Overview

Since U.S. operations began in Iraq in 2003, the Iraqi armed forces have embarked on a huge transformation. In this groundbreaking monograph, Dr. Florence Gaub focuses on the structural and sociological aspects of rebuilding the Iraqi armed forces, which she observes and comments on through the lens of lessons learned from Lebanon's experience of rebuilding its own armed forces in the late 20th century following civil war. Given Iraq's geopolitical potential, this observation and commentary is especially important. Gaub's objectives in writing this monograph are to learn from past mistakes observed in both Iraq and Lebanon, highlighting possible ways to avoid making such mistakes in the future, and to offer recommendations for improving performance in future post-conflict situations. Gaub focuses on the importance of fair and equal ethnic representation in the military and the presentation of a positive public image of the new military as a symbol of strength and justice within the nation. In addition, she notes the value that proper training of new recruits and integration of compromised elites and soldiers into the new armed forces have on strengthening bonds between soldiers and officers in a multiethnic, post-conflict army. This monograph is an important contribution to the debate over how multiethnic armies in post-conflict situations should be rebuilt and to what degree societal unrest and public opinion influence the success of such undertakings.

Full Product Details

9781478113393

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

FLORENCE GAUB is a Researcher and Lecturer in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence College's Middle East Faculty. Her areas of interest include the Arab world, military sociology, post-conflict reconstruction, and intercultural communication. Previously, she has served as a research fellow in the German Parliament, focusing on issues of defense, internal security and development. She has also held positions with the French Defence Ministry's Research Centre in the Social Sciences of Defence (Centre d'études en sciences sociales de la defense), the Centre for Security Studies in Sarajevo, the Centre for Applied Policy Research in Munich, as well as with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in New York, where she coordinated courses for diplomats posted at the United Nations. She has conducted extensive field studies in Lebanon, Iraq, Nigeria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has published several articles and two books on these topics, and has lectured widely with The NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany; Allied Joint Forces Command Naples; and several think tanks and universities in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Dr. Gaub graduated from Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Humboldt University of Berlin.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available