After Iraq

War, Imperialism and Democracy

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.

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About the book

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.

International Politics

Author

Jim Harding

Jim Harding is past director of the School of Human Justice at the University of Regina. He served as inner-city representative on Regina City Council and as mayor of the Village of Fort San. He is the founding board chair of the Qu’Appelle Valley Centre for the Arts and a founding director of the Qu’Appelle Valley Environmental Association.

Harding was involved in the formation of the Student Union for Peace Action, the early NDP and the Combined University Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He has authored several books, including After Iraq (2004) and Canada’s Deadly Secret (2007), and he edited Social Policy and Social Justice (1995), and has written widely in newspapers, journals, and magazines.

Historian Bryan Palmer calls Jim Harding “one of Western Canada’s leading New Leftists.” For Jim, writing and activism have always been interwoven: “Beliefs based in ideology always let me down. Without more fully, concretely understanding what is happening I would have been greatly limited in both strategic and tactical foresight. Without learning the importance of critical reflection, early on, I would never have been able to stay in movement activism for the long game.”