Security, Governance and Reconstruction: What Have We Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Event Summary

Comments from this forum were incorporated into two publications: The Coalition Provisional Authority's Experience with Public Security in Iraq and The U.S. Experience with Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan: Lessons Identified.

Important lessons for future U.S. peace and stability operations have emerged in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is particularly true in the critical areas of public security, governance and reconstruction.

Panelists discussed the experiences of U.S. officials and local citizens with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. Presentations also focused on reports from the Institute's Iraq/Afghanistan Experience Project, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, the U.S. Department of Defense's Afghan Reachback Office, and The Washington Post Baghdad bureau.

Speakers

• Rick Barton, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post
• Marty Hoffmann, Department of Defense
• Robert Perito, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Daniel Serwer, U.S. Institute of Peace, Moderator