ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly examines the security condition that informed Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The event drastically shifted the US-led system of multibalancing in the region. Then emerged what became known as the “dual containment” strategy, designed to keep both Iran and Iraq weak, divided, and at war with each other. Next came many policies related to enacting dual containment, principally the implementation and tightening of two sanctions regimes on both countries, which resulted in the immense suffering of Iraqis and Iranians. Although dual containment succeeded in achieving its stated objectives, it failed to increase the security of the United States or its regional allies. If anything, by the end of the 1990s, the region as a whole was more rifted and in more of a wicked security problem than before.
