In the decade following the first Gulf War, most observers regarded it
as an exemplary effort by the international community to lawfully and
forcefully hold a regional aggressor in check. Interpretations have
changed with the times. The Gulf War led to the stationing of US troops
in Saudi Arabia, an important contributing cause of the 9/11 attacks.
The war also led to a long obsession with Saddam Hussein that culminated
in a second, far longer, American-led war with Iraq.
In Into the Desert, historian Jeffrey Engel has gathered an all-star
cast of contributors to reevaluate the first Gulf War: Michael Gordon of
the New York Times; Sir Lawrence Freedman, former foreign policy
advisor to Tony Blair; American Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan Ryan
Crocker; Middle East specialist Shibley Telhami; and Richard Haass,
President of the Council on Foreign Relations. Engel and his
contributors examine the war's origins, the war itself, its impact
within the Arab world, and its long-term impact on military affairs and
international relations. All told, Into the Desert offers an astute
reassessment of one of the most momentous events in the last quarter
century.
