Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.
In-Depth Reports
Despite its crushing defeat during the Gulf War, Iraq remains a potential regional power and the foremost long-term threat to U.S. interests in the Middle East. President Saddam Hussein remains committed to acquiring nuclear weapons, despite serious international sanctions and UN weapons inspections in Iraq. As a first step toward its rearmament, Baghdad has rebuilt much of it conventional military-industrial base since the war. Finally, Iraq still has the largest armed forces in the Gulf posing a threat to regional stability.
In this Policy Paper, Michael Eisenstadt, military affairs fellow at The Washington Institute, surveys the impact of the Gulf War and international sanctions on Iraqi military capabilities and identifies major challenges facing U.S. policy in the region in the coming years.
