Welcome,

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my monthly newsletter, Mosaic Perspective— a newsletter and podcast weaving psychology, emotion, and history with economics, through my Iraqi-Canadian lens. 

Scroll down to read: When a US author tells me how fear keeps Iraqi economists quiet.

Wishing you a fantastic day wherever you are, 

Dina Al-Shibeeb

When a US author tells me how fear keeps Iraqi economists quiet

As a member of the Iraqi diaspora, I've always sought answers to why my country of origin lacks a comprehensive economic vision, particularly in the post-conflict era, despite its abundant resources beyond oil.

With Iraq depending on crude oil exports for 95% of its revenues, my question reached its zenith after reflecting on my experience living as an expat in Malaysia and the UAE and witnessing their full-fledged economic transformation. 

While living in Dubai, which poses a significant economic case study for diversification as it no longer depends on oil, I remember the day when the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) stock index rose by 100 percent year-over-year in May 2014 after the UAE's official inclusion in MSCI's emerging markets index. 

With its current "We The UAE 2031" vision, I remember reporting the region's news as a journalist with Dubai's 2020 vision imbuing the local business headlines. 

Even Malaysia, currently the 25th-largest trading country in the world, with electronics constituting 34% of its total exports, is yet another rapidly developing emerging market. I remember hearing "Malaysia Boleh" out loud as a teen when my family lived in Southeast Asia in the mid-1990s. The famous phrase means "Malaysia Can" to reach its Vision 2020.

These visions translated the underlying ethos these governments undertook to transform and propel their people to a higher level. These visions bonded the government and its people towards a common goal. But Iraq had none, and all I remember were Saddam-era Baathist slogans, which were highly ideological and war-ridden. 

In my search for comprehensive books about this specific topic, there were only so many, especially in Arabic. However, I did find books on Amazon, which were mainly expensive. I can only imagine a regular citizen based in Iraq who can afford to buy them if they come from the upper crust of society. 

I did buy both The Political Economy of Iraq—Restoring Balance in a Post-Conflict Society by Frank R. Gunter and The Economy of Iraq—Oil, Wars, Destruction of Development and Prospects 1950-2010 by Abbas Alnasrawi. (I highly recommend both.)

To make my long story short, I interviewed Dr. Gunter, a Professor of Economics at Lehigh University, for a story I published at Al Arabiya English, my former newsroom in Dubai. Oil-dependent Iraq must 'diversify rapidly' as challenges stifle the young population, and in Arabic: تنويع مصادر الدخل بعيداً عن النفط.. ضرورة من أجل العراق.

To my delight, Dr. Gunter, who wrote the book following his role as senior civilian economics adviser for Multi-National Corps—Iraq at Camp Victory, Iraq (July 2008—July 2009), was quite approachable and warm. He exuded a sense of sincerity and concern for the Iraqi people, which I truly appreciated. 

While I was fixated on why Iraq wasn't diversifying from oil, Dr. Gunter took me for a solid U-turn, precisely at the point that made me search for experts like him. He made me feel at peace with my country of origin, dissipating whatever anger and frustration were fomenting inside me over the lack of an economic vision. 

Dr. Gunter did that when he surprised me with a question at the end of the interview.  

"So let me answer the question you did not ask," he said. "Iraq is full of economists, and these economists know Iraq much better than I do."

However, the difference between him and an Iraqi economist is that he can always "hop on a plane and go back to the United States." 

He even shared the question he asked his Iraqi peers in Baghdad and Erbil. 

"Why don't you write about the state of the Iraqi economy?"

Their explanation was that writing about "corruption, mismanagement in the state enterprises, and mistakes made by the government" would be "dangerous" to them and their families. 

"That's probably one of the most serious problems that Iraq faces. If you have the brightest young men and women who are afraid to speak the truth because of the repercussions against them or their families, then it will be tough to make progress," he continued. 

In essence, this is why the universe connected me to Dr. Gunter and why I started this newsletter in the first place. It took me a while, but it was never too late.

It turned out that Dr. Gunter was also on a similar quest to mine when reading this in his preface. 

"By that time, I had read or at least scanned several hundred books, journal articles, and search studies on the post-1995 political economy of Iraq. What I was not able to find was a single recent work that attempted to provide an integrated study of the entire political economy."