Finding Common Ground Posted by Michael Cohen

As regular readers of DA know I've been critical, at times of a certain advocate of counter-insurgency, but today over at World Politics Review (below a brilliant take on the issue of foreign aid) John Nagl and Brian Burton have a good piece on the agenda for new Iraqi Ambassador Chris Hill.

Nagl and Burton argue that Hill should encourage the Iraqi government to diversify its economic base beyond oil and foster deeper economic ties to Turkey and the Arab states. These ideas make sense, although I'm not sure how much influence Hill will have in making them a reality, but Nagl's other point merits attention:

Engage with Iraqi institutions rather than just Iraqi leaders. Supporting the Iraqi government does not mean giving al-Maliki a blank check. To shore up Iraq's fragile democracy, you should ensure that American delegations cultivate civic professionalism in the Iraqi government bureaucracy and establish ties between peaceful opposition parties and local citizens' groups. Developing Iraqi civil society will help prevent a lapse back into dictatorship. While the temptation to consign Iraq to authoritarianism is strong, its long-term value as a strategic partner will be greatly enhanced by the success of its democracy.

This is exactly right. Too often US policymakers view individual leaders as the key vessels in embedding democratic practices, but as Nagl correctly points out institutions matter a lot more individuals.  That means institutions like an effective judiciary, a functioning legislature, an independent media, a vibrant civil society etc. Ultimately, as America's own experience in democracy reminds us these institutions are the foundation of a sustainable and effective democracy.

Moreover, this is one place where an Ambassador can make a real difference; namely in reaching out to local groups, opposition parties, professional associations, NGOs etc. Now only if we continue to get our foreign aid to move in this direction we'll really be on to something.

Comments

[Don Bacon]

Oh come on, for the US government, which for the past few years has been a model of executive privilege leading a rubber-stamp congress by the nose, to suddenly promote democracy in Iraq is hypocritical. In fact, on the SOFA as one example, the Iraqi government's treatment has been democratic while on the US side the document was treated as a secretive executive agreement -- no congressional involvement, thank you.

[Peace]

One thing that will probably be the most daunting task for Chris Hill will be trying to force the Maliki government into forming an intergrated Iraqi army of Sunnis and Shiites. Already it appears that this task is becoming much harder with Maliki not hiring future of Sons of Iraq members and even arresting and executing some of them. As a result a large percentage of Sons of Iraq members are now deserting their posts.

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Whether, where, and how the United States should promote democracy around the world had become central questions in U.S. policy debates with regard to a host of countries including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and many others.

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