Peace Enforcement and the Ultimate Question of Sovereignty in Post-Saddam Iraq

This paper examines the peace enforcement transition and transformation phase of OIF and explores the potential for democracy in lraq. Key questions are: Can Iraq become a truly free state? Can it achieve democracy after decades of Baathist oppression? Who will lead development of the new government? How long will peace enforcement be required? Although there is no precedent for nation building in the Arab states, the challenges in Iraq compare to those in other nations where democracies have been successfully installed. Such successes occur only by careful, meticulous planning and execution of the above three phases.