America's occupation of Iraq to be lecture topic

?America?s Failed Occupation in Iraq: An Insider?s Perspective? will be presented by Brad Swanson, former deputy director of economic reconstruction in the Iraqi Provisional Government, in an upcoming visit to Skidmore College.

Swanson?s presentation is scheduled at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Explained Swanson, ?America went to war in Iraq without an occupation plan and was taken by surprise when the Iraqi state imploded. Alarmed at the widening chaos, the administration soon named a viceroy, Paul Bremer, to oversee a comprehensive transformation of Iraqi society, economy and politics. But the program was over-ambitious, poorly focused, and unable to fill the vacuum of authority.?

Swanson served in Bremer's government from March to August 2004, steering U.S. assistance to Iraqi privately owned businesses. An investment banker and former diplomat, he worked with Iraqis throughout the country and developed an appreciation for their resilience and courage as they struggled to lead normal lives in the midst of war. ?Yet, as the summer wore on it became increasingly clear that the occupation had failed in its most fundamental task, to win most Iraqis' respect and cooperation. While the Americans pushed paper in the glitzy palaces seized from Saddam, Iraq slid toward civil war,? Swanson said.

Swanson is a partner in a socially responsible investment bank, Developing World Markets (DWM), which has channeled $250 million of international capital markets investment into small and micro-businesses in emerging countries. He spent seven years in the Foreign Service (1979-86), primarily in Liberia and Senegal. The U.S. Department of State awarded him the Superior Honor citation for his reporting and policy work in Liberia following a military coup.

The Skidmore community will have an additional opportunity to hear from Swanson when he presents a campus-only talk titled ?Microfinance: Are Commerce and Charity in Conflict?? at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in the Pohndorff Room of the Scribner Library. According to Swanson, ?To an aid worker sitting in La Paz, microfinance is a helping hand to lift families out of poverty. But to an international fund manager in Switzerland, it is an attractive financial asset with low volatility, high diversification, and above-market rates of return. Can these two visions coexist, or will the bottom-line orientation of mainstream investors cut microfinance off from its social roots?

Currently a specialist in microfinance, Swanson also has worked in some of the world's poorest communities. He faces the conflicting views of microfinance practitioners and capital market investors on a daily basis. For microfinance to attract the funding it deserves, Swanson believes it must develop into discrete asset classes, so that investors can make informed choices to suit their social and economic objectives.

But for this to happen, different metrics to measure risk and social value need to be invented and adopted as global standards. In essence, this is the same paradox facing social investment all along the spectrum. Everyone knows what a dollar of profit is. But how to measure a unit of social good, give it a price, and trade it in the market? The Wednesday discussion will give Swanson the chance to answer these questions for the Skidmore audience.

He began his career as an investment banker in 1988 by joining the Wall Street securities firm Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. Two years later, he moved from New York to London, where he spent nine years. From London, he first covered the Middle East for Bankers Trust (1990-95), notably arranging financing for Kuwaiti banks following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. His next job was with Banque Nationale de Paris (1995-99), where he ran an investment banking business covering Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Following his return to Washington, D.C., in 2000, Swanson spent two years as an investment manager with Global Environment Fund. He then spent a year consulting with high-tech startup firms in the Washington region before returning to emerging markets investment banking by joining DWM.

In 2004 Swanson was appointed deputy director of private sector development in Baghdad. The U.S. Department of Defense awarded him the Joint Civilian Service citation for his efforts to restore the Iraqi economy. His experience in Iraq is portrayed in the book The Assassins' Gate by George Packe.
Swanson earned a B.A. degree at Princeton University and an M.B.A. degree at Columbia University Business School.

His Skidmore visit is sponsored by the College?s First-Year Experience, International Affairs Program, Environmental Studies Program, and departments of American Studies; Government; and Management and Business.