The long shadow of Iraq and its lessons today

Twenty years on, the invasion of Iraq still haunts the US. Americans grew weary and wary of wars in the wider Middle East. But Washington may still reflexively confront dangers with a mixture of fear, good intentions, and overconfidence instead of prudence and a judicious exercise of power.

Melvyn P Leffler ably examines these issues in this first scholarly history of President George W Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. Leffler, professor at the University of Virginia and one of America’s pre-eminent diplomatic historians, has set a high standard. His cautionary tale is not exculpatory; it is explanatory.