complex events and unexpected outcomes of military intervention by the United States and its allies in Iraq in 2003. Considering the long-term outcomes of the intervention, this volume examines economic collapse, societal disorder, and increased regional conflict in Iraq. 

The book assesses the means by which American strategists imposed a new political order, generalising corruption, sectarian preference, and ethnic cleansing, and stimulating mass population movements in and from Iraq. Mobilising a multidisciplinary perspective, the book explores the rise and fall of Iraq’s confessional leaders, the emergence of a popular movement for reform, and the demands of young radicals focused upon revolutionary change. The product of years of intensive research by Iraqis and international scholars, Iraq since the Invasion considers how an initiative designed to produce “regime change” favourable to the United States and its allies brought unprecedented influence for Iran—both in Iraq and the wider Gulf region. It analyses events in Kurdistan and the impacts of change on relations between Iraq and its neighbours.

The book includes a wealth of detail on political, social, and cultural change, and on the experiences of Iraqis during long years of upheaval. It will be of value to researchers and students interested in international relations, development studies, and Middle East politics.

chapter 1|21 pages

Introduction

Agendas for change

part I|87 pages

State of conflict

chapter 2|21 pages

“Everything has to change for everything to remain the same”

The Muhassasa Ta’ifiya, the exclusive elite pact, and the causes of Iraq’s violent instability

chapter 3|26 pages

A sectarian awakening

The reinvention of Sunni identity, 2003–2014 1

chapter 4|16 pages

Agonistic democracy in Iraq

The fall and rise of Muqtada al-Sadr

chapter 5|22 pages

From sect-based coalition-building to competition for control over local constituencies

Transformation of post-2003 electoral blocs, 2005–2010 1

part II|40 pages

Migrations

chapter 7|20 pages

Displacement and state transformation

The coercion and systemic discarding of the Mandaeans and Palestinians of Iraq 2003–2010 1

part III|34 pages

Nation and nationalisms

chapter 8|19 pages

Regime change and national integration policy

Focusing on Iraqi school textbooks before and after the 2003 US invasion

chapter 9|13 pages

Challenges for the Kurdistan Region

Disputed territories and Kurdistani identity

part IV|49 pages

Iraq in the region

chapter 10|19 pages

Iraq–Syria relations

The Iraq War and after

chapter 11|16 pages

Iranian–Iraqi relations 2003–2013

Iran’s influence in post-Saddam Iraq 1

chapter 12|12 pages

Epilogue