Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq [Hardcover]

Sarah Graham Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 1999 | ISBN-10: 1860644732 | ISBN-13: 978-1860644733

Throughout the 1990s Iraq has been the target not only of military attack but of the most draconian and protracted economic embargo ever imposed by the international community. In the immediate aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War the embargo was accompanied by an effort to provide aid to the Iraqi people and to protect them against human rights abuses, an initiative that seemed to break new ground in providing protection for civilians in a situation of conflict. Yet the outcome of the international community’s efforts has fallen short of the promise. Why has there been such a large gap between the rhetoric and reality? How exactly have the combination of economic sanctions, international humanitarian aid and limited protection of civilians affected Iraq? And what lessons can be drawn from the experience? This is the most carefully documented, comprehensive account to be published on the consequences of intervention in Iraq during the 1990s. It examines not only the record of intervention, but also the complicated political context which has shaped international policy and the Iraqi response to it.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Graham-Brown, who worked as the coordinator of the Gulf Information Project with the Refugee Council in London, examines the current sanction strategies against Iraq, how they developed, and what problems they pose. Attempting to explain the dynamic and complex relations at the international, regional, and local levels, she has arranged the book into three main sections: how governments and the UN formulated policy and what the Iraqi reactions were; the situation within Iraq; and the efforts of the UN and other international governmental organizations to provide humanitarian aid efforts (the author's real interest). Well-documented chapter endnotes are included, with references to many interviews and publications from governments and international organizations. The bibliography is confusing, however, as it is divided into large sections, and the last name is not at the beginning of the citation. This book complements Geoffrey L. Simons's The Sourging of Iraq: Sanctions, Law, and National Justice (St. Martin's, 1998). Recommended for both public and academic libraries.ADaniel K. Blewett, Loyola Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Detailed study of military, economic, and humanitarian intervention in Iraq by the international community since 1991. In that year, a coalition of forces defeated Iraq and forced its retreat from Kuwait. Since that time, economic sanctions have been imposed on Iraq to disarm and demilitarize that state. A further goal, at least in the eyes of the US, has been to force Saddam Hussein from power. Eight years later, despite enormous suffering among the Iraqi people, Graham-Brown (Images of Women: The Portrayal of Women in Photography in the Middle East 18601950, not reviewed) concludes that the success of economic sanctions is far from clear and that the use of sanctions as a general instrument of international power is of dubious efficacy. While Graham-Brown spends considerable time discussing the breakdown of the Gulf War coalition and the circumstances within Iraq that have lead to Saddam's continued rule, her particular focus is on international aid to the Iraqi population. She terms such aid humanitarian ``intervention'' as it has been imposed on Iraq by outside forces and thus calls into question rights of national sovereignty. Does the international community have the right to help a state that doesn't want it? Humanitarian aid has been difficult in the case of Iraq as it has been buffeted on all sides by politics. Aid agencies have been plagued by lukewarm support from donor states and by political manipulation by Saddam and by the separatist Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, who would attempt to use such aid to their political advantage. Further, aid organizations have been, willingly or not, implicated in the morally questionable imposition of sanctions, as their work has been used to blunt criticism of these sanctions. This is, however, an overly ambitious work, repetitive at times and detailed to the point of confusion. Too much time is spent on all aspects of intervention in Iraq, too little on the humanitarian aspect. Useful perhaps for experts, but not for the general reader. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (September 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860644732
• ISBN-13: 978-1860644733
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,838,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and knowledgeable, May 27, 2000

By 

C. I. Rowat (London, UK.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq (Hardcover)

Sarah Graham-Brown is unique in her ability to combine her knowledge as an aid worker with her ability as a scholar. Furthermore, as she is interested in why we have reached the current impasse in Iraq, with its lethal consequences for ordinary Iraqis, she addresses both questions of humanitarian aid as well as those of their larger political consequences. This is the most thoroughly researched book that I have read on Iraq in the 1990s.