A vital collection examining the causes and catastrophic consequences facing the world in the wake of the Gulf warThe Gulf crisis is one of the most important and tragic events to take place in the Middle East this century. Never has there been a more massive direct involvement of the United States in the region. But despite the more than 500,000 U.S. troops sent to Saudi Arabia, despite the billions of dollars spent on the armed forces, and despite the war's enormous costs in human life and economic hardship, the Gulf ramils an unfamiliar regions, "Desert Storm" an unsettling war, George Bush's "new world order" and uncertain cause. How did the crisis arise so suddenly? Why did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait? Why did President Bush go to war in response and why did he use the United Nations to try and justify it? What is ther impact of the war here at home, and what effects are felt in other parts of the world? How might it change international and inter-Arab relations, and what effect will it have on a possible resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the =Kurdish problem and other longstanding regional disputes? These and other vital questions are addressed in this collection of original essays by 31 internationally respected scholars and experts from four continents who examine the ethical and strategic issues of the conflict, and analyze the catastrophic consequences facing the world in the wake of the Gulf war.