The United States and Iraq since 1979 : Hegemony, Oil and War [1 ed.] 9780748631643, 9780748627677

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H E G E M O N Y, O I L A N D W A R STEVEN HURST The recent Iraq War is the end point of a twenty-year relationship that began with the Iranian revolution and the Iran–Iraq war, included an earlier US–Iraq war in 1991 and saw a subsequent ten-year effort to contain and disarm Iraq through sanctions and weapons inspections. Over this period the US relationship with Iraq has gone from an initial quasi-alliance in the early 1980s to the overthrow of the regime in 2003. Placing the recent war in the context of this history allows Steven Hurst to present a better explanation than accounts which focus solely on the US administration responsible for the war.

Key Features:

• • • •

Provides a comprehensive analysis of US–Iraqi relations from 1979 to the present Demonstrates that the second Iraq War is a result of a longer historical process and not just the product of 9/11 and the War on Terror Deepens understanding of the underlying factors of US policy towards the Persian Gulf and its oil Uses World Systems Theory to analyse US foreign policy

STEVEN HURST

The book adds to explanations of US–Iraqi relations over the past twenty-five years, using a theoretical framework that places the actions of the various US administrations in a wider context. This serves to emphasise the role of the US in managing the world capitalist system, the importance of Persian Gulf oil to that process, and long-term change in the US socio-economic system.

The United States and Iraq Since 1979

The United States and Iraq Since 1979

Steven Hurst is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He is author of The Carter Administration and Vietnam (1996), The Foreign Policy of the Bush Administration (1999) and Cold War US Foreign Policy (Edinburgh University Press, 2005).

The United States and Iraq Since 1979

ISBN 978 0 7486 2768 4 Cover image: C Bryan Myhr/iStockphoto.com Cover design: McColmDesign.co.uk Edinburgh

Edinburgh University Press 22 George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LF www.euppublishing.com

H E G E M O N Y, O I L A N D W A R STEVEN HURST

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THE UNITED STATES AND IRAQ SINCE 1979

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THE UNITED STATES AND IRAQ SINCE 1979 Hegemony, Oil and War

Steven Hurst

Edinburgh University Press

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© Steven Hurst, 2009 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh www.euppublishing.com Typeset in Palatino Light by Norman Tilley Graphics Ltd, Northampton, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2767 7 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2768 4 (paperback) The right of Steven Hurst to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements Map 1: The Middle East Map 2: Iraq Acronyms Introduction

vi viii ix x 1

1 Towards a New Relationship, 1979–1984

24

2 From a Tilt to an Embrace, 1984–1989

52

3 The Persian Gulf War, 1990–1991

83

4 Dual Containment, 1992–2000

114

5 A Second War for Hegemony, 2001–2003

153

6 Things Fall Apart, 2003–2008

182

Conclusions: American Hegemony after the Iraq War

224

Bibliography Index

236 259

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My greatest intellectual debt is to those whose ideas I have pillaged in the course of writing this book. All scholarship is an exercise in standing on the shoulders of others, and in this case the work of three individuals in particular has been critical. In no particular order, therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to Bruce Cumings, for his contribution to World Systems Theory, to Simon Bromley, for his writing on the international oil system, and to Toby Dodge, for his expertise on Iraq. I also owe Toby thanks for the comments he made in a brief chat which helped to clarify some of the most recent developments in Iraqi politics. In addition, I would like to thank those who have commented on papers and articles produced in the course of writing this book, and in particular the regular participants at the American Politics Group Conference and the US Foreign Policy sessions of the European Consortium for Political Research. Special thanks should go to Tim Lynch for disagreeing with me about everything and forcing me to consider my arguments more carefully. The British Academy provided funding that enabled me to secure access to the National Security Archive’s Iraqgate collection. That support has contributed greatly to the book’s coverage of the period from 1979 to 1990. I would also like to express my gratitude to the National Security Archive and its staff for the work involved in compiling this excellent collection of documents. The map of the Middle East (Map No. 4102, Rev. 3, United Nations, August 2004) is reproduced with the kind permission of the UN Cartographic Section. The map of Iraq is based on UN Map No. 3835, Rev. 4, United Nations, January 2004. The editorial team at Edinburgh University Press, particularly Nicola Ramsey, Lianne Vella and Eddie Clark, responded helpfully to my vi

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various queries and were understanding of the slight delay in delivery of the manuscript, so my thanks to them, again. Last, but never least, I would like to once more thank my wife, Sam Faulds, for everything else, which is actually the important stuff.

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