October/December 2002
Vol. VIII, No.6/Vol. IX, No.1
On the Hill
Planning, commitment, and cash are vital to American contributions to post-conflict reconstruction. This was the consensus of panelists at an October 7 briefing, "The Challenges and Lessons of Post-Conflict Reconstruction."
The Institute organized the briefing to present and discuss potential responsibilities in Iraq, current commitments in Afghanistan, and ongoing efforts in the Balkans to congressional foreign policy staff. Senators Tom Harkin and Arlen Specter sponsored the meeting.
Panelists included George Joulwan, former commander in chief of the United States European Command and the 11th supreme Allied commander for Europe, Frederick Barton, former United Nations deputy high commissioner for refugees and a founder of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Transition Initiatives, and Daniel Serwer, director of the Institute's Balkans Initiative. Serwer subsequently published an opinion article in the October 28 Los Angeles Times. Institute president Richard Solomon moderated the panel.
The panel drew on experience in Bosnia and Afghanistan for lessons to apply in a post-conflict scenario in Iraq, as well as more generally.
- Power after war grows from the barrel of a gun. The burden of administration, however, should be lifted from the military and handed over to civilian actors as soon as feasible. This requires careful civilian-military cooperation and scheduling.
- Who do you work with on the ground? How do you undo having backed the warlords or others for expediency?
- Conflict prevention remains a priority for managing competing ethnic groups and building security.
- Civilian police should be on the ground at the same time as the military. "Rule of law cannot wait," said Serwer. It is important to preempt the growth of organized crime and corruption.
Barton summed up the four pillars of reconstruction that are simultaneously vital: security, governance, economics, and the rule of law.
