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NSWModern History

Section III (Peace and Conflict): Conflict in the Gulf 1980-2011

16 dot points across 16 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did the 2003 invasion of Iraq unfold, and why did the rapid conventional victory not produce a stable post-war Iraq?

How did the attacks of 11 September 2001 and the resulting War on Terror reshape US strategy in the Gulf?

How did President George H. W. Bush respond to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and what did he mean by a New World Order?

How and why did President George W. Bush decide on the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

How did Gulf civilians experience and suffer through the conflicts of 1980 to 2011?

Why did Iraq descend into insurgency and sectarian civil war after 2003 and how was the violence eventually brought under control?

Why did the Iran-Iraq War last eight years and what were its consequences for the Gulf?

How did the Iranian Revolution of 1979 reshape the strategic balance of the Gulf and create the conditions for three decades of regional conflict?

Why did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait in August 1990 and how did the international community respond?

Who was Ayatollah Khomeini and how did he shape Iran's role in the conflicts of the Gulf?

How did the media and the technology of warfare change across the conflicts of the Gulf 1980 to 2011?

How was Iraq expelled from Kuwait in 1991 and why was the war ended so quickly?

How did oil shape the conflicts of the Gulf between 1980 and 2011?

How did Saddam Hussein consolidate power in Iraq and what kind of regime did he build?

How did UN sanctions, no-fly zones, and weapons inspections seek to contain Iraq between 1991 and 2003, and why did containment ultimately fail?

How did the US war in Iraq end, and what was the state of Iraq at the December 2011 withdrawal?