This is a revealing study of life after Saddam in Iraq, including the wide-reaching negative effects of US efforts to establish democracy there.Even today, most Americans can not understand just why the fighting continues in Iraq, whether the nation should be involved there now, and how tactics could be changed to help establish a lasting peace in the face of what many fear is a coming full-fledged civil war. In the book at hand, author Victoria Fontan gives us pointed insights into the emotions of Iraq's people, and specifically how democratization has in that country come to be associated with humiliation. Including interviews with common people in Iraq, this work makes clear how laudable intentions do not always bring the desired result when it comes to international conflict and cross-cultural psychology. For example, the author explains, one might consider the comment of a young Shiite: "The greatest humiliation of all was to see foreigners topple Saddam, not because we loved him, but because we could not do it ourselves."In this gripping text the focus is on the topic of a new and growing area of human psychology - humiliation studies. The author looks at aspects of our actions, and Iraqi perceptions, that have fuelled ongoing conflict in the country, and has left some increasingly outspoken residents of the US, and worldwide, demanding foreign forces be withdrawn and the Iraqis left to their own accord. This work includes a study of how and when the Iraqis began to see the US as not a liberator but an occupier, how both Abu Grahib and our ensuing handling of the scandal heightened Iraqi humiliation and fighting, how we've fuelled the ethno-religious unrest that still rages today, how the Post-Saddam elections paved the way for civil war, and also the role of women in Iraq who may ultimately be an important key to peace. The author also explains her views on the "new role" the US may play to better help establish peace.