The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 Liberate and Leave: Fatal Flaws in the Early Strategy for Postwar Iraq Don Eberly, Zenith Press, 2009, $28, hardcover, 310 pages. Liberate and Leave is full of valuable lessons for diplomats, soldiers and aid workers. In it, Don Eberly, an expert on civil society and economic development who served as a sen- ior adviser to General Jay Garner and, later, to Ambas- sador Paul Bremer during the earliest phases of the Iraq operation, shows “how unprepared [the U.S.] was to shoulder the burden of constructing a democracy.” Among other things, he cites the conflicting loyalties and confused reporting systems at State and the Pentagon. A key change Eberly advocates for U.S. stabilization and reconstruction policy is to raise the priority of strengthening civil society. A premature rush to democ- racy — without first building broad multiethnic volun- tary associations that inculcate democratic habits — actually sets back the goals of democratization, Eberly argues. In his view, that is one of the critical omissions from the original plan for Iraq. Prior to his service in Iraq, Don Eberly was senior counselor for international civil society at USAID. He is a consultant on economic development and recon- struction. Seven Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child Naomi Steiner and Susan L. Hayes with a foreword by Steven Parker, AMACOM, 2008, $14.95, paperback, 224 pages. With the advent of globaliza- tion, a second, third or ump- teenth language has become a nearly indispensible skill in all walks of life. No wonder more parents than ever are choosing to raise their children to be bilingual. Re- cent developments in cognitive neuroscience have re- vealed a wealth of information on how the brain learns a new language — and, as may be suspected, childhood is the best time for such learning. The path to teaching a child to be bilingual, however, has been clouded in myth and misconception. Until now, that is. This book, written in simple lan- guage, makes raising a bilingual child an attainable goal for any family. Especially useful is a section describing common obstacles and solutions. Naomi Steiner is a developmental-behavioral pedia- trician at Tufts Medical Center. An expert in methods for teaching children multiple languages, she works with many bilingual and multilingual families and is currently raising two multilingual children herself. Susan L. Hayes is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in Parent & Child , Parenting , Woman’s Day and other publications. China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities C. Fred Bergsten, Charles Freeman, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek J. Mitchell, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2008, $13.95, paperback, 288 pages. The latest product of a col- laboration between experts from the Center for Strate- gic and International Studies and the Peterson Institute for International Economics explores U.S.-China rela- tions, highlighting the fact that U.S. policy toward Bei- jing has not changed significantly over the past three decades. Eschewing such clichéd expressions as “contain- ment,” “isolation” and, for that matter, “engagement,” the four contributors strive to define a more nuanced policy toward China. A competition today between the two countries in education, science and productive ca- pacity is compared to the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s. “On bal- ance,” the authors conclude, “China’s rise could turn out to be a good thing for the U.S.” C. Fred Bergsten is director of the Peterson Insti- tute. Chas Freeman, a retired FSO and former ambas- sador, is director of the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies. Nicholas R. Lardy is a senior fellow at the Pe- terson Institute, and Derek J. Mitchell is a CSIS senior fellow. OF RELATED INTEREST