A University of Colorado at Boulder expert on nation building warns against the premature withdrawal of U.S. occupation forces from Iraq following comments made by Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq.
Bremer was quoted in the July 16 editions of the Washington Post and New York Times as saying that coalition forces likely will depart Iraq after the first elections are held.
"This is too early a benchmark for successful nation building," said Roland Paris, an assistant professor of political science at CU-Boulder. "U.S. forces should remain in Iraq until a politically neutral and effective Iraqi army, police and judiciary are largely rebuilt."
Paris, who has written and researched extensively on the political aftermath of war, contends that the key to successful democratic nation building in Iraq will be to "go slow" and establish effective governmental institutions prior to unleashing electoral competition. He noted that following World War II the Allies maintained military governments for 10 years in Germany and for seven years in Japan.
Attempting to install democracy too quickly in postwar Iraq and withdrawing U.S. forces too early could result in disaster because the nation is a deeply divided society with no history of democratic politics, he said.
Paris is the author of the forthcoming book, "At War's End: Building Peace After Civil Conflicts," to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2004. He holds a doctorate from Yale University and previously attended the Sorbonne in France, the University of Toronto in Canada and Cambridge University in England.