08 October 2002
Scholar Says Iraq Could Be "A Force for Democracy" in the Middle East
(Kanan Makiya advocates federal system of government for Iraq) (540) By Vicki Silverman Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- A prominent Iraqi scholar opposed to Saddam Hussein says that Iraq could be "a force for democracy" in the Middle East, and that there is a broad consensus within the Iraqi opposition that the government in a post-Saddam Iraq should be a representative democracy with a federal structure. Kanan Makiya, currently a scholar in residence at Harvard University, aired his views at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, October 3. Makiya said that despite the degradations of the current regime, Iraqis in a post-Saddam Iraq can shape a better future. "Culture and the life of the spirit have been degraded in Iraq by action of the state. To guard against the resurgence of such abuse, Iraqis need to invent a concept of statehood that will bring all regions in the country the opportunity to flourish once again," he said. According to Makiya, the Iraqi people have the ability to form and manage new institutions that will be needed to replace the old Iraqi regime structure. "Iraq is rich enough and developed enough and has the human resources to become as great a force for democracy and economic reconstruction in the Arab and Muslim world as it has been a force for autocracy and destruction in the past," Makiya said. Creating a federal system of government, which divides power between a central authority and a number of constituent political subunits, is viewed as a first step toward ensuring that the rights of various parts are not sacrificed to the will of the majority, he explained. "(Federalism) is a novel idea for the region. There is no literature in Arabic on this idea of federalism, just as there is no experience of federalism," said Makiya. "Yet today most Iraqi organizations that oppose the regime in Iraq, advocate some interpretation of federalism." "Now how to define the parts? There are two points of view," Makiya explained. "Ethnicity can be a basis for federalism. Iraq in two parts, Kurd and Arab in Iraq." But, he said, many in the Iraqi opposition are concerned that federalism based on ethnicity could lead to territorial disputes, especially over areas possessing high-profit resources, such as oil. He said concerns have also been raised that dividing power among the major ethnic groups would discriminate against smaller ethnic minorities. "The alternative is territoriality, where each separate region receives its share of national resources based on population," Makiya said. "The point becomes not to dilute or diminish the Kurdishness or a Kurd or the Arabness or an Arab but to put a premium on the quality of citizenship for all." "Iraqis deserve to live in an Iraq in which a Kurd or a Chaldean, Assyrian or Turkmen, be they male or female, can all in principle be elected to the highest offices of the land," Makiya said. Makiya is a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University and a past convener of the Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi National Congress. He serves on the advisory board of the Iraq Foundation, a Washington-based non-government organization committed to promoting democracy and human rights. He also participates in the "Democratic Principles Working Group" composed of some 30 Iraqis meeting within the framework of U.S. State Department's Future of Iraq Project. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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