This edited volume represents a re-examination of the most central issues in the history of the Iraqi nation state until the American occupation (1920-2003) and, in the light of that history, a re-evaluation of developments under the occupation (2003-2008).

This edited volume represents a re-examination of the most central issues in the history of the Iraqi nation state until the American occupation (1920-2003)

Introduction; A.Baram , R.Zeidel  & A.Rohde PART I: IRAQ BETWEEN A NATION STATE AND ETHNO-SECTARIAN DIVIDES: A RE-APPRAISAL One Iraq or Many: What has happened to Iraqi Identity?; P.Marr Kurds, Arabs and Iraqis: A History of a Clash of Identities; S.Kirmanj The Kurdish Phoenix: Nation-Building in a Failed Iraqi Nation-State; O.Bengio A Kurdish Leadership in Iraq: Facing the New Challenges, the Danger and the Chances of the Post-Saddam Era; M.Eppel PART II: ASPECTS OF IRAQI HISTORY UNDER THE MONARCHY The Roots of Democratic Thinking in Iraq and their Contemporary Implications: Discourses on Democracy in the Hashemite Period 1921-1958 through the Vision of 'Abd al-Fattah Ibrahim'; O.Bashkin Women under the Monarchy: A Backdrop for Post-Saddam Events; N.Efrati PART III: THE BA'TH ERA AND BEYOND Understanding Ba'thist Iraq? Toward a Comparative Historiography of Dictatorships; A.Rohde Sadr the Father, Sadr the Son, and the 'Revolution in Shi'ism'; A.Baram On Servility and Survival: the Sunni Opposition to Saddam and the Origins of the Current Sunni Leadership in Iraq; R.Zeidel The Iraqi Military under the Ba'th Regime: the Case of the Iraqi Armed Forces in Operation Desert Storm and the Impact of Desert Storm on its Performance in Operation Iraqi Freedom; P.Malovany Iraq's Economy 2003-2008; J.Sassoon PART IV: THE US IN IRAQ 2003-2007/8 The U.S. in Iraq: The Dual Challenge of Insurgent and Sectarian Violence; M.Eisenstadt Amateur Hour in Iraq: A Worm`s Eye View of the Failure of Nation Building; A.H.Coyne Until They Leave: Liberation, Occupation, and Insurgency in Iraq; J.Yaphe