"This text weaves together several important themes, including the search for a national identity, the struggle to achieve social and economic development, the changes in political dynamics, and the impact of foreign interventions, to provide readers with a holistic understanding of modern Iraq. The fourth edition features more discussion of cultural identity and media and society. In addition, this edition includes two new chapters on the events and shifts in the country of the early twenty-first century-the US intervention and withdrawal, the stabilization and subsequent unraveling of the Maliki government, the effects of the Arab uprisings, and the rise of ISIS-and their political, economic, and social consequences."--Provided by publisher.