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 - Hardcover

9780060764685: 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
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

Iraq will continue to be a major issue and involvement for the United States into the foreseeable future says William R. Polk, former member of the State Department's Policy Planning Council and professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Chicago. Iraq sits on the world's largest supply of oil, and with the world's energy requirements continuously rising, Iraq will play an ongoing role in the global economy and the political environment throughout the Gulf region and the Middle East.

Polk's concise, authoritative overview of Iraq's history shows how the pattern of outside intervention was established first by the Ottoman Turks and the Persian Safavids and later by England, Russia, and Germany. After World War I came British rule, followed by a brief and uneasy period of independence that sparked Iraqi nationalism, leading Saddam Husain to power with American military and financial aid and covert CIA involvement. The Iraq-Iran War and the invasion of Kuwait was followed by the Gulf War, the sanctions period, and the Bush administration's decision to invade. Finally, there is the American occupation and the challenges, opportunities, and options that Iraqis and Americans face now and in the future.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

William R. Polk taught Middle Eastern history and politics and Arabic at Harvard until 1961, when he became a member of the Policy Planning Council of the U.S. Department of State. In 1965, he became Professor of History at the University of Chicago, where he established the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. His many books include The Birth of America and Understanding Iraq.

From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. 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. Agent, Sterling Lord Literistic.(On sale Apr. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHarper
  • Publication date2005
  • ISBN 10 0060764686
  • ISBN 13 9780060764685
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages240
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780060764692: 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

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780060764692
Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2006
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
ZBK Books
(Woodland Park, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # ZBM.14VDZ

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.41
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BookFarm
(San Diego, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description hardcover. Condition: New. New. Seller Inventory # 27-04745

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.86
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0060764686xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.94
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0060764686-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.94
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0060764686

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 22.95
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0060764686

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.65
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Book Spot
(Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks86966

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 59.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.87. Seller Inventory # Q-0060764686

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 58.53
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.13
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Polk, William R.
Published by Harper (2005)
ISBN 10: 0060764686 ISBN 13: 9780060764685
New Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Pieuler Store
(Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: new. First Edition. Book is in NEW condition. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Customer Service!!. Seller Inventory # PSN0060764686

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 47.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 31.54
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds