Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied
Dodge analyzes what he describes as the failure of the British nation-building in the 1920s.... [I]t is not out of place to point out one important implication of his account for the Anglo-American invasion and occupation. It is that there are longstanding limits to the use of high-tech weaponry and air power in effectively ruling a conquered population, even in the task of counterinsurgency.(Juan ColeThe Nation)The best of the policy provocative studies is Toby Dodge's book,Inventing Iraq... Dodge argues that the creation of the state of Iraq under a mandate system represented a break with traditional territorial imperialism and signaled the beginning of the end of British international dominance.(Judith S. YapheMiddle East Journal)Dodge examines contemporary and historical experiences from macro to micro perspectives.... The parallels between current conditions in Iraq and those that shaped the interwar years provide valuable insight to a country whose troubles have origins in the flawed policies of an earlier era.... Recommended.(Choice)Toby Dodge correctly depicts Iraq as a failed state arising from failed British policies and administrations early in the twentieth century...The audience for such commentary is wide.(Roger AdelsonAmerican Historical Review)For Dodge, the Americans running things in Baghdad have learned little from the British experience in Iraq. This book ought to be required reading for them.(Mike SchusterNPR, "All Things Considered")As postwar Iraq struggles forward, Toby Dodge's book has many lessons.Inventing Iraqis primarily a cold-eye analysis of Britain's failures as an occupying power after the first world war.... Dodge's book is a powerful warning to look at countries in their own cultural and historical context.(Jonathan SteeleThe Guardian (UK))Toby Dodge of Britain's Warwick University -- and author ofInventing Iraq, a superb recent book on the mandate -- points out the ways in which coalition authorities today are making the same mistakes as the British did 80 years ago.(Michael ElliottTime Magazine)[Dodge] offers compelling analogies and pointed commentary on how the United States might still be able to avoid repetition of some of the U.K.'s more serious mistakes.... Dodge recognizes that much of what is happening in Iraq today is the result of past events, and thus less amenable to after-the-fact corrective action.(Edward L. PeckMiddle East Policy)Toby Dodge'sInventing Irayis an excellent title for the authoritative work...(Roy M. MelbourneAmerican Diplomacy)Dodge builds a convincing case that, should the Americans continue with prescriptions that bear little relation to where Iraq is now, they risk...denying the Iraqi people "the chance at getting the better life they so richly deserve."(Martin BuntonInternational Journal)Inventing Iraqis a timely book with important implications for today's foreign policy and international development communities.(Derick W. BrinkerhoffPublic Administration1900-01-00)It is a good book, and it is timely.(International Journal of Middle East Studies1900-01-00)