From Unilateralism to Global Citizens: Improving the Success of Round 3 in Iraq

As the U.S. takes incremental steps to officially approve the ongoing use of force in Iraq for the third time in twenty-five years, Carter Page considers peaceful means to improve the endgame.

Two of America’s preeminent leaders offered detailed perspectives last week regarding their past accomplishments and future strategies. Although Bill Gates has supported Barack Obama since the 2008 election, the tactical differences between their recently specified approaches help to illustrate potential U.S. foreign policy improvements. Consistent with the tone of a long line of predecessors, Obama explained in his 2015 State of the Union address that, “The question is not whether America leads in the world, but how.” In contrast, Gates focused sharply on more collaborative and realistic solutions in the 2015 annual letter he co-authored with his wife Melinda: “The more global citizens there are, and the more active and effective they are, the more progress the world will make.”

According to a November 2014 analysis by Forbes magazine, Obama and Gates each rank in the top 7 of the World's Most Powerful People alongside Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis and Angela Merkel. As seen in their handling of political and business rivalries and proportional to the rankings, each of these individuals have long been recognized for their extraordinary self-confidence. Just as the Gates Foundation has supported efforts by the U.S. and other governments in tackling challenges such as Ebola, the tactical innovations Bill Gates has recently advocated in his approach to global affairs could offer even more far reaching support to the pursuit of Obama’s objectives. Les Gelb, himself a wise man of U.S. foreign policy, recently suggested that the recruitment of new talent and ideas to support the current Administration represents Obama’s last foreign policy chance. Enlisting Bill Gates’ support as an informal advisor would be a good place to begin.

Despite his confidence, Obama noted last week that, “When what you’re doing doesn’t work for 50 years, it’s time to try something new.” Although this statement specifically referred to the longstanding U.S. policy toward its Caribbean neighbor Cuba, the same idea has applications that extend much further beyond America’s shores. In this regard, the concepts suggested by Gates about advancing the role of global citizens could represent essential, supportive solutions. The continued approach to intermittent warfare in Iraq has thus far only lasted 25 years, or half the duration of the failed Cuba policy. The time to try something new in the Middle East has come given the higher price already paid and the great stakes involved. The core Gates initiative focuses on extreme poverty, but the overlap with states that have been impacted by perennial warfare and deeply disadvantaged societies, warrants broader application of Gates' ideas.

Iraq War Authorization, Past and Present

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors from the Bush clan, Obama said: “I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL. We need that authority. (Applause.)”

George W. Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 into law on October 16 of that year. His father George H.W. Bush had previously signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 1991.

Each of these past authorizations included the requirement of a so-called “Presidential Determination”. These clauses obliged the past Administrations to make available to the Congressional leadership the President’s determination that, “the United States has used all appropriate diplomatic and other peaceful means”. But by not giving sufficient backing to the Iraqi society, economy and businesses as well as outside actors that could support them, that Presidential Determination threshold has not been met in the most recent march toward military force.

Peaceful means

As Gates further described in the latest letter, “Along with other groups, Global Citizen will be asking their members to hold their leaders accountable for the goals they sign up for.” Having undisputedly thrived as the most successful business leader alive, he was personally subjected to such accountability by Microsoft stakeholders from early venture capitalist backers to large institutional investors following the company’s initial public offering in 1986. This differs from the approach of government leaders of recent generations in which the main liability has fallen on the shoulders of troops in Iraq, thousands of whom have lost their lives on the battlefield.

Last Tuesday, Obama noted that, “We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we have done relentlessly since I took office…” Although the U.S. has taken steps to achieve a more multilateral approach, initial steps have not gone far enough. As one critic pointed out, “He said in the State of the Union that we are leading ‘a broad coalition’ against ISIS. We are? What coalition? Mainly it’s the Iraqi army and Kurds battling for survival alongside U.S air support.”

As Gates noted and in contrast to hegemonic principles that have guided foreign policy in Washington for decades, “We believe that people can and must work together more to make the world a more equitable place.”

Responses from Russia and the Republicans

In the official Republican response to the State of the Union, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst proclaimed: “You see, growing up, I had only one good pair of shoes. So on rainy school days, my mom would slip plastic bread bags over them to keep them dry. But I was never embarrassed. Because the school bus would be filled with rows and rows of young Iowans with bread bags slipped over their feet.”

The rest of Ernst’s address was soaked in reminiscence and even more deeply submerged in predictable criticism of President Obama. But amidst a range of other lackluster responses from his political adversaries, the most thoughtful reaction may have come from Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. While the Western sanctions have had limited influence on the government of Russia other than to strengthen their resolve, a more immediate and material impact may be seen in the wellbeing of students in school buses from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok. As Lavrov stated at a news conference, “The Americans have taken the course of confrontation and do not assess their own steps critically at all… Yesterday’s speech by President Obama shows that at the centre of the [US’s] philosophy is only one thing: ‘We are number one and everyone else has to recognise that.’”

While pragmatic energy companies from the West continue to work together with Russian companies in Iraq despite misguided sanctions, such peaceful means have remained encumbered by these unfortunate policies. Referring to this cooperation and echoing the pragmatic philosophy of Gates, one senior executive from Gazprom’s oil subsidiary said, "Our company is in constant search for solutions that will enable us to implement increasingly complex projects, while improving our operating results through the use of the most environmentally-friendly technologies."

Games of political chicken

With troops from the United States and other countries already redeployed to Iraq, the legislative action by Congress and the executive branch has been referred to as a “game of political chicken”. Amidst finger-pointing on both sides, neither branch has shown the initiative to take responsibility for this controversial legislation.

Meanwhile, the operating tactics employed on the battlefield further reflect other games of political chicken. As noted in the Gates annual letter, “There is overwhelming evidence that people care about others who are suffering—when they can see the suffering.”

Professor Shannon French, Director of the Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University and a former Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, has similarly noted with respect to remote-control tactics, “If [I'm] in the field risking and taking a life, there's a sense that I'm putting skin in the game. I'm taking a risk so it feels more honorable. Someone who kills at a distance -- it can make them doubt. Am I truly honorable?”

President Obama offered an alternative perspective in his State of the Union address on what has become a main strategy for the U.S.: “As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I have… worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. (Applause.)”

While the reality of boots on the ground in Iraq may be cloaked in political semantics, the energy industry personnel from around the world that remain forward deployed continue to have significant skin in the game throughout the country. As Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Rowsch Nuri Shaways said at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, “Because of the new challenges, especially the price of oil, Iraq has to try its best to raise its oil production and exports.” As U.S. troops and other militaries slowly creep back into Iraq, the economic and political impact of businesses from around the world may prove to be the more decisive force in determining the future of this country.

Carter W. Page is Founder and Managing Partner of Global Energy Capital LLC, an Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and Energy Fellow at the Center for National Policy in Washington.