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Contact:

Margaret Karns at (937) 229-3538, margaret.karns@notes.udayton.edu;   Teri Rizvi at (937) 229-3241, Office; (937) 454-5113, Evenings;  teri.rizvi@notes.udayton.edu,   www.udayton.edu

U.N. Expert, Professor Margaret P. Karns of the University of Dayton (See Bio.)

 EXPERT PREDICTS U.N. SUPPORT FOR

RECONSTRUCTION IN IRAQ

               DAYTON, Ohio, Sept. 2003 /MaximsNews.com/ --  On the eve of President Bush's appeal to the United Nations, a U.N. expert predicts the peacekeeping body will play a belated, but meaningful, role in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq.

 "I think they will work out a larger U.N. role.  Whether it's the optimum one remains to be seen," said Margaret Karns, a professor of political science at the University of Dayton and co-author of The United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era and The United States and Multilateral Institutions: Patterns of Instrumentality and Influence.

 "There is a legitimacy with bringing in the U.N.  There is a burden-sharing role in bringing in the U.N.  There is an experience factor in bringing in the U.N.," said Karns, who has written numerous articles on U.N. peacekeeping, global governance and the future of the United Nations. 

Her new co-authored book, Networks of International Organizations, Politics and Processes of Global Governance, is scheduled for publication next year.

President Bush is expected to speak to world leaders in an address before the U.N. General Assembly on September 23^rd  in New York. 

The U.S. is advocating a new U.N. resolution that would authorize a multinational military force to help reconstruct the war-torn country. 

Some members of the U.N. Security Council want to set a timetable for elections and ensure greater international control over reconstruction funds, among other issues.

"The U.S. made a huge mistake in not having better post-war planning.  If we felt it necessary to go to war with Iraq, we should have turned immediately to the U.N. to conduct the post-war task," Karns said. 

"The reconstruction is a big job, and the world's superpower has to be a big part of it, but part of the price will be giving up some significant and meaningful authority over what happens in Iraq.  That's the sticking point."

The U.S. needs to remember lessons from Bosnia, according to Karns. 

"To guarantee that we will hold elections a year from now would be a big mistake.  Americans have a lot of faith in holding elections, but they can do a tremendous amount of damage in a society if the groundwork is not laid.”

“It's also unwise to announce an exit date.  People want an exit plan, but a promise to get out within a year is always dangerous.  It's an invitation to those who oppose you not to cooperate."  

"Nation-building takes time and resources.  In both Iraq and Afghanistan, if we don't recognize these as long-haul situations, we're going to face problems down the road," she said.

Karns sees the emergence of a larger role for the U.N. as a step toward peace in the region.

"We're seeing that the majority of the countries in the world, including the U.S., still see the U.N. as having substantial legitimacy and usefulness." 

"As a sole superpower in the world, the United States is increasingly portrayed as  an imperial power, but the character of this country is not well suited to this role," said Karns.  "That is why we created the U.N. and other international organizations in the first place -- to share responsibilities and burdens."

Karns teaches courses on international organizations, foreign policy, and diplomacy at the University of Dayton which is one of the top 10 Catholic universities in the nation and the largest independent university in Ohio.

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 Contact:

Margaret Karns at (937) 229-3538, margaret.karns@notes.udayton.edu; Teri Rizvi at (937) 229-3241, Office; (937) 454-5113, Evenings;  teri.rizvi@notes.udayton.edu,   www.udayton.edu

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