After Iraq

War, Imperialism and Democracy

Jim Harding

The war on Iraq is a geopolitical watershed. The invasion is not about terrorism, weapons of mass destruction or even just about oil. Rather it signifies a profound shift in U.S. doctrine in a post-Soviet world. After Iraq traces Iraq’s colonial history, Saddam Hussein’s brutal rise to power and their relationship to Iraq’s major oil reserves. Jim Harding also explores the rise of Pax Americana and the worldwide military expansion of the U.S. following Bush Junior’s presidency. He exposes the stark challenges for international law, multilateralism, the UN and Canada’s independence. He suggests there are frightening ramifications for the US’s own democracy lurking in the dangers of the fundamentalist proposition that we must make a choice in a clash of civilizations, and emphasizes the need for concerted activism to challenge a U.S.-dominated new world order. This essay written in the prelude, midst and aftermath of the war by a long-time Canadian peace activist tackles these vital issues while the events continue to unfold.

Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• The New Geo-politics
• Background to the War on Iraq
• The Dangers of the Bush Doctrine
• The Origins of the Bush Doctrine
• Fueling Pax Americana
• Eyeballing the American Empire
• Losing The Peace
• The Deeper War
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place
• An Overstretched Empire In Denial
• The Imperial Threat
• Conclusion: Challenging a New Imperial World Order

About the Author

Jim Harding is a retired professor of justice studies at the University of Regina. He is a founding member of the Regina Group for a Non-Nuclear Society and was director of research for Prairie Justice Research at the University of Regina, where he headed up the Uranium Inquiries Project. Jim also acted as consultant to the NFB award-winning film Uranium.

Jim Harding is a long time peace and environmental activist in Canada. He has been involved with anti-nuclear research and activism in his home province for several decades. For two decades Jim was a key member of the School of Human Justice at the University of Regina, where he acted as director in the early 1990s. More recently Jim served for one term as Regina’s inner-city councillor. He now lives, gardens and writes on the Crows Nest Ecology Preserve in the Qu’Appelle Valley.

Excerpt

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