“Kenneth Pollack emerges, with this book, as a Thucydides for our time. Like his ancient predecessor, he chronicles a great power’s involvement in a decades-long war that it didn’t know how to leave or win. He does so with extraordinary precision, but without losing sight of how regional cultures can subvert global strategies. The Iraq Wars, like The Peloponnesian War, should be required reading for anyone seeking to avoid the slippery slopes that so often accompany good intentions.”—John Lewis Gaddis, Yale University“The most exceptional historical analysis of the trajectory of the U.S.–Iraq relationship yet written. The Iraq Wars is incisive, exhaustively researched, superbly detailed, and offers profound insights and thoughtful reflections on more than four decades of war, reconstruction, and political evolution. Drawing on firsthand observations, innumerable interviews with participants, and deep immersion in Iraq’s complexities, Pollack delivers a masterwork that will stand as the definitive account of the conflict and its enduring consequences.”—General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.); former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan; former director of the CIA; coauthor of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza“For decades to come this will be the definitive study of a series of wars that have shaped the Middle East, American foreign policy, and international politics for well over a generation. Ken Pollack is the rare observer-participant who can care deeply but judge fairly, who can describe complexity and confess error, research deeply and write wonderfully. In The Iraq Wars he has produced a masterpiece of narrative, analysis, and policy reflection of enduring and profound value.”—Eliot A. Cohen, Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy, CSIS“Kenneth Pollack brings his formidable analytical abilities to bear in this well-researched and compelling history. The Iraq Wars sheds fresh light and understanding on America’s searing experience in a troubled and divided country. The lessons Pollack reveals across the experience of the past half century are crucial for U.S. policy and strategy today and tomorrow.”—H. R. McMaster, former National Security Advisor, author of Dereliction of Duty, Battlegrounds, and At War with Ourselves“Ken Pollack combines unmatched credentials as a historian and a policy practitioner to offer the definitive work on the tangled relationship between the U.S. and Iraq. He avoids easy answers, conveying the reality of the hard choices that confront political leaders. Equally important, he illuminates the domestic forces that inevitably shape foreign policy. The Iraq Wars is essential reading for anyone concerned about America’s place in the world. It is a magnificent book.”—Ryan Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq“The Iraq Wars is a detailed, illuminating, refreshingly measured history of U.S.–Iraq relations. Drawing on his vast experience in government, the academy, and think tanks, Kenneth Pollack cuts through the noise to expose the real reasons—and hard lessons—of America’s involvement in Iraq. As the Middle East’s opportunities and challenges continue to shape U.S. foreign policy, this indispensable book will serve as a vital resource for the next generation of policymakers, analysts, and students.”—Walter Russell Mead, author of The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People
