If the United States really wants to help Iraq develop its nascent democracy, it should focus on more than security and politics, said Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S. during a talk Thursday at Duke.
"The relationship between the U.S. and Iraq must be multi-layered, more diversified beyond security. We need economic, social, academic partnerships," said Lukman Faily. "We need a significant level of dialogue focused on win-win, not zero-sum."
When asked about violence and political turmoil in Iraq in opposition to their new government, he said: "Unfortunately none of our American friends told us how hard it is to be democratic. We have had to learn the hard way.”
The event was sponsored by the Duke University Program in American Grand Strategy, the Department of Political Science, the Duke Islamic Studies Center and the Sanford School of Public Policy. Faily answered questions from faculty and students.
He spoke about the rise of ISIS in the region, indicating there are no clear answers.
“For us, Saddam was the ultimate evil, and maybe he was. Any alternative to Saddam was more acceptable to us,” Faily said. “But now if you would ask us to replace Saddam with al-Qaida, we would say no. And now ISIS is becoming the alternative to Assad. So while ISIS and al-Nusra are the predominant opposition, it is difficult to ask us what should be done with Syria.”
Faily also addressed the unpopularity of democracy in the region, which has added to Iraq’s struggle to move from a dictatorship to a freer society.
“Countries of the region did not embrace the democracy of Iraq,” he said. “The only country in the region that accepted us was Iran next door. The countries of the region do not accept democracy.
"We may have ministers who do not deserve to be ministers, because they do not have the right skills, I can give you that. But we are going in the right direction.”