Removal of Saddam: The End of an Era
Abstract
This paper presents some brief thoughts on the "landscape" in the Persian Gulf today and the potential impact of a war with Iraq on this landscape, and then identifies a variety of strategic and policy challenges that I see emerging in a post-Saddam era. In 1989 the Berlin wall came down, auguring a new era known euphemistically as the "post cold war" world. The world saw a variety of political and economic reforms around the globe as part of this new environment. Various artificial entities split apart and others came together, creating unity in some places and horrific conflicts in others. The world became both a safer and a more dangerous place. The removal of Saddam will represent the end of an era in the Gulf and, in my opinion, will go down as the equivalent of the crumbling of the Berlin wall in the region. As was the case in 1989, forces that have been pent up for the last 20 years-"the era of Saddam"-will unleash themselves in ways that will be difficult to predict. These "unintended consequences" will pose a broad strategic challenge to the existing order in the region, the United States and the wider international community.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 20, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA525404
Entities
People
- James A. Russell
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School