An American University for Iraq but Not in Baghdad:
It would be an ambitious project even in a Middle Eastern country not embroiled in war: build an American-style university where classes are taught in English, teachers come from around the world and graduates compete for lucrative jobs in fields like business and computer science.Yet some of the leading lights of Iraq’s political and intellectual classes are doing exactly that, even as the bloodshed widens.
Their planned American University of Iraq is modeled after the famous private universities in Cairo and Beirut. The project’s managers have a board of trustees; a business plan recently completed by McKinsey & Company, an international consulting firm; three candidates for university president; and $25 million, much of it in pledges from the American government and Kurdish sources. To fulfill their dream, they need much more: $200 million to $250 million over 15 years, said Azzam Alwash, the board’s executive secretary.
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…it is slated for what is the most non-Iraqi part of Iraq. The site is on a windswept hilltop along the outskirts of Sulaimaniya, the eastern capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, 150 miles north of Baghdad and far from the car bombs and death squads that are tearing apart the Arab regions of Iraq. Because of its relative safety so far, Kurdistan can more easily attract aid and reconstruction money.
Intriguing–and hardly surprising that Baghdad is currently considered unfit for such a project. However, this is the kind of project that Iraq needs. The question becomes, however, is this a project for a new Iraq, or will it ultimately be a project for a new Kurdistan?
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January 3rd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Great, another university I won’t get an offer from.