Imperial Life in the Emerald City

Summary

A ground-level account of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where American administrators attempted to rebuild Iraq while largely insulated from the country they were governing. Drawing on extensive reporting inside the zone, Chandrasekaran shows how ideological loyalty was prioritised over expertise in staffing decisions, with consequences that rippled through every aspect of the reconstruction effort. The book became a landmark piece of accountability journalism about the Iraq War and was described by critics as essential reading for anyone seeking to understand why the occupation went so badly wrong.