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Oil and Freedom Don't Mix

By Julia Turner
Updated Friday, March 21, 2003, at 12:04 PM ET
New Republic

New Republic, March 31
John Judis points out a somewhat counterintuitive obstacle to democracy in Iraq: oil. Rather than providing a postwar government with the economic wherewithal to reconstruct the country along democratic lines, as Dick Cheney, among others, has suggested, oil wealth has historically tended to undercut developing democracy; it diminishes incentives for a diversified economy and cripples the growth of a civil society that's independent from the state. Of all the oil-rich nations in the world, only Norway has a thriving democracy, and that's because it had one before it discovered its oil. … Ryan Lizza assesses how the onset of war will affect the Democratic candidates whose stump speeches have been strongly pro or con. Joe Leiberman's hawkish stock may rise, and Howard Dean's rivals argue that the so-far impressive dove will be shown up as a one-trick donkey. Not so, says Dean. "What gets people cranked up is [my] straight-ahead style. … It's the McCain thing."

Economist

Economist, March 20
The cover story offers a daunting catch-all list of things Bush and Co. must keep in mind as they win the war: Don't kill too many people; don't forget about Israel and Palestine; don't let the neighbors get too involved. Hopefully, the war will "look less like a collision between nations and more like a coup carried out by foreign forces." … Blair's defense of his support for Bush employs twisted logic, a story notes. Blair's argument: We must go along with America, otherwise they'll give up on multilateralism. Though attempts to "harness" U.S. might "for benign purposes" are smarter and more realistic than the new French resistance, the success of Blair's strategy will depend entirely on Bush's decisions, not his own. … Also, a piece notes the regional breakdown of the U.S. armed forces. Interesting tidbit: "A Texan is eight times more likely to be in uniform than a New Yorker." 

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, March 23
Paul Berman grapples with the writings of Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutb—pegged as al-Qaida's philosopher on the cover. The piece, taken from Berman's forthcoming book, seems naively surprised that terrorism has roots in a coherent philosophical work. But the excerpt offers an earnest and fascinating exegesis of Qutb's books, which argue that Christianity led the world astray when it countenanced modern society's "hideous schizophrenia"—the split between the secular and the sacred. Qutb urges Muslims to fight for Islam and theocracy, which would reunite the two. Too bad the excerpt doesn't place his work within a larger context of Islamic thought; perhaps the book does. … A perspective on international relations from Alfonso Cuarón, the Y Tu Mama También director recently tapped to helm the third Harry Potter film: "The evil Voldemort is very similar to Saddam Hussein. Or George Bush. They're really the same. [They] should go to a desert island together and relax."

Time

Time, March 24
The cover line should read "When mom and dad go to war"; the piece inside profiles Jim and Linda Richardson—the first married couple to each command a battalion—and their daughter Lauren, who will be staying with a friend and grandparents during her parents' deployment in the gulf. The piece notes that servicewomen will play a more active role in this war than they did in Desert Storm. … Time to quit forwarding those "Save public radio!" e-mails; NPR is enjoying record listenership (up 48 percent from 1998, 16 percent since 9/11) and growing revenues. … Joe Klein first knocks conservatives for promoting a "pro-democracy jihad" in foreign policy, then slams those who've argued—in the Weekly Standard, among other places—that the United Nations is irrelevant. "The case for the U.N. is relentlessly pragmatic," Klein writes. "It exists." (And is prepping an aid package for postwar Iraq, where the United States will surely want help.)

Newsweek

Newsweek, March 24
American disregard for the United Nations and international diplomacy has the rest of the world freaked out, Fareed Zakaria notes. And while a successful war in Iraq might moot questions about Bush's policies toward Saddam, it won't stanch global concern about the way in which the United States employs its power because those worries are rooted more in the realities of a unipolar world than in the particulars of the gulf crisis. Zakaria points out that the last time U.S. power was so evident, at the end of World War II, FDR and Truman chose to build alliances rather than an empire. Bush and Co. should follow their example by "leading through consensus." … Yet another potential casualty in the war with Iraq? Mesopotamian archeological treasures and museums, which may be bombed or looted. … The capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed came with a windfall bonus arrest: al-Qaida operative Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, who may be able to provide info about al-Qaida finances.

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report, March 24
With a major scoop, the mag's cover reports that U.S. troops are "Ready to go." Apparently, U.S. forces have been massing in the Persian Gulf and are prepared for upcoming combat of some kind. (Actually, the lede does note that paratroopers have taken the final step of packing their equipment, so war might … really … almost … be … here.) … A piece inside does report on the war before the war; increasing numbers of night flights over no-fly zones in southern Iraq. On these sorties, planes often take Iraqi fire.

The New Yorker, March 24
A lengthy profile of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, gives an inside look at Clinton's last-ditch efforts to broker a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal in 2000. Arafat had promised Bandar he'd accept the deal, but later reneged and lied to Bandar about it. The piece also illuminates the Bush administration's turbulent relations with the Saudi regime, describing how Crown Prince Abdullah, frustrated by Bush's seeming indifference to violence in the Middle East, nearly broke diplomatic ties with the United States a few weeks before 9/11 and was soothed by Bush's support for a Palestinian state. … In a "Letter From Baghdad," Jon Lee Anderson hangs around with anxious Iraqis and reflects on unsuccessful British efforts to control the country after World War I. Some of today's Iraqis point to the British as proof that "Nobody can occupy Iraq"; others are evacuating family members, building futile-looking defenses, and expecting to be killed.

Weekly Standard, March 24
The cover story eagerly presents Bush with the key to democracy in Iraq: Destroy the elite Sunni officer corps that ruled under Saddam. If the Sunnis can't use military power to secure their status as the ruling minority, they'll have to turn to new democratic institutions for protection, and "could well be among the most committed democratic-nationalists." The plan never explains how to effectively disarm these elites, though, and sounds like a bit of a pipe dream. … Cynics who think Dubya's designs on Iraq are purely political, back off! Fred Barnes argues that the president is motivated by conviction; if he were motivated by polls, the invasion would likely be off. … Max Boot reviews Niall Ferguson's Empire, which extols the recent British one's virtues. When Boot writes, "Formal empires have become passé since the worldwide triumph of Wilsonian ideals of 'national self-determination,' " he sounds hopeful that empires, like acid-washed jeans, will make a comeback.

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Julia Turner is Slate's deputy editor. You can e-mail her at .
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