OxBlog

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

# Posted 2:44 PM by Patrick Belton  

I CAME, I SAW, I created viable democratic institutions: okay, so it doesn't make for as nice a Latin translation, but obviously U.S. democracy-promotion aims and credibility in the world will take a big hit if we don't start giving some serious thought - and equally hefty political commitment - to how to build durable democratic institutions in post-war Iraq. Who's been thinking about this? One person, for starters, is Joseph Braude, a Yalie and ex-Bernard Lewis advisee, whose book The New Iraq (Basic Books) attempts a tour d'horizon of existing Iraqi institutions (parliamentary, judicial, police, military, and intelligence), their historical backgrounds and bureaucratic cultures, and directions in which they most need to be reformed. I promise to summarize and comment on some of Braude's arguments as soon as I can get my grubby hands on the book. Some students of the area have been poking holes at his arguments (which they've probably read in their free review copies - not that I'm hinting or anything here...), without putting forth any better alternatives. All well and good, but they need to ante up! We'll all be the better off.
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