ANN ARBOR—With the debate underway regarding post-war control of Iraq, a University of Michigan professor says the rebuilding efforts and political control should be handled by the United Nations, not the United States or another country.

“The U.S. should keep a relatively low profile,” said J. David Singer, a political science professor who specializes in international conflict and war. “The United States and the U.K. (United Kingdom) would be making a serious mistake were they to take on the task of rebuilding of physical, social and economic infrastructures.”

The U.S. influence and prestige in that part of the world is “tragically low,” he said, and a prominent rebuilding role by Americans role will further deteriorate this country’s perception. In addition, the U.S. has not maintained a good track record of solving social and political problems, such as Haiti, Kosovo and Serbia, he said. This global system needs organizations—such as the United Nations, which has experience in humanitarian aid—that allow many perspectives.

Some post-war tasks include establishing law and order (minimizing looting), distributing water, food and sanitation facilities, attending to health risks of coalition troops and preventing oil field destruction, he said. The United Nations should begin the rebuilding tasks now, in part, due to the high level of anarchy, Singer said. Reconstituting political and social systems will take at least four or five years, he noted.

“The longer we wait for international …intrusion, the greater the opportunity for the centripetal forces to take hold,” he said. “You can easily imagine a country like this could look like Afghanistan in six months, in which you could have five or six regions that acquire a degree of autonomy.” Having smaller nation states isn’t necessarily bad, he said, but it’s better that any plans come from meaningful collaboration rather than who has the most troops in that country. Singer can be reached at (734) 763-6590. For additional information about him, visit http://polisci.lsa.umich.edu/faculty/jdsinger.html