The Iraq war defined the first decade of the twenty-first century – leading to mass protests and raising profound questions about domestic politics and the use of military force. Yet most explanations of the war have a narrow focus either on political personalities or oil.

Christopher Doran provides a unique perspective, arguing that the drive to war came from the threat Iraq might pose to American economic hegemony if the UN sanctions regime was ended. Doran argues that this hegemony is rooted in third world debt and corporate market access. It was protection of these arrangements that motivated US action, not Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction or a simplistic desire to seize its oil.

This book will provide new insights on the war which still casts a shadow over global politics, and will have wide appeal to all those concerned about the Middle East, world peace and global development.

Christopher Doran teaches in the department of labor studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, and the department of Political Sociology at Indiana University, Columbus. He is a long-time activist, teacher and writer. His research focuses on the relationship between corporations and democracy, in particular the legal right of corporations to influence political decision-making.

PART I: MAKING SENSE OF THE INVASION OF IRAQ
1. Introduction: Making Sense of Iraq
2. Iraq: A Devastated Country
3. Chile and the Blueprint for Iraq
PART II: IRAQ’S POTENTIAL THREAT TO SAUDI ARABIA
4. Nixon, Saudi Arabia, and the Geopolitics of the Iraq Invasion
5. Petrodollar Recycling and Third World Debt
6. Containing Iraq: the Gulf War and Sanctions
PART III: DOLLAR DOMINANCE
7. Threat to the Dollar: Iraq, the Euro, and Dollar Dominance
8. Dollar Challenge Redux: the Global Financial Crisis and Iraqi Oil
9. Containing Iraq: Oil, Imperialism, and the Rise of Corporate Rule
PART IV: US LOSING OUT POST SANCTIONS
10. Neoliberalism Wounded, US Hegemony Challenged
11. Losing Out: The Geopolitical Significance of Iraq’s Oil
12. Invading Iraq: Bush Agenda from Day One
PART V REGIME CHANGE: CREATING A FREE MARKET STATE
13. Regime Change: the Bremer Economic Orders
14. The Halliburton and Bechtel Contracts
15. Iraq: A New and Improved Saudi Arabia for the 21st Century
PART VI EXPANDING THE EMPIRE
16. The US Middle East Free Trade Area
17. Case Studies: Jordan, Morocco, Oman and Bahrain
18. Egypt and How to Make a Fortune from Hunger and Misery
PART VII A CASE STUDY OF IRAQI AGRICULTURE
19. Order 81 and the Genetically Modified Seeds of Democracy
20. Hunger and Misery: A Profitable Occupation
21. Conclusion: The Corporate Capture of the Democratic State
Notes
Index