American Foreign Policy and Postwar Reconstruction

The Contingent Nature of Democracy Promotion

“…In Gramscian terms, the problématique such occupiers face is ‘how to reconstruct the hegemonic apparatus of the ruling group, an apparatus which disintegrated as a result of the war’ (Bridoux, 2011, p. 85). More than a series of technical steps to install a new regime, nation building in the Gramscian sense involves the creation of a new political and social system that reflects the interests of the dominant power.…”

“…He argues that Iraq has gradually found a better balance of coercion and consensus since the initiation in 2007 of the New Way Forward program, which focuses on stability and basic service provision as well as installing greater cohesiveness and coercive power for the state. Bridoux claims that ‘the prospect for a peaceful Iraq is … gradually appearing’ (Bridoux, 2011, p. 186). Yet with the luxury of a few years of hindsight, one might question whether this new strategy has really had a significant impact on the country's prospects for stability.…”

‘It's the political, stupid’: national versus transnational perspectives on democratisation in Iraq

“…41 Democracy could not take root in Iraq without a comprehensive plan dealing with critical issues affecting the security, political society and economic dimensions of the postwar reconstruction. 42 However, Robinson is right in pointing out that American officials, once they accepted the fact that they would be in Iraq for much longer than foreseen, kick-started a programme of democracy coaching, striving to create conditions favourable to the deployment of democracy and the co-optation of transnational local elites supportive of the US-led neoliberal project in Iraq. 43 Teaching democracy After defining the broader context in which democracy promotion takes place in Iraq, which explains the US plan of democratising the Middle East, Robinson insists that a specific model of democracy is being promoted in Iraq: polyarchy, a regime 'in which a small group rules on behalf of transnational capital and mass participation in decision-making is limited to choosing among competing elites in tightly controlled electoral processes.…”

“…All the main international news agencies were also present in Iraq and provided a news feed closer to the mark. 53 Such developments in the media world contributed to a questioning of the American, and generally speaking of a Western, version of news reporting. Indeed, as Emad El-Din Aysha argues, 'From the early days of satellite television to the CNN age, what really existed was a "US village" of global reach.…”

“…Consequently, CPA lost one of its essential instruments of communication and consent generation to its overall project of remoulding Iraqi civil society. 59 Had Robinson's analysis focused on local developments regarding the US policy on the Iraqi media, he would have concluded that far from being a successful venture, the IMN achieved little. On the contrary, the IMN never played its intended role of generating consent to the US project of remoulding the Iraqi political system, and thus, can hardly be considered as playing in favour of the consolidation of Iraqi transnational elites supportive of the US neoliberal project in Iraq, which is the argument made by Robinson.…”