American policy in Iraq has been ambiguous. Within the last half of the century, the US has engaged in multiple wars or military strikes in the country, while simultaneously influencing domestic politics and opening relations and trade. To better understand the relationship between the West and Iraq, we must revisit the diplomatic history between them. Oil, competition, domestic turmoil, and geopolitical interests drew Europe into Mesopotamia in the beginning of the 19th Century. By the end of World War I, Britain had expanded her empire in Iraq and restructured governance, seeking to preserve an economically and geopolitically strategic zone by creating a mandate system Yet, between 1932 and 1945, British policymakers found themselves tested by the demands of imperial management and "nation-building." After World War II, American influence in the Middle East increasingly displaced the British presence, and the rise of Saddam Hussein to power quickly altered Iraq’s relations with the rest of the world. The evolution of Iraqi politics and Iraq’s position in the international system was thus a much more intricate and delicate one than is currently portrayed. This course will examine Western diplomatic relations with Iraq since 1900. It focuses on key junctures from World War I until Bush’s Surge in 2007. The course will examine the key decisions, institutional arrangements, and leadership embedded in Western policy in Iraq.