03-10-2003, 04:00 PM
1. Money? There is plenty of money in the Arab world, or in Asia, available for the financiers of any economic rebrith in Iraq.
2. Cultural bonds? Depends on who rises to power post Saddam, should that be the state of play. The regional players have far more motivation to be engaged than anyone else, since their own security and local trade are at stake. Considering the global petroleum imperative, why, for example, would the Japanese not be a strong presence in Iraq? No threat, lots of capital, opportunity to play honest broker, plenty of bright and well educated professionals there.
3. Some abstract U.N. goal? This may be a strawman, as the U.N. focus hardly can be counted on, given the vagaries of that process, be it General Assembly or Security Council. But no country in the UN, that I can think of, wants instability in the Arab world, or seeks it as a policy goal. Thus, any future in Iraq, should this war come to pass, would be supported by the international body in the shape of a stable social system, for what ever that is worth. Of course, UN pronouncements do not reality make, ask anyone in Mozambique.
4. I think that the capacity for tech and education in Iraq is underestimated in your outline. While it could be argued that some tech, and some capability is imported, home grown, though possibly foreign educated, Iraqi scientists are the folks who U.N. inspectors are looking to work with. All it takes, just as in our country, is for leadership to prioritize the resources available for education. I do not think that Iraq is a nation that scorns education, quite the opposite, I would argue that on that score, Iraq as a whole is as forward thinking as anyone. The trick is in the old 'guns and butter' problem, which for some time now in Iraq has been tipped toward guns. That could change with a leadership change.
2. Cultural bonds? Depends on who rises to power post Saddam, should that be the state of play. The regional players have far more motivation to be engaged than anyone else, since their own security and local trade are at stake. Considering the global petroleum imperative, why, for example, would the Japanese not be a strong presence in Iraq? No threat, lots of capital, opportunity to play honest broker, plenty of bright and well educated professionals there.
3. Some abstract U.N. goal? This may be a strawman, as the U.N. focus hardly can be counted on, given the vagaries of that process, be it General Assembly or Security Council. But no country in the UN, that I can think of, wants instability in the Arab world, or seeks it as a policy goal. Thus, any future in Iraq, should this war come to pass, would be supported by the international body in the shape of a stable social system, for what ever that is worth. Of course, UN pronouncements do not reality make, ask anyone in Mozambique.
4. I think that the capacity for tech and education in Iraq is underestimated in your outline. While it could be argued that some tech, and some capability is imported, home grown, though possibly foreign educated, Iraqi scientists are the folks who U.N. inspectors are looking to work with. All it takes, just as in our country, is for leadership to prioritize the resources available for education. I do not think that Iraq is a nation that scorns education, quite the opposite, I would argue that on that score, Iraq as a whole is as forward thinking as anyone. The trick is in the old 'guns and butter' problem, which for some time now in Iraq has been tipped toward guns. That could change with a leadership change.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete