Pax Americana

“… a searing critique of US foreign and military policy in the Middle East since the Gulf War. It demonstrates with brutal clarity the falsity of American narratives about democracy and human rights promotion and surveys the regional instability Washington left behind.” —Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan This book surveys the testimony of international organizations of the impact of American foreign policy on Iraq. Each reveals a fragment of Iraq’s mosaic of misery and desolation, but lacks the context to permit our understanding why this has happened. A parallel lack of context characterizes most of the political commentary, overlooking the recurring pattern of victimization of Iraqis, regardless of which political party controls the White House. This book takes a broader perspective, to reveal the enduring pattern linking specific events. Dr. Jacqueline S. Ismael (1942-2023) was Professor of Social Work at the University of Calgary, Canada, and co-editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies. She published extensively on social policy and international social welfare, and co-authored many works with Tareq Y. Ismael, including The Iraqi Predicament (2004), Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East (2016, 2023), and Iraq in the Twenty-First Century (2017). She also co-edited with William Haddad, Barriers to Reconciliation: Case Studies on Iraq and the Palestine–Israel Conflict (2006). Dr. Tareq Y. Ismael is Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, Canada, and Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World. He is author/co-author and editor of many works on Iraq and the Middle East, including Iraq: The Human Cost of History (2003), Cultural Cleansing: Why Museums Were Looted, Libraries Burned and Academics Murdered (2010), and International Relations of the Contemporary Middle East (2014). Dr. Leslie T. MacDonald worked at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, advised on research design, edited several of the Ismaels’ books, and is Associate Editor of the Journal for Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World.