Center for Strategic and International Studies President John Hamre Top Security Analyst Studies Postwar Challenges in Iraq by John Shaw John Hamre was given an opportunity earlier this year that most think-tank executives only dream about. He was asked to draw on the work of his institution and lead a fact-finding mission to study a daunting problem that was of profound interest to Congress, the White House and the international community. Specifically, Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), was asked by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Ambassador Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, to take a group of foreign policy experts to Iraq and assess the U.S.-led effort to rebuild that nation. Hamre, a former deputy defense secretary and one of Washingtonís most respected national security analysts, was eager to use research conducted by the CSIS that examined post-conflict reconstruction challenges over the last half century as a frame of reference for his assessment. He was also determined to study the facts on the ground in Iraq and provide a clear, nonpartisan report. ìMy g oal was to be helpful to the administration,î Hamre said in an interview at his spacious office in downtown Washington. ìWe were determined not to criticize gratuitously but to tell them what they could do to solve the problems we identified,î he added. Hamreís team traveled through Iraq from June 26 to July 7, visiting 11 major cities and two ports. They traveled to nine of Iraqís 18 provinces and met with more than 250 people, including Coalition Provisional Authority officials, military officers, international representatives, staff from nongovernmental organizations and Iraqis from all walks of life. The Hamre report concluded that although substantial progress had been made in Iraq, profound security and reconstruction challenges remained that threatened to undermine the entire American reconstruction effort. In a phrase that captured the attention of administration officials, lawmakers and journalists, the Hamre report said the ìwindow of opportunityî to win the support of the Iraqi people would close in a matter of months unless tangible progress was achieved. Hamreís report cited seven major areas that required immediate attention, including the need to improve public safety, expand Iraqi ownership of the rebuilding process, provide basic economic and social services, decentralize projects and reallocate funding, transform the Iraqi perception of the reconstruction project, mobilize a new reconstruction coalition that was broader than the war-fighting coalition, and provide additional resources toward the overall effort. Administration officials and lawmakers said the Hamre report provided an important perspective on Iraq at a crucial time. ìJohn Hamreís report was a very important event in the debate on Iraq,î said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). ìIt was a careful and serious piece of work that helped the Congress and the entire country think about the very hard challenges we face in Iraq. I took it very seriously and urged my colleagues to study the report carefully,î Lugar added. The senator said Hamreís personal stature and skill at drafting a balanced assessment gave the study considerable force. ìDr. Hamre is widely respected as a fair-minded person whose views should be taken seriously,î he said. ìJust as important, the report wasnít just his. It coalesced the thinking of a lot of experienced foreign policy analysts about the situation in Iraq.î Hamre said he is proud of his panelís report. ìThere were unique circumstances that made our work unusually helpful. Most of the time think tanks pretend to do great things but rarely do. But in this case, due to good fortune and circumstances, we had a fairly significant impact,î he said. ìI think we were helpful. There had been a very bad breakdown in communication between Baghdad and Washington. The administration seemed very interested in our report. They knew so little here in Washington. There was a hunger for information and we were the conduit for it. Also, we offered a set of recommendations that made sense for the situation.î Hamre was quick to praise Rumsfeld and Bremer for welcoming an independent view of the Iraq reconstruction program. ìThis is an administration that doesnít usually take to second opinions, but they approached it in a genuinely open spirit,î he said. ì[Bremer] was very open and cooperative. He told me, ëTell me what Iím not doing well. I donít just want to hear how great a job we're doing.íî Hamre said he believes that the situation in Iraq is improving but cautioned that several years of hard work and annual investments of between $25 billion and $30 billion will probably be necessary in the future. He praised the Bush administration for seeking $87 billion in security and reconstruction funds from Congress, and he also applauded President Bush for finally deciding to coordinate the Iraq reconstruction effort within the White House rather than in the Defense Department. ìThat should have happened long ago because the people in the Pentagon were too committed to the ideas they had going in to Iraq and were not sufficiently flexible and adaptive to reality we now have,î Hamre said. He argues that the administration has been wise to avoid pushing Iraq too hard and too quickly to privatize its economy, adding that the White House was also right in its attempt to offer grants to Iraq rather than loans. ìThe administration has taken important steps in the right direction. My sense is that it will take timeómultiple years. But I think the situation in Iraq is a lot better than most people think,î he said. ìThere are a lot of positive things that are happening. I hope we are patient. But Iím worried if things donít improve, people will be tempted to declare victory and leave.