This is an important and timely book. Its unvarnished narrative of the world’s efforts over a quarter century to corral and tame an unpredictable and sometimes aggressive Iraq does not make for easy or light reading. No Hollywood endings here. But it is essential reading for anyone either perplexed about how we got into this mess or searching for a quick and painless international exit. Clearly no student of Professor Pangloss, David Malone takes no prisoners in detailing the individual and collective failings of the members of the United Nations Security Council to find a consensual and credible way to overcome Saddam Hussein’s ceaseless splitting tactics. For this, and for the valuable historical perspectives it provides, The International Struggle over Iraq: Politics in the UN Security Council 1980–2005 richly deserves its place on the short list for the 2007 Lionel Gelber Prize for books on international affairs.
According to Malone’s account, their...
Edward C. Luck is Director of the Center on International Organization and Professor of Practice in International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. His most recent book is The UN Security Council: Practice and Promise (Routledge, 2006).
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