The United States and War in the Persian Gulf, 1990-1991

This study looks at the military operations that took place in the Persian Gulf from 1990-1991 from the U.S. perspective and then examines many of the key historical books written in English on the subject. Although increasingly viewed, even by historians, as little more than a historical footnote to the tumultuous events in the region after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent invasion of Iraq in 2003, the events of the Persian Gulf War, often referred to by their U.S. operational names Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, have given us a rich and important literature on its military aspects of the war. The Gulf War was viewed at the time as a critical test of U.S. political resolve after the retreat from the wars in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 70s, and an equally important test of the rebirth of the American military. This was an important operation that led to deeper U.S. and western involvement in the Persian Gulf region and, ultimately, to a second invasion of Iraq with even more dramatic consequences in 2003.