SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ:AN EVALUATION OF AMERICAN POLICY

Abstract

The Gulf War was an important event at the end of the Cold War. US fore ign policy changed in the context of new world order. Sanctions as an instrument of American policy used against Iraq and other countries were some signs of this change. Before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait it was friend of the US. But after it invaded Kuwait this friendship changed into hostility. The study tells what factors brought about changes in American policy. Sanctions were imposed to force Saddam Hussain to abide by the resolutions. But their purpose was more than that; to further weaken the Iraqi regime The goals that the US. set before itself were: 1. Punish Saddam as an aggressor. 2. Liberate Kuwait; contain Iraq and destroy its military power. 3. Eliminate Iraq's capacity to produce Weapons of Mass Destruction.