Book Review: Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq since World War I

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Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq since World War I . Peter L. Hahn . New York and Oxford : Oxford University Press , 2011.

Reviews/Recensions

In this slim volume (about 200 pages of text) Peter Hahn's Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq Since World War I analyzes the complex history of American foreign policy in Iraq from its development as a British mandate to the Obama administration. The central contention of the book is that Iraq became one of the most daunting foreign policy challenges that confronted the United States following the decline of British power in the region. Hahn's approach is, he admits, traditional. This book is about "the exercise of power, diplomacy, and national interest, and the policies designed to achieve those interests" (xiii) in Iraq. Aimed at an undergraduate audience and the general reader, Missions Accomplished provides a clear and highly readable overview of American policy in the Middle East generally and Iraq specifically. As such, each chapter is organized around America's various missions and assesses their outcomes in light of their stated objectives. The book is richly illustrated with pictures and maps, which underscore the important themes of the book as well as place American power in its...