Middle East & North Africa / Other publications
Iraq: the day after
12/05/2003 By Shlomo Ben-Ami, Diego Hidalgo, Jon Shifrin
Just weeks after the war’s conclusion, the threat of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction as the main argument justifying the military action has fallen out of favor. Instead, some of those defending the use of force to oust Saddam Hussein’s regime now cite the war’s positive results.
According to this point of view, thanks to the military campaign, Iraqis will be able to take their first steps towards creating a democracy, Israelis and Palestinians are closer than ever to resolving their differences, the Middle East will be more stable, and the world is rid of a tyrant.
Said differently, according to the White House and many political analysts, several weeks of military operations have been more effective at stabilizing one of the most volatile regions in the world than years of peace negotiations.
My response to those who believe that military force is the most effective instrument to promote peace and liberty is to point out a lesson learned from the recent campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq: lasting peace and liberty can only be achieved through dialogue.
Dialogue was the key word for the conference, Iraq: The Day After, that we had the pleasure of organizing with the Fundación Ortega y Gasset. The invaluable support of the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, the City Council of Toledo, the University of Castilla-La Mancha, the Caja of Castilla-La Mancha, and the Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo all helped to make the Conference a great success. Those of us who had the opportunity to attend and participate in the fascinating discussion -including those with seemingly irreconcilable ideological differences- can attest that dialogue always has the capacity to be fruitful.
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Keywords
Dialogue Iraq Middle East Peace War on terrorBio author: Shlomo Ben-Ami
Shlomo Ben-Ami is a former Foreign Minister of Israel (2000-2002), he was the main Israeli negotiator at the Camp David Summit in 2000, and is the Vice-President of the Toledo International Center for Peace.
He holds a degree from the University of Tel Aviv and a Doctorate in History from the University of Oxford.
Bio author: Diego Hidalgo
He studied Law at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid (1959-1964) and received a MBA from Harvard University (1966-1968). He completed his PhD in Political Science at the City University of New York (1996-2001). President of FRIDE (Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior), founding member and Senior Fellow of the Gorbachev Foundation of North America (GFNA), of the Board of Directors of the Confederación Española de Fundaciones, as well as an active member of the Club of Rome and its Board of Governors. Member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Madrid and Trustee of the Toledo International Centre for Peace.
Bio author: Jon Shifrin
Jon Shifrin worked as a Research Assistant at FRIDE. Mr. Shifrin earned a B.A. from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and a M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.
