WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. – With President Bush declaring major combat operations over, the focus now is on how best to achieve democracy in Iraq. Although not the sole solution, global engagement through trade and investment is key.

By becoming globally engaged, receiving Normal Trade Relations status from the United States, and ultimately joining the World Trade Organization, the Iraqi people will acquire the tools to achieve a higher standard of living and obtain a sense of belonging in the world community.

This will help unravel four decades of repression, despair and economic isolation forced upon Iraq by the Ba’ath party, which took control in 1963, and Saddam Hussein’s totalitarian grip that began in 1979.

The damage inflicted upon Iraq is evident. For example, its population of 23.3 million has a life expectancy of 61 years – seven years less than the average Middle East and North African rate. And Iraqi economic growth decreased an average of 3.5 percent annually from 1965 through 1999.

But repression is not unique to Iraq. The Middle East is replete with totalitarian regimes that use trade barriers to isolate themselves from the world, and each other.

This has resulted in virtually no economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa since 1965. In addition, since 1980, the Middle East share of world trade, excluding Israel, and investment has fallen by about 75 percent.

Why does global integration hold such promise for Iraq and the Middle East? Look at the facts.

East Asia and the Pacific, a region that has welcomed global integration, generated an average annual growth rate of 5.6 percent from 1965 through the end of the century, and 7.5 percent throughout the 1990s.

The adage “open markets open minds” is true. Once markets are liberalized, their political systems follow. For generations, countries involved in global trade and investment have become more open, democratic and prosperous.

Since the 1980s, China’s global engagement has led to free market reforms that have contributed to greater political freedoms. Furthermore, China’s entrepreneurial class is quickly building a dynamic private sector that is continually pressuring the government to change from the inside out.

For a closer example, simply look south of the border. For more than 70 years, Mexico’s ruling political party, the PRI, had an unbreakable grip on every level of Mexican society. However, as the North American Free Trade Agreement was phased in, the PRI’s hold on power was phased out.

To help facilitate market reforms in Iraq, the United States should even consider implementing a U.S.-Iraq free trade agreement. Doing so will encourage investment in Iraq, improve access to new technologies, encourage a diversification of exports toward agricultural goods and higher-value manufactured products, and create new Iraqi jobs.

John Manzella, an internationally recognized expert on global trade, is President of Manzella Trade Communications (www.ManzellaTrade.com).

Furthermore, the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2001, will serve as a model for economic integration in Iraq and the Middle East. And greater economic integration will foster the development of a fair and impartial legal system.

Like many countries before it, global engagement will help lead Iraq down the path to democracy and prosperity. It will create a better-educated and more politically involved population. And it will give the Iraqi people greater control over their lives and eliminate the feelings of helplessness that can become fertile ground for terrorism.

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ABOUT THE WRITER

John Manzella, an internationally recognized expert on global trade, is President of Manzella Trade Communications (www.ManzellaTrade.com). Readers may write him at PO Box 1188, Williamsville, NY 14231-1188 or e-mail him at JohnManzellaTrade.com.

This essay is available to Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service subscribers. Knight Ridder/Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Knight Ridder/Tribune or its editors.

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(c) John Manzella

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services

AP-NY-05-08-03 1303EDT

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