Why did the United States invade Iraq in 2003? Why did the invasion turn to tragedy? Who was responsible? Dr. Leffler will examine how fear, power, hubris, and administrative dysfunction shaped decisions. So much of what we think we know about the invasion is misleading, but some of it is right on the mark. Based on a unique set of interviews with American policymakers and research in American, British, Iraqi, and UN documents, Dr. Leffler will untangle a complicated, dramatic, and tragic story of understandable intentions and horrendous consequences.

Melvyn P. Leffler is Emeritus Professor of American History at The University of Virginia. He is the author and editor of books on the Cold War and on U.S. relations with Europe, including For the Soul of Mankind (2007), which won the George Louis Beer Prize from the American Historical Association, and A Preponderance of Power (1993), which won the Bancroft, Hoover, and Ferrell Prizes. He has served as president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Harmsworth Professor at Oxford University, and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at The University of Virginia.

• This event is in-person and also available via Zoom.