differences in the european and u.s. approaches to the issue of iraq began to emerge in the 1990s. this period, following the expulsion of iraq from kuwait in 1991, was characterized by a policy of containment. alongside this policy, however, the united states became progressively more involved in advocating democracy for arab states, a process which had no parallel in europe. the slow movement in washington from a policy of containment to one of regime change reached a significant milestone in 1998, with the clinton administration passing the iraq liberation act. no parallel movement took place in europe.