What Europe Can Do for Iraq: A Blueprint for Action

Policy Paper

What Europe Can Do for Iraq: A Blueprint for Action

With contributions by Layla Al Zubaidi, Bülent Aras, Megan Chabalowski, Richard Gowan, Faleh Jabar, Daniel Korski, Sami Moubayed, Daniel Serwer, and Heiko Wimmen

Almost six years after the invasion of Iraq by US-led Coalition forces it is high time for a fundamental political debate in the European Union and in Germany about the conflict, its consequences, and Europe’s own interests. It should lead to a consistent Iraq policy for the years to come. The process of stabilization and democratization of Iraq is of key importance to the region, to global security, and to the transatlantic alliance. But a new transatlantic chapter could only be opened when Europe itself started co-writing the story, telling where and how to meet the United States halfway.

This publication describes a new start of cooperation between Europe, the United States, and regional partners in the Middle East to tackle the challenges in Iraq and to help bring peace, stability, and sustainable development to the wider region.

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What Europe Can Do for Iraq: A Blueprint for Action

By Justin Vaisse and Sebastian Gräfe

At a time when the Obama administration is pressing NATO allies to do more in Afghanistan, should Europeans devote resources to support stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Iraq? Some observers think that it would be an unwelcome diversion. Europeans, they advise, can't make a difference there and should concentrate their efforts instead on Afghanistan, a truly Transatlantic enterprise that appears to matter more to the current administration. Others maintain that Europe should do more in the Congo and the rest of Africa – where the challenges are immense, and the already stretched US is not doing enough – to thereby "share the burden" through a regional repartition of roles.

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Product details
Date of Publication
October 7, 2010
Publisher
Heinrich Boell Foundation
Number of Pages
96
Licence