Steven Metz

**Winner of the 2010 San Diego Book Awards Association Prize in General Non-Fiction**Iraq in Transition takes the reader on a journey from Iraq's troubled history through the country's invasion and chaotic collapse of governance to the fragile state of political development today. Along the way, Peter Munson, an officer and Middle East specialist in the Marine Corps who has participated in operations in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Africa, explains the social, cultural, and political roots of violent conflict and political confrontation among Iraq's numerous factions. Instead of rehashing American policy and ideology, Munson addresses the local aspects of the crisis, providing a solid basis for understanding the many important decisions to come regarding the intervention in Iraq. This book fills a void in the literature by synthesizing the available information in both English and Arabic to provide a unique perspective on the people behind the violent and conflictual attempt at transition to democracy in Iraq. Utilizing both academic and military insight, Munson explains how Saddam's demise and the crisis of governance that followed produced a vacuum that allowed narrow and opportunistic sectarian power groups to step into the breach. The path from the 2003 invasion to the current tenuous Iraqi state has largely been shaped by legacies of dictatorship. Striking progress has been made in security and political development, but Iraqis still have a great deal to overcome to establish themselves on the slow climb toward a peaceful and stable democracy. With a foreword by Steven Metz, professor of national security affairs at the U. S. Army War College and author of Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy (Potomac Books, Inc., 2008).

Today the U. S. military is more nimble, mobile, and focused on rapid responses against smaller powers than ever before. One could argue that the Gulf War and the postwar standoff with Saddam Hussein hastened needed military transformation and strategic reassessments in the post–Cold War era. But the preoccupation with Iraq also mired the United States in the Middle East and led to a bloody occupation. What will American strategy look like after U. S. troops leave Iraq? Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy examines the ways in which the Gulf War, the WMD standoff, the Iraq War, and the ongoing occupation have driven broader changes in U. S. national security policy and military strategy. Steven Metz answers three overarching questions: 1. How did the conflict with Iraq drive and shape broader changes in national security and military strategy? 2. Did policymakers and military leaders interpret the conflict correctly and make the most effective responses? 3. What does this process tell us about the process of change in America's national security and military strategy and in the evolution of its strategic culture? Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem "developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework." He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America's worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled. With lessons for all readers concerned about America's role in the world, Dr. Metz's important new work will especially appeal to scholars and students of strategy and international security studies, as well as to military professionals and DOD civilians. With a foreword by Colin S. Gray.