To achieve a lasting peace in Iraq, U.S. corporations must make sure that Iraqi subcontractors are extensively involved in the reconstruction process, says a Duke University expert in international development.

"One of the most effective methods to achieve reconciliation is to require the cooperation of the local groups in the reconstruction effort, which actually was the model followed by the U.S. for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II," says Francis Lethem, a professor of the practice of public policy studies at Duke's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy and director of graduate studies for the Duke Center for International Development.

The U.S. Agency for International Development recently awarded San Francisco-based Bechtel Group the prime contract for rebuilding Iraq. Bechtel's work will include repairing Iraq's power, water and sewage systems. Agency officials have said that Bechtel is likely to hire subcontractors to handle the massive project.

"Unless U.S. corporations immediately announce that they will rely on local subcontractors to the greatest extent technically possible, not only will the greatest opportunity for an orderly process of national reconciliation be missed, but also an opportunity for quickly generating local employment rather than resentment," Lethem says.

Before coming to Duke, Lethem worked for 30 years at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), where he served as a policy and operational adviser for projects in Eastern Africa.

Even with local collaboration, reconstruction can be tricky. While early reconstruction projects in Bosnia involved local workers, the process was mishandled, Lethem says. Some work quality was poor, some politicians were able to influence the process and some workers overlooked problems in order to meet deadlines.

Lethem can be reached for additional comment at flethem@pps.duke.edu or (919) 613-7332.