Voices from Post-Saddam Iraq

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Voices from Post-Saddam Iraq Living with Terrorism, Insurgency, and New Forms of Tyranny

Victoria Fontan

Foreword by Louis Kriesberg

Book Code: C36532

ISBN: 0-313-36532-6

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-36532-4

DOI:

Praeger Security International General Interest-Cloth

Publication: 12/30/2008

List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £25.95)

Availability: Not yet published. (Estimated publication date, 12/30/2008)

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Endorsement From Dr. Scott A. Silverstone, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor of International Relations,
Director, International Relations Program,
Department of Social Sciences,
United States Military Academy: Among the numerous books on the Iraq conflict to appear in recent years, Fontan's stands out because of the range of perspectives she brings to bear to illuminate her subject: she brings a journalist's ear for compelling stories, a scholar's analytical tools that provide these stories with meaning, and an activist's passion for the human beings at the heart of her writing. By studying the Iraq intervention through a psychological and cultural framework, and by focusing on the effects of "humiliation" across the political and social landscape of Iraq, her work serves as a vital reminder that what really matters in cases like this is how the intervention is perceived by the population of the target state, no matter how well-intentioned the intervention might be.

Description: Even today, most Americans can not understand just why the fighting continues in Iraq, whether our nation should be involved there now, and how we could change our tactics to help establish a lasting peace in the face of what many fear will become a full-fledged civil war. In the book at hand, Victoria Fontan - a professor of peace and conflict studies who lived, worked and researched in Iraq - shares pointed insights into the emotions of Iraq's people, and specifically how democratization has in that country come to be associated with humiliation. Including interviews with common people in Iraq this work makes clear how laudable intentions do not always bring the desired result when it comes to international conflict and cross-cultural psychology. For example, Fontan explains, one might consider the comment of a young Shiite: "The greatest humiliation of all was to see foreigners topple Saddam, not because we loved him, but because we could not do it ourselves." This gripping text is focused on a new and growing area of human psychology - humiliation studies. In it, this leader at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace spotlights aspects of U.S. actions - and Iraqi perceptions - that have fueled ongoing conflict and left some increasingly outspoken residents of the U.S., and the rest of the world, demanding that foreign forces be withdrawn and the Iraqis left to their own accord. The work examines issues including how and when the Iraqis began to see the United States, as not a liberator but as an occupier; how both Abu Ghraib and our ensuing handling of the scandal heightened Iraqi humiliation and fighting; how we've fueled the ethno-religious unrest that still rages today; and how the Post-Saddam elections paved the way for civil war. Fontan also describes the role of women in Iraq who may ultimately be an important key to peace and explains her views on the "new role" the U.S. may play to better help establish peace.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements
Map of Iraq
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Road to Hell is Paved With
Chapter 2: Insurgency, the Sunnis and Humiliations Role
Chapter 3: Abu Ghraib, A Source of Ethno-Religious Unrest
Chapter 4: The Gender Factor and How It May Hold Keys to Peace
Chapter 5: The Post-Saddam Elections and How They Paved the Way for Civil War
Chapter 6: Moving Beyond Humiliation, A New Role for The United States in Post-Saddam Iraq
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes

LC Card Number: 2008032616

LCC Class: DS79

Dewey Class: 956


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