Making the World Flat for Iraq

The story of Coalition success in Iraq is not a very popular topic in part because it is highly debatable as to how much has actually been achieved, and then there is the whole WMD fiasco. Where you fall into the political spectrum should be inconsequential when you look at the present state of conditions in Iraq. Your approval of the president doesn’t matter to Iraqis living in a dangerous country where electricity, water, and safety are most likely the main concerns of the day. What Iraq needs is politic-free solutions to problems, and genuine concern for their future.

In the 1990’s the political systems and economies of China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central Asia all began to open up to the rest of the world. There are all kinds of reasons why these countries and regions have improved so much in the recent past, but one of the main factors to improvement was technology. The most important thing to note is that people anywhere always have something to offer others if they have the tools to do so.

Does “Made in China” ring a bell? Many people try to avoid that statement whenever they buy merchandise, however; to do so is foolish in the name of saving American’s jobs (you may be doing just the opposite). The globalization of economic systems is already here, and just as “no man is an island”, neither is any nation. If outsourcing and off-shoring had no value to America and or Americans then American companies would have never started doing it.

Many of these countries have benefited from the needs of Western society. We are enormous consumers with a whole lot of money, and we are willing to part with if it makes our lives easier. Before you can offer something to someone you must first be able to communicate.

The point is Iraq can benefit from the needs of the world, but they must understand what is out there first. People say that knowledge is power. I say give power to the Iraqi people, not just politicians in Baghdad, by the way of information. You may laugh, but what they need is easy access to the rest of world through the internet. Granted Iraq has a long way to go, and the internet will not “fix” anything. However, having access to the rest of the world will open up business opportunities and new ideas.

Cell phones were a huge hit for the Iraqi people, and many companies have established networks here, but the internet is still a scarce commodity, and very expensive. In my opinion the internet has a way of letting average people everywhere see the world from a similar point of view. For example, I can buy new albums released the same day you can in the US even though I never leave my desk in Najaf, Iraq. Accountants and doctors in India can file your taxes, look at an X-ray of your broken arm, and then give them back to your accountant or Doctor before you even knew the world was vastly different than it was 15 years ago.

The thing is “terrorists” and “extremists” will find it much harder to survive in a world of innovative, well informed people armed with Johnny Cash, The Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Lost, 24, Survivor, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and all the obvious benefits the internet brings to the table.