Iraq: The South Korea Model

In a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Noah Feldman argues that American troops should stay in Iraq beyond 2011 to ensure stability while the country builds viable institutions and forms an identity irrespective of religious or ethnic groups. For Feldman, the U.S.’s 35-year-presence in South Korea is an example of how long-term military engagement can help incipient democracies progress in difficult neighborhoods: “No one would have predicted at the time that South Korea—war-torn like Iraq, and in dire need of reconstruction—was a candidate for successful democratization. […] The presence of U.S. forces provided a background security guarantee throughout that process, one that Koreans have used to good effect.”