Higher Education and Democracy in Iraq: Book Review
By Aaron Mannes
The latest issue of Policy Review just published my review of John Agresto's Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq.
Agresto, a former President of St. John's College and chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities served as the special adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education for about a year. Although a true believer in the cause, he has harsh criticism for poorly thought out U.S. policies. However, as that story has been told by so many others I focus on Agresto's deeper questions about the nature of democracy, the role of higher education in democracy, and the enormous challenges to building an Iraqi democracy. I did not realize that the article would come out as Iraq's provincial elections were being held. The elections have been generally peaceful and according to some reports the secular parties are winning. However, as I discuss in the review, the Iraqis appear to have adopted the forms of democratic government - but the open question remains whether or not the substance has taken hold. This is a fundamental question for reform in Iraq and throughout the region.
Read the complete review here.
