Publishers Weekly
Written with tempered passion and a grounded sense of the possibilities, Feldman's book nicely bridges theory and practice.


Gary Rosen, Wall Street Journal
" he remains an ardent democracy-booster, but his time on the ground in Baghdad seems to have chastened him".


Robert Kagan, New York Times Book Review
"Powerful and important.... The book, like its author, is an unusual blend: part theoretical treatise, part political analysis, part memoir."


Richard A. Clarke, The Washington Post
"...offers preventive medicine against insurgency and terrorism as well as a practical strategy for a longer-term global war of ideas".


Andrew Apostolou, The New York Post
"The book is original and refreshingly free of ideology and partisanship".


Planet Utica
"Feldman offers enduring insights into the power dynamics between the American occupiers and the Iraqis".


Book Description
What do we owe Iraq? America is up to its neck in nation building--but the public debate, focused on getting the troops home, devotes little attention to why we are building a new Iraqi nation, what success would look like, or what principles should guide us. What We Owe Iraq sets out to shift the terms of the debate, acknowledging that we are nation building to protect ourselves while demanding that we put the interests of the people being governed--whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, or elsewhere--ahead of our own when we exercise power over them. Noah Feldman argues that to prevent nation building from turning into a paternalistic, colonialist charade, we urgently need a new, humbler approach. Nation builders should focus on providing security, without arrogantly claiming any special expertise in how successful nation-states should be made. Drawing on his personal experiences in Iraq as a constitutional adviser, Feldman offers enduring insights into the power dynamics between the American occupiers and the Iraqis, and tackles issues such as Iraqi elections, the prospect of successful democratization, and the way home. Elections do not end the occupier's responsibility. Unless asked to leave, we must resist the temptation of a military pullout before a legitimately elected government can maintain order and govern effectively. But elections that create a legitimate democracy are also the only way a nation builder can put itself out of business and--eventually--send its troops home.


From the Inside Flap
"Noah Feldman is a rapidly rising star in the American intellectual firmament. This elegant set of essays showcases his keen intelligence and sweeping erudition. It illuminates America's mission in Iraq, and much more."--Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International, author of The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad. "If you are wrestling with the question of why the United States is in Iraq, committed to the reconstruction of that troubled nation, there is no better place to start than with Noah Feldman's timely and thought-provoking new book. Deftly weaving his own experiences in the rebuilding of Iraq, political philosophy, constitutional law, and a broad perspective on American interests in the world, Feldman elevates the debate on this issue above the platitudes of the politicians."--Kenneth M. Pollack, Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution "Intervening in another country and rebuilding its institutions after tyranny amounts to a moral promise. Noah Feldman's fine book is a lucid, passionate, and closely reasoned examination of what it means to try to keep that promise. There are plenty of books around that treat nation building as a technical or military exercise. This is the book that thinks through nation building as a moral challenge and an exercise in promise keeping."--Michael Ignatieff, Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University, author of The Lesser Evil "A coherent, tightly argued, penetrating, timely, and provocative book. Noah Feldman provides both a clear-sighted discussion of constitutional aspects of nation building and a fascinating account of postwar Iraq."--G. John Ikenberry, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, author of The Nation State in Question


About the Author
Noah Feldman is Associate Professor of Law at New York University and, in 2003, was Senior Constitutional Adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. He is the author of "After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Noah Feldman argues that to prevent nation building from turning into a paternalistic, colonialist charade, we urgently need a new, humbler approach. Nation builders should focus on providing security, without arrogantly claiming any special expertise in how successful nation-states should be made. Drawing on his personal experiences in Iraq as a constitutional adviser, Feldman offers enduring insights into the power dynamics between the American occupiers and the Iraqis, and tackles issues such as Iraqi elections, the prospect of successful democratization, and the way home.

FROM THE CRITICS

Robert Kagan - The New York Times

Scholars don't often get to test their theories in the field. Feldman did in Iraq. As a constitutional adviser, Feldman helped shape Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law, the interim constitution and political road map for the country's transition from occupied territory to sovereign, democratic nation. ''What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation Building'' is a product of that experience. The book, like its author, is an unusual blend: part theoretical treatise, part political analysis, part memoir. Above all, it is a plea to the American conscience to take seriously the responsibility the United States has assumed to help the Iraqi people build the democracy Feldman believes they need and deserve.

Richard A. Clarke - The Washington Post

Noah Feldman, a law professor at New York University and a former senior constitutional adviser to the Coalitional Provisional Authority (CPA), provides a cogent analysis of U.S. efforts in Iraq in What We Owe Iraq. Feldman details the behind-the-scenes power politics of the U.S. occupation and delivers a persuasive appeal for a more grassroots approach to nation building -- that is, an approach seen by most Iraqis as legitimized by local input. He argues that nation-building can be an effective long-term strategy to fight terrorism if its purpose is to create stable democracies. Feldman surmises, correctly, that terrorism festers not only in weak states but also in strong but undemocratic ones such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Publishers Weekly