SYLLABUS

This course treats the impact and experience of warfare on the Iraq in the last third of the 20th Century and into the 21st. We will examine how the Iran-Iraq War the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the War on Terror have shaped modern Iraq, including its secular, Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish ethnonationalist movements. We will consider political and social history as well as the military aspect. We will also look at the causes for Washington policy-making toward the region. Grading is based upon a class participation and attendance (mandatory) and two short 5-page papers

Texts

Patrick Cockburn, Muqtada al-Sadr and the Battle for the future of Iraq (New York: Scribner, 2008).

Toby Dodge, Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism. (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2012)

Oct. 28 Orientation

STUDENT DISCUSSION LEADERS ASSIGNED

Oct. 30 The United States and the Iran-Iraq War

Joana Dodds and Ben Wilson, "The Iran-Iraq War: Unattainable Objectives" Middle East Review of International Affairs (Online) Vol. 13, Issue 2 (2009):72-94.

Jack Colhoun, "Washington Watch: How Bush Backed Iraq." Middle East Report, No. 176, Iraq in the Aftermath. (May - Jun., 1992), pp. 35-37 JSTOR Stable URL

Cockburn, Muqtada, chapters 2-4

Nov. 4 The Kuwait Crisis in a Post-Soviet Context

Shafeeq Ghabra, "The Iraqi Occupation of Kuwait: An Eyewitness Account," Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Winter, 1991), pp. 112-125

Lauren Holland, "The U.S. Decision to Launch Operation Desert Storm: A Bureaucratic Politics Analysis," Armed Forces & Society Vol. 25, Issue 2. (1999) 219-242.

Nov. 6 The Gulf War, 1991

Grant T. Hammond, "Myths of the Gulf War," Airpower Journal 12.3 (Fall 1998): 6-18. Proquest.

Fred Halliday, "The Gulf War and Its Aftermath: First Reflections," International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) Vol. 67, Issue 2. Date: 04/01/1991 Pages: 223-234. Jstor

Cockburn, Muqtada, Chapters 5-6

Nov. 11 The Build-Up to the Iraq War

Amy Gershkoff and Shana Kushner, "Shaping Public Opinion: The 9/11-Iraq Connection in the Bush Administration's Rhetoric," Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 2005), pp. 525-537 JSTOR Stable URL

Alex Callinicos, "Iraq: Fulcrum of World Politics," Third World Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4/5, (2005), pp. 593-608 JSTOR Stable URL

Cockburn, Muqtada, Chaps. 7-8

George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, 2003

Nov. 13 The US Invasion of Iraq

Timothy Garden, "Iraq: The Military Campaign," International Affairs Vol. 79, No. 4 (Jul., 2003), pp. 701-718 JSTOR Stable URL

Eugene J Palka, Francis A Galgano, Mark W Corson. "Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Military Geographical Perspective," Geographical Review. Jul 2005. Vol. 95, Iss. 3; pg. 373, 27 pgs Stable Proquest URL

Cockburn, Muqtada, chapters 9-10 George W. Bush, Mission Accomplished Speech

Nov. 18 The Sunni Arab Guerrilla Insurgency Grows, 2003-2004

Toby Dodge, Chapter 1

Steve Negus, "The Insurgency Intensifies," Middle East Report, No. 232 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 22-27 Stable Jstor URL

George Michael, “The Legend and Legacy of Abu Musab al‐ (2007) The Legend and Legacy of Abu Musab al‐Zarqawi,” Defence Studies, 7:3 (2007): 338-357,

Nov. 20 The Rise of the Mahdi Army

Juan Cole, "The Iraqi Shiites: On the history of America's would-be allies," Boston Review, Fall, 2003

Dodge, Iraq, chapter 2

Cockburn, Muqtada, chapters 11-13

First Short Paper Due

Nov. 25 Shiite-Ruled Iraq and Civil War

Juan Cole, "The Ayatollahs and Democracy in Iraq" ISIM Paper no. 7 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006).

Cockburn, Muqtada, chapters 14-15. Fanar Haddad, "Sectarian Relations in Arab Iraq: Contextualising the Civil War of 2006-2007," British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 40, Issue 2. Date: 2013-04-00 Pages: 115-138.

Michiel Leezenberg, "Iraqi Kurdistan: Contours of a Post-Civil War Society," Third World Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4/5, (2005), pp. 631-647 JSTOR Stable URL
Gareth Stansfield, Liam Anderson, "Kurds in Iraq: The Struggle between Baghdad and Erbil," Middle East Policy, Washington: Spring 2009. Vol. 16, Iss. 1; pg. 134ff, 12 pgs. Stable Proquest URL
International Crisis Group, Iraq and the Kurds: Trouble along the Trigger Line , 8 July 2009.
Juan Cole, Are Leftist, Feminist Kurds About to Deliver the Coup de Grâce to ISIL in Syria? The Nation June 26, 2015.

Dec. 2 Surge, al-Maliki, SOFA

Dodge, Iraq, chapters 3-5

Cockburn, Muqtada, Chapters 16-17

Charlotte F Blatt, "Operational success, strategic failure: Assessing the 2007 Iraq Troop Surge, Parameters Vol. 47, Issue 1. Date: 2017.

George W. Bush,

H. M. Sanjeev Kumar, "ISIS and the Sectarian Political Ontology: Radical Islam, Violent Jihadism and the Claims for Revival of the Caliphate," India Quarterly Vol. 74, Issue 2 (2018):119-137.

Ahm. Ershad Uddin, "The Fanatical ISIS through the Lens of Islamic Law," International Journal of Islamic Thought Vol. 12. Date: 20171201 Pages: 1-14.

Dylan O'Driscoll and Dave van Zoonen, "The Future of Iraq: Is Reintegration Possible?" Middle East Policy Vol. 24, Issue 3. Date: Fall 2017 Pages: 34-47.

Dec. 9 The Trump Administration and ISIL Endgame

Christopher M. Blanchard and Carla E. Humud, “The Islamic State and US Policy (Updated),” Current Politics and Economics of the Middle East Volume 9, Issue 2-3 (2019): 533-569.

MTD Arnold, MN Fiore, Five Operational Lessons from the Battle for Mosul Military Review, 2019

Beston Husen Arif, “Iran’s Struggle for Strategic Dominance in a post-ISIS Iraq,” Asian Affairs 50, 3 (2019): 344-363

Linda Robinson, "Winning the Peace in Iraq: Don't Give up on Baghdad's Fragile Democracy," Foreign Affairs 98, no. 5 (September/October 2019): 162-172

Dec. 11 Roundtable discussion

Dec. 16 Second short paper due

Academic Integrity Policy: History 241 follows the academic integrity guidelines set forth by the College of LSA and the History Department. Students should familiarize themselves with both of these documents, which explain the standards of academic integrity and clarify the prohibited forms of academic misconduct. Students in History 241 should utilize the Chicago Manual of Style Online for all issues of source citation, along with any specific guidelines provided in the course assignments. Clarifying the disciplinary standards of research ethics and source citation is part of the educational mission of this course, and students should consult the faculty instructor and/or GSI regarding any questions. The penalties for deliberate cases of plagiarism and/or other forms of academic misconduct are a failing grade on the assignment. Cases that the instructor judges to be particularly serious, or those in which the student contests the charge of academic misconduct, will be handled by the office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education. All cases of deliberate academic misconduct that result in formal sanctions of any kind will be reported to the dean’s office, as required by LSA policy, which also ensures due process rights of appeal for students.

Syllabus online here: http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ejrcole/syl/war/syl390.html

Return to Juan R.I. Cole Syllabi.

WebMaster: Juan R.I. Cole