The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

phone Canada in other than plati- tudes. For sophisticated analysis of the evolving relationship between that province and the rest of the country, try Chantal Heber’s French Kiss (Alfred Knopf, Canada, 2007). That said, Americans seeking a better understanding of their north- ern neighbors — and how they see themselves — will find a good deal of wisdom in these books. David T. Jones, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, is a frequent contributor to the Journal . Among many other postings, he served in Ottawa from 1992 to 1996. He is co- author with David Kilgour of the new book, Uneasy Neighbors: Canada, The USA and the Dynamics of State, Industry and Culture. The Way Forward Iraq: Preventing a New Generation of Conflict Edited by Markus E. Bouillon, David M. Malone, and Ben Rowswell; Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007, $25.00, paperback, 349 pages. R EVIEWED BY K EITH W. M INES There is no shortage of books on what went wrong in Iraq. They bear evocative titles like Fiasco, The End of Iraq, Squandered Victory and Losing Iraq and lay out essentially the same story: too few troops, spotty planning and needlessly aggressive de-Ba’athification led to the growth of a Sunni insurgency, which mor- phed into full-blown civil war as the disenfranchised Sunnis came to asso- ciate Iraq’s new Shi’ite and Kurdish rulers with the occupiers. What they don’t tell us, with a few exceptions, is what to do now. So it is refreshing to have this short volume, focused pri- marily on the future and on what it will take to stabilize Iraq and “pre- vent a new generation of conflict.” Iraq: Preventing a New Genera- tion of Conflict stems from a confer- ence co-sponsored by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Peace Academy in May 2006. One of the editors is a senior policymaker and accomplished auth- or; another served as Canada’s first representative in post-Hussein Iraq; and the third is head of the Middle East Division at the International Peace Academy. In addition to extremely strong analytical skills and long experience with peacemaking and nationbuilding, the three share a studied neutrality. The book’s 17 contributors are equally impressive, having been care- fully selected for their longstanding, deep understanding of Iraq. Many of them provide much-needed perspec- tive by citing the 20-plus years of con- flict that preceded the current round. Part One, “Iraq in Turmoil,” covers the social, political, economic and confessional state of Iraq “three wars later.” It is in Part Two, “Toward a Stable Peace,” however, that the book really takes off, particularly in the four chapters on the country’s political structure and options. As laid out in the introduction, the book’s premise is that “it is primarily relations between Iraqis that perpetu- ate the violence in that country, and any solution must start with them.” To this end, Nicholas Haysom writes of what it would take to forge an inclu- sive and enduring social contract. Forum of Federations analyst David Cameron makes perhaps the most important contribution in the book when he argues that the federation that Iraqis forged with international assistance in 2004-2005 is essentially unworkable but fixable. He offers detailed ideas on how to do so, and get Iraq to a balanced and functional federation. Similarly, John McGarry looks at what it would take to fix Iraq’s federal structure, arguing for the creation of “liberal consociational institutions,” which would “focus on democratic preference rather than on predeter- mined ethnic or communal cate- gories.” Finally, Brenden O’Leary wrestles with the thorny question of federalizing natural resources. The book also offers a strong intro- ductory section and a solid conclusion by the editors. What it does not include, regrettably, is any commen- tary by citizens of that beleaguered nation. Despite the organizers’ best efforts, travel challenges and the dearth of Iraqi analysts who combine analytical skills and neutrality meant that only a handful of them were able to attend the conference — and none contributed anything in writing. Also missing from the book is a submission by the veteran United Nations envoy and adviser Lakhdar Brahimi, who gave an exceptional speech at the con- ference but did not pen an essay. Nonetheless, if U.S. policymakers could read just one book on Iraq, this should probably be it. It is penetrat- ing, neutral, asks all the right ques- tions and lays out far more new ideas than anything else currently available. Its intention to “build a grand political settlement” may seem like a stretch. But if we are ever to get beyond the current spate of ill-informed, politi- cized and shallow analyses of the way forward, this is the place to begin. Keith Mines, now a political officer in Ottawa, served in Ramadi in 2003 and 2004. He has also served in Tel Aviv, San Salvador, Port-au-Prince, Budapest and Washington, D.C., and done TDY tours in Mogadishu, Kabul and Darfur. 78 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 B O O K S