The Persian Gulf Crisis

Robert H. Dorff, Robert Helms

This book examines the implications of the Persian Gulf crisis in order to enhance our understanding of the post-Cold War international system. More than just another analysis of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war, the book looks at the more general aspects of the use of force (political, economic, and military) evident in the Gulf crisis and what they can tell us about the emerging post-Cold War system. Contributors were selected on the basis of their ability to address specific questions and policy issues, and to cast their analyses at a broadly theoretical level.Each chapter looks at a different aspect of conflict in the international system and how that relates to the Persian Gulf crisis. Several aspects of the crisis and the new international system are examined such as the role of the United Nations, the utility of economic sanctions, the historical origin of the crisis itself, the potential sources of conflict and responses to it, and the changing nature of the use of military force. To the extent that the lessons found contradict the common wisdoms that emerged in the immediate aftermath of the war, many of the chapters challenge the trend to find sweeping generalizations in the Gulf crisis that bear directly on international relations in the 1990s and beyond. Civilian and military policymakers, as well as students and teachers of international studies, will find this book of interest.

More than just another analysis of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the following war, this book looks at the more general aspects of the use of force (political, economic, and military) evident in the Gulf crisis and what they can tell us about the emerging Post-Cold War system.

PrefaceIntroduction by Robert F. Helms IIHistorical PerspectivesThe Search for Security in the International System: Historical Perspectives from 1815, 1918, and 1945 by Samuel R. Williamson, Jr.The Gulf War and Prospects for World Order by Collective Security by Inis L. Claude, Jr.Great Power Rivalry and the Persian Gulf by Bruce R. KuniholmThe U. S. Experience in the Persian Gulf by Bruce R. KuniholmThe Arab DimensionArab Perspectives of the Gulf Crisis by Christine M. HelmsPolitical Currents in the Arab World before the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait by Alan R. TaylorResponses to the Iraqi Invasion of KuwaitU.S. Responses to the Persian Gulf Crisis: Grappling for a Policy by Bruce R. KuniholmNonmilitary Responses to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait: Use of Economic Sanctions by Kimberly Ann ElliottU.S. Military Response to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait by James A. BlackwellImplications for the Resolution of Crises in the Post-Cold War WorldMilitary Role in the Emerging National Security Policy by Major General Daniel W. Christman (U.S. Army) and Lieutenant Colonel Robert D. Walz (U.S. Army, Ret.)Use of Military Power in the Post-Cold War World: Win Big, Win Quick, and Win without Casualties by Robert F. Helms IIConflict in the Post-Cold War International System: Sources and Responses by Robert H. DorffConclusions and Implications by Robert F. Helms IIReferencesIndex