To defeat ISIS, Trump needs an economic strategy for Iraq

Addressing Iraq’s economic challenges is critical to defeating the Islamic State. As our military strategists work to dislodge ISIS from Iraq, officials must simultaneously develop an economic strategy to combat the instability, insecurity and discontent that help create a fertile breeding ground for extremism.

The security challenges in Iraq are impossible to resolve without a credible economic strategy. It is vital that President Trump use his trip to the Group of Seven summit to outline a political and economic approach that complements our military strategy. A failure to properly integrate economics into our overall strategy is tantamount to planning to fail.   

The best example of such an economic approach is, of course, America’s investment in Europe following World War II, which helped facilitate peace and prosperity for more than 70 years. If General Marshall’s success providing economic support to rebuild Western Europe teaches us anything, it is that prosperity is intimately tied to security.

{mosads}The reality is that the complex challenges in Iraq are unlikely to ever create a moment of clarity similar to the end of World War II. Yet any strategy for containing, debilitating and destroying havens of extremism must be mindful of the need to create genuine economic opportunity for those that call Iraq home.   

A coherent economic strategy should include at least three critical objectives: dramatically reducing corruption, rapid rebuilding of Iraq’s economy, and bolstering the international institutions working to reform and rebuild broken economies in the region.

Breaking the back of corruption must be at the center of Iraq’s economic strategy. Corruption spawns the distrust and cynicism that continues to constrain Iraq’s economic progress and fuel extremist propaganda. This is why international economic and military assistance must incentivize accountability and transparency. Efforts to improve accountability should include streamlining the patchwork of anticorruption bodies — which currently have overlapping jurisdiction and lack clear authority and independence. While some progress has been made over the last decade, greater use of electronic payments would improve transparency.  

The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars waging war in Iraq. The cost of rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and institutions will ultimately be tens of billions more. This is a bill we will largely bear alone, if the administration and Congress fail to support the multilateral institutions tasked with raising money for Iraq. Raising money for reconstruction projects is notoriously slow, but this time must be different. The longer it takes to rebuild Iraq, the more likely the vacuum left by ISIS is filled by the next generation of extremists. If oil-rich Iraq cannot find a path to economic sustainability, there is no hope for the region.

Low oil prices and changing demographics are shining a light on the economic challenges the region faces. The only credible way to address these challenges is if governments partner with the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks. This partnership — such as the IMF’s programs in Iraq, Egypt and Tunisia — are essential to creating economic stability, which is fundamentally in America’s national security interest.

The administration and Congress should also support efforts to open regional economies to market forces; increase labor force participation, especially among women; and improve the trade and investment climate in the region. Despite the oil-derived wealth of many countries in the region, the vast majority lack the institutional capacity to implement reforms without technical assistance. International support is essential if reform efforts like Saudi Vision 2030 that seek to diversify economies are going to have even modest success.    

The president’s first international trip, while overshadowed by last week’s headline-grabbing revelations, also comes at a critical time in the war with ISIS. Ultimately, winning the fight against ISIS will require the administration and Congress to support the work of multilateral institutions, smart use of America’s foreign aid budget and partnerships with allies to create economic opportunity.

Last year, I watched President Obama go from leader to leader at the G-7 galvanizing economic support for Iraq as part of our effort to defeat ISIS. The Trump administration has the opportunity to employ a similar approach at this year’s G-7 meeting geared not just towards defeating ISIS on the battlefield, but towards winning the peace.

Wally Adeyemo is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and previously served as deputy national security advisor for international economics and the president’s representative to the G-7 during the Obama administration. Follow him on Twitter @WallyAdeyemo.

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