Recent Publications

Decisionmaking in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: Removing Saddam Hussein by Force
February 1, 2010 — Authors: Prof John R Martin, Dr Steven Metz In 1946, General Walter Bedell Smith wrote a series of articles describing six great decisions made in World War II by General Dwight David Eisenhower Writing so soon after the war, General Smith could not hope to produce a definitive history, but felt that writing then would document an important... MORE

Criminals, Militias, and Insurgents: Organized Crime in Iraq
July 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Phil Williams Dr. Williams looks in detail at major criminal activities, including the theft, diversion, and smuggling of oil, the kidnapping of both Iraqis and foreigners, extortion, car theft, and the theft and smuggling of antiquities. He also considers the critical role played by corruption in facilitating and strengthening organized... MORE

Kuwaiti National Security and the U.S.-Kuwaiti Strategic Relationship after Saddam
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The U.S.-Kuwaiti military and political relationship has been of considerable value to both countries since at least 1990. This alliance was formed in the aftermath of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s brutal invasion of Kuwait and the U.S. decision to free Kuwait with military force in 1991. Saddam’s later defeat and... MORE

Revisions in Need of Revising: What Went Wrong in the Iraq War
December 1, 2005 — Authors: Dr David C Hendrickson, Dr Robert W Tucker Though critics have made a number of telling points against the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war, the most serious problems facing Iraq and its American occupiers—criminal anarchy and lawlessness, a raging insurgency and a society divided into rival and antagonistic groups—were... MORE

Defeating Saddam Hussein’s Strategy
January 1, 2003 — Author: LTC Raymond A Millen Should war break out between Iraq and the United States, Saddam Hussein will likely adopt a strategy designed to undermine the prestige of the United States and turn the Arab World against the West. A war culminating in a titanic battle for Baghdad would provide Saddam Hussein with the prestige and respect he seeks from... MORE

Saddam’s Strategy: No To Nuclear Weapons; Yes To Biologicals
November 1, 2002 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the November 2002 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Managing Strains in the Coalition: What to Do About Saddam?
November 1, 1996 — Author: Dr Stephen C Pelletiere For 5 years U.S. policy has managed to steer a coalition of states which share broad interests in regional stability and free trade. Yet below these common interests, the United States has walked a tightrope stretched between competing objectives vis-à-vis Iraq, e.g., undermining Saddam while preserving Iraq as a... MORE