Iraq: Creating a Strategic Partnership

The recent bombings in Iraq have shown that the Iraq War is scarcely over. The insurgency is still capable of major bombings and efforts to renew ethnic and sectarian conflict. Iraq faces other internal challenges like tensions between Arabs and Kurds, and is years away from achieving lasting security and stability.

If Iraq and the United States are to win the war in any meaningful and lasting sense, they must translate the Strategic Agreement they signed in November 2008 into a lasting and functional strategic partnership. In the process, the US must put Iraq firmly in the lead, but sustain the kind of aid and advice that will help Iraq make further progress in political accommodation, the quality of governance, economic development, and security.

The Burke Chair conducted a detailed analysis of the current situation in Iraq, the challenges it faces, and the actions the US needs to take to help Iraq meet these challenges. This report has been circulated to a wide range of experts inside and outside Iraq for comment, and an updated version is now available. It is entitled “Iraq: Creating a Strategic Partnership,” and is available on the CSIS web site at:

http://csis.org/files/publication/091028_IraqStratPartner_0.pdf

The report provides a detailed risk assessment of current and potential levels of violence in Iraq. It addresses the levels of political accommodation and stability, and the problems Iraq faces going into the coming national election. It also addresses the opportunities and problems in developing Iraq’s petroleum sector; investment and development issues in other sectors, the problems in the Iraqi budget, and progress in Iraqi reconstruction. It evaluates the need for continued economic aid and advice, and US options for extending such assistance.

The concluding section examines progress in creating Iraqi military and police forces. It examines the role the United States can play in helping Iraq further develop such forces, and then analyzes what a strategic partnership, based on the Strategic Agreement, should mean.

This report is still being circulated in draft form and will be updated and expanded in the months to come. Corrections, revisions, and suggested additions would be most helpful in improving and updating its contents. Please send any such comments to Anthony Cordesman at acordesman@gmail.com or Adam Mausner at amausner@csis.org.