Lewis Libby

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein, ruler of Iraq, unexpectedly seized Kuwait, capturing it in 48 hours and incorporating it as Iraq’s “19th province.” American intelligence, believing Iraq exhausted by the recently concluded, decade-long Iran-Iraq war, had expected only posturing or limited aggression from Saddam. Instead, Saddam’s invasion would lead to what was then the most […]

Editor’s Note: This article, titled “Last Man Standing: Is America Fading in the New Middle East?” appeared in the September/October 2011 edition of World Affairs. It is reprinted here with a postscript by the authors, who contemplate their tragically accurate prophecies. Nearly three years ago, we observed that the United States—while claiming to pursue its […]