In March 2003, the United States and Great Britain invaded Iraq to put an end to the regime of Saddam Hussein. The war was launched without a United Nations mandate and was based on the erroneous claim that Iraq had retained weapons of mass destruction. France, under President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, spectacularly opposed the United States and British invasion, leading a global coalition against the war that also included Germany and Russia. The diplomatic crisis leading up to the war shook both French and American perceptions of each other and revealed cracks in the transatlantic relationship that had been building since the end of the Cold War.

Based on exclusive French archival sources and numerous interviews with former officials in both France and the United States, A History of the Iraq Crisis retraces the international exchange that culminated in the 2003 Iraq conflict. It shows how and why the Iraq crisis led to a confrontation between two longtime allies unprecedented since the time of Charles de Gaulle, and it exposes the deep and ongoing divisions within Europe, the Atlantic alliance, and the international community as a whole. The Franco-American narrative offers a unique prism through which the American road to war can be better understood.

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Prologue: Faced with a Hyperpower
1. From One War to Another: 1991–2001
2. Bush 43 and September 11: January–December 2001
3. The Axis of Evil: January–September 2002
4. The Negotiations: September–December 2002
5. The Rupture: January 2003
6. The Confrontation: February 2003
7. The War: Spring–Summer 2003
Epilogue: Reconciliation: 2003–2007
Afterword
Abbreviations in Notes
Notes
Sources and Bibliography
Index