The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq

Emma Sky’s memoir offers a firsthand account of post-invasion Iraq, where she worked as a political advisor amid chaos and uncertainty. Sky charts the failures of Western intervention with honesty and moral seriousness. Her narrative combines policy insight with lived experience, revealing how good intentions collided with political reality. The book exposes the human cost of miscalculation and hubris. It is clear-eyed, courageous, and deeply sobering.