United States, Iraq and the Kurds

Mohammed Shareef: completed his PhD in International Relations at the University of Durham and an MSc in International Relations from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. He is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (London), he has worked for the UN and is a visiting lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He is also a founding member of the London Kurdish Institute and a member of its board of directors. His research interests range from US foreign policy towards Iraq and the Kurds to US policy towards the Middle East in general.

"There have been few winners following the war to depose Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003: the Iraqi Kurds may however be one of them as Mohammed Shareef explains in this lucid volume. We shall now have to wait and see whether a fully independent Kurdistan can become what many thought it never could in the past – a source of stability in a region that continues to be plagued by tensions and conflicts. A must read book on a crucial geostrategic issue." Michael Cox, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics, UK"The value of Dr Shareef’s excellent new book on Iraq is not just in its discussion of the roots of the crisis, the extraordinary level of detail therein and the enlightening interviews, not only for its rich insights and extensive data collection, not simply for the valuable and textured commentary that it provides on American policy making, but equally importantly for the crisp analysis that it provides of the aftermath of the 2003 war on the body politics of Iraq, particularly on its substantial and often oppressed Kurdish communities. This is one for the reference collection!" Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Professor of International Relations, University of Durham, UK"Shareef’s study is a welcome and timely in-depth study of US foreign policy developments in Arab Iraq and Kurdistan Iraq especially after the US invasion of Kuwait in 1991 and invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. He embeds his study in three Grand Strategies: one, 1979-1990 influenced by the Cold War; two, 1991-2001, stresses the liberal international strategy and three, the War on Terror from 2002-2013. Diplomatic scholars will be particularly interested in phase three which analyses the role of the Kurds of Iraq in the formation of US policies toward the wider Middle East; a hitherto topic largely ignored by scholars. During phase three Shareef argues that for geopolitical and geostrategic interests the US pursued (and still does) policies of maintaining a unified Iraq even as developments in Kurdistan Iraq were/are moving toward self-determination. The eventuation of an independent Kurdistan would of course seriously affect US foreign policies toward Turkey, Iran and Syria all of whom oppose an independent Kurdish state in Iraq. This will result in the Kurdish question becoming even a more salient factor in the making of US foreign policies not just toward the Middle East but internationally. Shareef’s study is one of only a few that uses Arab and Kurdish based source. I recommend it highly to scholars and policy makers." Robert Olson, Professor of Middle East History and Politics, University of Kentucky, USA"This book effectively addresses the different actors at different levels that have played a role in shaping today’s Iraq. Overall, it represents a useful tool for those, students and scholars alike, interested in US foreign policy towards the Middle East, especially Iraq and the Iraqi Kurds."Sofia Zavagli, The Internation SpectatorThe central purpose of the book is "to address change and continuity in US Iraq policy" (p. 2) and it aims to fill the gap in studies addressing US Iraq policy. Yet, US Iraqi foreign policy is part of the broader US Middle Eastern foreign policy and Iraq, as the US administration’s focus from 1991 onwards, has been extensively researched. Marianna Charountaki, Reading University, UK

• Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION, Chapter 2: US IRAQ POLICY Pre September 11: Reconising a Failing STRATEGY, Chapter 3: Intellectual Roots of the Bush Foreign Policy: The Power of Ideas, Chapter 4: Invading Iraq: One Decision, VARIOUS Reasons, Chapter 5: The War In Iraq: A Planned War, An Unplanned Occupation, Chapter 6: THE IRAQI KURDS IN US FOREIGN POLICY: from Kennedy to OBAMAChapter 7: CONCLUSION