The office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
issued its final lessons learned report earlier this year. Among the
recommendations was a call for establishing a new U.S. Office for
Contingency Operations, for planning and implementing the diverse
activities required in post-conflict deployments, not necessarily of the
scale or purpose of the Iraq situation. Our panel discussed the
requirement for such a capability in the U.S. system, considered options
to achieve greater planning and execution effectiveness, and also looked
at what tools and processes reside in the UN system.
To watch C-SPAN’s coverage of the event, click here.
Speakers:
Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
James A. Schear, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations
Leanne Smith, Chief of the United Nations Department of
Peacekeeping Operations Policy and Best Practices Service
Moderator:
Ellen Laipson, President and CEO, Stimson Center
Stuart W. Bowen, Jr.
was appointed Inspector General for the Coalition Provisional Authority
in January 2004, and, since October 2004, he has served as the Special
Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. As the “taxpayer’s watchdog”
in Iraq, Mr. Bowen oversees more than $60 billion in U.S. funds. Over
the past 9 years, Bowen has made 34 trips to Iraq, managed the
production of 390 audits and inspections, issued 9 comprehensive lessons
learned reports, and provided 35 quarterly reports on Iraq
reconstruction to the Congress. His oversight work has produced
financial benefits to the U.S. Government in excess of $1.8 billion and
has yielded 90 convictions for fraud and other crimes. In 2006, the
President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency awarded the office of
the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction the Gaston L.
Gianni, Jr. Better Government Award for “demonstrating integrity,
determination, and courage” in providing independent oversight and
unbiased review of U. S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
James A. Schear
was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Partnership
Strategy and Stability Operations) on April 27, 2009. He left the
Department earlier this year. Schear advised the Department’s
leadership on all matters pertaining to stabilization and reconstruction
operations, foreign disaster relief, humanitarian assistance,
international peacekeeping efforts and non-combatant evacuations. He
also oversaw the Department’s efforts to assist foreign partners in
their efforts to bolster stability within regions threatened by conflict
or extremist violence. Prior to assuming his current duties, Dr. Schear
served as Director of Research at the National Defense University’s
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS). He directed the
Institute’s analytic work in the areas of regional studies, national
security strategy, defense planning, strategic concept development and
counter-terrorism/transnational threats.
Leanne Smith is Chief of the United Nations Department of
Peacekeeping Operations Policy and Best Practices Service, and former Deputy
Chief of the Peacekeeping Situation Centre at the United Nations Headquarters.
She has practiced law, diplomacy and public policy across a variety of fields
including the Australian judicial system, the international NGO sector,
regional and national human rights organisations, the Australian Foreign
Service and the UN, in Southeast Asia, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Sudan.
Smith began her legal career as a clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the Australian Capital Territory. Her interest in international human
rights law led her to volunteer for several human rights NGOs in Indonesia. She
worked for the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission on
anti-discrimination and indigenous issues and for the Asia Pacific Forum of
National Human Rights Institutions. Smith served with the Australian Foreign
Service from 1999 – 2007 where she worked on both policy and legal issues
including: disarmament; human rights and refugee law; Pakistan/Afghanistan
relations; the law of treaties, law of the sea and corporate planning. She
spent three years (2001-2004) as the Australian Political Secretary in Belgrade
accredited to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Macedonia and
Romania. From 2005-2007 she was seconded from the Australian Foreign Service to
the UN in Afghanistan where she worked first as a human rights field officer
for UNAMA and then for OHCHR and UNDP as an international technical adviser to
the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ellen Laipson is
President and Chief Executive Officer of Stimson. She also directs the
Middle East/Southwest Asia program, which covers issues including Gulf
security and the strategic repercussions of the Arab transitions.
Laipson joined Stimson in 2002, after 25 years of government service.
Key positions included vice chair of the National Intelligence Council
(NIC) (1997-2002) and special assistant to the U.S. permanent
representative to the United Nations (1995-97). Laipson’s earlier
government career focused on analysis and policymaking on Middle East
and South Asian issues. She was director for Near East and South Asian
Affairs for the National Security Council (1993-95), national
intelligence officer for Near and South Asia (1990-93), a member of the
State Department’s policy planning staff (1986-87), and a specialist in
Middle East affairs for the Congressional Research Service.
For more information, contact Rich Robinson at [email protected] or 202-478-3419