Mamdani presents a sweeping critique of US foreign policy in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 eras, focusing particularly on Iraq and Palestine. Mamdani argues that, far from shifting course after the Cold War, the US simply recalibrated its strategies to continue targeting what it viewed as threats to its global dominance. Namely, “militant nationalist regimes” (178) in the Global South. The post-9/11 era allowed for an even more aggressive turn, with the US abandoning proxy wars for direct invasions in the name of fighting terrorism and spreading democracy.

Mamdani traces this evolution through America’s relationship with Iraq. Initially, during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein’s regime to counter Iran’s Islamic revolution. This included providing Iraq with chemical weapons materials and military intelligence, despite knowledge of Iraq’s use of such weapons on both Iranian troops and Kurdish civilians. Later, when Saddam outlived his utility to American strategy by invading Kuwait, the US responded with a brutal war in which the US “committed many war crimes” (184). This was followed by a regime of UN-backed sanctions that Mamdani deems genocidal, especially due to their effect in causing the “mass murder of hundreds of thousands, mainly children” (187). The sanctions, framed as humanitarian, actually centralized control under the very regime they claimed to weaken and withheld essential goods. This regime of collective punishment devastated Iraqi infrastructure and health systems, leading to excess child mortality and mass malnutrition. Despite overwhelming evidence from organizations like UNICEF and resignations from top UN officials in protest, the U.S. maintained these sanctions. Mamdani identifies this as a novel form of multilateral proxy war waged through the UN, transforming the institution into a tool for American low-intensity warfare.

After 9/11, this proxy model gave way to high-intensity direct warfare. The invasion of Iraq was justified through a disinformation campaign involving fabricated ties to al-Qaeda and false claims of weapons of mass destruction. Agencies like the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans cherry-picked intelligence to build a case for war. Propaganda, such as the staged “rescue” of Private Jessica Lynch, helped sell the invasion to the American public. Mamdani argues that these fabrications were not mere distortions but systematic lies intended to manufacture public consent for a war designed to redraw the political map of the Middle East.

Mamdani further emphasizes that the goal of regime change in Iraq was not only to remove Saddam but to impose a new pro-American regional order. Iraq’s oil wealth and strategic location made it a linchpin for broader ambitions. Neoconservatives in the Bush administration sought to use American power to liquidate militant nationalism, with Iraq as the first step. This echoed Reagan-era rhetoric that cast right-wing contras and mujahideen as democratic revolutionaries while demonizing nationalist regimes.

Mamdani then turns to the broader implications for international law. He argues that the Bush administration’s open disregard for treaties, UN processes, and multilateral institutions represented a radical departure even from previous Western imperialist traditions, which at least paid lip service to “the rule of law” (202). The US repeatedly undermined international institutions and forced out officials who insisted on legal independence. This included United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and Director of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons José Bustani, all of whom were removed or pressured out for resisting US interference. The US also opposed the International Criminal Court while hypocritically supporting limited international tribunals where its own conduct would not be scrutinized.

Turning to Israel and Palestine, Mamdani draws a stark parallel between US policy in Iraq and Israeli actions in the Occupied Territories. Both rely on collective punishment, economic strangulation, and disregard for civilian lives, a parallel that has “increased markedly since 9/11” (212). He uses the case of Jenin as an example of Israeli state terror facilitated by US impunity. The destruction of homes and civic infrastructure was not just punitive but aimed at dismantling the Palestinian capacity for organized resistance. Those who refused to participate in this brutality, like a helicopter pilot who declined to fire on a civilian house, were exceptions in a system that normalized disproportionate violence. Mamdani critiques the racial logic underpinning such actions, where Palestinians are dehumanized through “Culture Talk,” which blames their behavior on supposed cultural deficiencies. He offers examples of this rhetoric from both political leaders and the academic community, showing how cultural essentialism justifies policies that would otherwise be seen as war crimes.

He ends by drawing a parallel between the suicide bomber and the settler, arguing that both operate in a moral and political universe where life is subordinated to ideology. Suicide bombers are framed not as irrational fanatics but as political actors responding to occupation, inequality, and despair. Mamdani acknowledges that terrorism, including suicide bombing, fosters a short-term and amoral political culture, but he insists that it “needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism” (222). Mamdani calls for a politics that goes beyond collective punishment and collective resistance. He reminds readers of South Africa’s transition from apartheid, where a similar debate on violent resistance eventually gave way to a broader political transformation. The key, he argues, is to dismantle settler states and build inclusive polities based on equal citizenship, rejecting both racial essentialism and imperial exceptionalism.