î Hamre said it is important to provide more security to the Iraqi people, and he urged the U.S. government to shift reconstruction funds away from big projects in Baghdad for American firms to local political officials in the country who will subcontract with Iraqi firms. Although still skeptical about the administrationís case for the Iraq war earlier this year, Hamre said the stakes are now enormous. ìThe United States canít fail. We canít allow Iraq to slip into chaos. I donít think the administration had the facts to make the link between Iraq and terrorism. Iraq was never the wellspring of al Qaeda, but if we were to abandon Iraq now it would become the magnet for all the forces of darkness,î the national security expert said. ìWe have made it the central battleground for the war on terrorism. So we have to follow through.î The entire Iraq experience, Hamre said, provides key insights into the administrationís approach to foreign policy. ìThe administration has learned to be more constructive and humble when they go out and talk to other countries. But they continue to have a preference for consensus-based internationalism rather than using formal structures. Their attitude is, ëIf you agree with us, weíd like to have you,î Hamre said. ìTheir approach to internationalism has some speed limits,î he continued. ìItís limited to countries that for other reasons want to have a certain tie with us on a set of issues. Itís not grounded in institutions. They continue to have a somewhat dismissive attitude to the U.N. even though it holds the ultimate key to sovereign recognition.î Kind and modest, Hamre is one of Washingtonís most respected national security experts. His career is a testament to the fact that a person doesnít have to be loud to be heard and doesnít need to be a self-promoter to be noticed or appreciated. Hamre received a bachelorís degree in political science and economics from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D. He also holds a doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Universityís School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he focused on international politics and economics and U.S. foreign policy. In addition, he studied as a Rockefeller Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. After graduating from SAIS, Hamre worked from 1978 to 1984 at the Congressional Budget Office, where he specialized in national security and international affairs. Hamre then worked for a decade as a staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; he was a senior aide to the panelís chairman, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.). During the Clinton administration, Hamre was appointed undersecretary of defense, where he served as comptroller from 1993 to 1997. For the next two years, he served as deputy secretary of defense, the number-two post at the Pentagon. H amre was elected president and chief executive officer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in January 2000. Hamre is respected in Washington and in the international community for having both a broad vision of global affairs and a practical understanding of the mechanics of government. He is personally interested in such issues as cyber-security, missile defense and export control reform and is also intrigued by how day-to-day government functions. ìI find it a huge advantage to know how government does things,î he said. Although he relished his work at the Pentagon, Hamre said the opportunity to lead the CSIS was too good to pass up. ìWe are always bipartisan at a time when it is hard to be bipartisan. We are a neutral meeting place between the government and the governed. Weíve created a space where people can explore ideas, and they can be honestly evaluated without a political overlay. We get a richer dialogue,î he said, adding, ìCSIS has a business plan they created 40 years ago that was way ahead of its time and it still works.î Hamre said the CSIS is dedicated to providing world leaders with strategic insights and policy solutions to current and emerging global issues. The organization shapes public policy in four main ways: It generates strategic insights, convenes strategic networks, crafts policy solutions, and develops current and future leaders. Hamre presides over a staff of 190 researchers and support staff that work on a full range of national and international security issues, with resident experts in key regions who try to develop new methods of governance for the global age. CSIS convenes more than 700 meetings in Washington and other locations each year. Its current endowment is about $25 million. Contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals constitute about 85 percent of the revenues for its annual budget of about $23 million. Hamre said it is crucial for the center to develop policy ideas that are relevant to current debates: ìWe are outcome oriented. We are here to change public policy. We live by the political body-clock of Washington.î As the leader of one of Washingtonís pre-eminent think tanks, Hamre said he relishes the opportunity to stay engaged on crucial issues and help generate new ideas. ìThis is a wonderful opportunity to be in public life in Washington and work on a bipartisan basis and try to make real changes in a collegial and constructive way.î John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.