From Desolation To Reconstruction, Iraq’s Troubled Journey was the result of work at the Canadian Center for International Governance Innovation. It is an anthology of different authors focusing upon issues Iraq faced during the U.S. occupation such as the Kurdish question, foreign debt, federalism, and the U.S. attempt to spread democracy in the Middle East. Like any collection the chapters vary widely in quality and many of them are out of date because they are suggesting solutions to problems in 2009. Despite the inconsistencies there are some interesting selections.
Maria Fantappie’s “Armed Forces Based in Iraqi Kurdistan” focuses upon how the Kurds attempted to integrate their forces into the Iraqi army. Two Peshmerga academies, one in Zakho and one in Sulaymaniya, became army academies funded by the Defense Ministry. The two schools were originally created in an attempt to professionalize the Peshmerga by using ex-officers who went for training at the Rustamiya Military Academy in Baghdad. The staff and students remained largely the same after they were included in the army. The graduates would be placed in army units in northern Iraq. This effort ran into major problems when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tried to replace Kurdish officers with Arab ones to assert Baghdad’s authority but it was still a major attempt to create a Kurdish officer class to be used in the Iraqi army that is little talked about.
Professor Joseph Sassoon has a chapter on the brain drain Iraq suffered after the 2003 invasion. Starting in the 1980s Iraq faced one economic shock after another that devastated the middle class and drove off many doctors, professors, lawyers, etc. The 2003 overthrow of Saddam was another major event that led the middle class to leave Iraq. There was little reason to return as the U.S. was not able to rebuild the country, economic reforms pushed by the Americans led to layoffs in government institutions, former Baathists were targeted by Iran and their Shiite allies, violence was widespread and created a bad investment climate that hindered the economy, unemployment exploded, inflation grew, and professionals were targeted for kidnapping for ransom. Neither the U.S. nor the Iraqi government attempted to protect the middle class from these forces. Studies showed professionals who left had a very low return rate especially if they moved to the West were there was stability and more opportunities. This had a major impact on the growth of democracy as the middle class is usually the main base for that political system. It denied the government of qualified bureaucrats and the public of needed services as well.
Bessma Momani and Aidan Garrib discuss how the U.S. helped Iraq forgive much of its massive debt that Saddam racked up during the Iran-Iraq War. The U.S. wanted Iraq’s money to go to reconstruction and pushed its debtors to forgive much of what Iraq owed. The Paris Club made up of European countries agreed to write off 80% of Iraq’s debt. Baghdad’s largest creditors however were the Gulf States who did not want to give up on Iraq’s debt because of their bad relations with Iraq. Many of them demanded political reforms in Iraq in return for terms. Those countries were worried about Shiite rule, Iran’s influence, the exclusion of Sunnis and the violence that plagued Iraq.
Finally Rex Brymen writes a convincing piece about how the U.S. failed to spread democracy in the Middle East with the Iraq invasion. President Bush believed that overthrowing Saddam could lead to a wave of reform in the region and yet it remains one of the least democratic parts of the world. That was because other countries did not look at Iraq as an example but rather a warning. The U.S. mishandled its occupation leading to a civil war and a wave of refugees. Second the Iraqis had no role in this change. Third Arab media emphasized how chaotic and violent Iraq was and played upon people’s suspicions of the Americans’ intentions. Finally the Iraq War radicalized many young people and led to an increase in Islamism. This gave governments an excuse to crack down upon their populations rather than implement reforms. All together Brymen argues that the 2003 invasion solidified the hold of the Middle East’s regimes rather than loosening their hold on power.
There are other chapters that are almost completely unnecessary to read. That’s because they are dealing with out of date issues such as suggestions for how Iraq could change in 2009. The situation in the country is completely different today so these sections are no longer relevant. There are other chapters about Iraqi politics where the analysis proved wrong. This is what happens in most collections as it is a real rarity to find one where all the contributions are equal.
Despite its drawbacks there are still some parts of From Desolation To Reconstruction that are a worthwhile to read. At least a third of the book consists of chapters that provide good information about Iraq that would be of interest to a reader today. That’s not bad for an anthology.
Link to all of Musings On Iraq’s book reviews listed by topic
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