Defence and strategy

Vilém KOLÍN

Why war came between Iraq and the United States had little to do with realist balancing. Anarchy certainly was an important part of the story, but values and identity were central to the conflict, while the distribution of capabilities was an extraordinarily peripheral element. The article analyses the US behavior from the neorealist, constructivist and poststructuralist perspectives to explain within the realm of international political theory what "really" mattered in the war against Iraq.