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Iraq: Realism And The Invasion Of Iraq

1003 Words5 Pages

Angel Garcia (Perm #: 7615172)
PS 121: International Politics
08 February 2017
OP-ED
Realism and the Invasion of Iraq On March 20 2003, the United States invaded the state of Iraq and began occupation of the country, the invasion has become the largest and costly use of armed forces by the United States of the era. John Mearsheimer’s The Tragedy of Great Power Politics emphasizes the realist approach by illustrating that a government’s decision to go to war is the outcome of the state’s quest for power, security, and resources prompted by the anarchic international system in which states fear each other. Additionally, leaders rationally calculate both the cost and benefits of war in terms of their state’s power …show more content…

Hobbes believed that humans are selfish creatures who would do anything to better their position, nations specifically are selfishly motivated. According to him, realism upholds that the international system is anarchic and by nature human beings are evil; also that states have to maximize military power as a means to survival in this anarchic system. The Bush Administration used military force to invade Iraq in order to replace its leader, change the regime type, draft a new constitution, and implement new economic and political laws. The economic laws transformed Iraq’s economy by applying corporate globalization policies and locking in advantages to U.S corporations which unveiled another goal of the war—opening Iraq to U.S oil companies. The U.S 2003 Iraq Invasion was not a preemptive war, rather it was a war on an enemy who posed no immediate threat and whose defeat offered gains in form of vast economic …show more content…

The Bush Administration’s pre-emptive and unilateral foreign policy has gone down in history and today we can look at the invasion as a failure simply because the alleged purpose of the war was, one, to eliminate Hussein’s weapons of mass destructions that he ended up not having, and two, a regime change to a more pro-American democracy, however, today Iraq is a quasi-democracy and the U.S has very limited influence. Other lessons learned from this failure that may help create policy recommendation include the importance of coherent policy and strategy, preparation for unintended consequences, and planning for tactical

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