On 15 February the author and historian Corelli Barnett led a seminar at the Foreign Press Association organised by the FPC, drawing on his latest publication, Post-conquest civil Affairs: Comparing War's End in Iraq and in Europe. The publication is a comparison between the post-war reconstruction of Germany and the current reconstruction of Iraq.

The paper highlights the difficulties inherent in Western intrusion into a proud Islamic country relative to the common cultural ground between occupiers and occupied in Germany in 1945. But it argues that this handicap was worsened by the US neglect of planning and preparation for the post-war governance of Iraq, in contrast to the British approach to civil affairs policy in occupied countries. Unlike the US in Iraq, the Allies accepted in 1945 that there could be no quick exit strategy if they were to create a stable German democracy. The author concludes by making a number of recommendations for any future post-war strategy.

Correlli Barnett is a distinguished author and historian. His books range from military and naval history The Desert Generals, The Swordbearers, Britain and Her Army, Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War to the Pride and Fall sequence The Collapse of British Power, The Audit of War, The Lost Victory, The Verdict of Peace analysing Britain's decline as a great power. Recently he has turned his attention to the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

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