War with Iraq: costs,consequences,and alternatives

Starting from the premises that this paper does not and cannot either measure the extent to which military action today may reduce the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in the future or estimate the increase or decrease in risk of terrorist acts, the authors try to balance advantages and disadvantages of war by considering the benefits of the disarmament of Iraq.

In particular, this paper provides insight into the potential costs and consequences, over the long term, of going to war with Iraq. They identify that the most durable economic impacts of a war in Iraq are likely to be the effects on oil markets. In addition, the costs of post-war democratisation, reconstruction, and nation-building in Iraq might appear extremely high.

In conclusion, it shows that the array of costs that might be incurred is a collage of potential unfavourable outcomes rather than a single scenario and the official projections underestimate cost of Iraq war.