Previously published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly, this volume seeks to analyze to what extent the controversial US policy of democratizing the Middle East with pre-emptive invasions was justified or effective.

Post 9/11 the US developed a policy of War on Terror, taking the decision to democratize the Middle East with pre-emptive invasions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. As Barakat puts it "Iraq was deliberately de-constructed in order to be reconstructed in a new model."

Looking not only at the evidence of democracy post-invasion, the author also considers the global, regional and internal politics leading up to the decision to invade. The effect is an insightful and vital volume that fulfils an urgent need and seeks to answer the questions most troubling the international community since the invasion of Iraq.

• Were the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan an exploitation of military supremacy to secure a favourable balance of power for the US?
• Is it possible to build a stable democracy after a pre-emptive invasion?
• What is the current outlook for a stable democracy in Iraq?

Reconstructing Post-Saddam Iraq is vital reading for all those interested in international politics and the future in Iraq.