Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize Winning journalist and author of bestsellers such as The World is Flat (2005), had some advice for the 2014 graduating class of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS).
Informing students that they lived in a hyperconnected, interdependent world -- one where traditional geographic and national borders were “flattened” by global markets, environmental issues, international political movements, and revolutions in technology -- Friedman offered some seductive wisdom. “You might as well do what you love because all the boring stuff is going to be done by robots, software, and machines.”
I beg to differ. In Kurdistan, the world is still pretty round. Yes, there’s Facebook and a stock of thoroughly globalized repatriates from the diaspora. But old-fashioned geopolitical realities affect every part of life here from oil exports (the lifeblood of the economy) to security issues. Don’t be afraid because Friedman says you should “be ready for a job that has not yet been invented.” There’s plenty of boring, loveless work to be done by educated elites and unskilled laborers alike.
His three anecdotes about machines stealing jobs signaled something was wrong. First: robots in New York are milking cows (milkmaids beware!). Second: on a recent trip to California, he realized that artificial intelligence replaced human intelligence in telephone customer service. Third: software is starting to do basic legal work. It’s “TurboTax for lawyers!” To Friedman’s surprise, the joke falls flat. “It gets a big laugh from the audience every time I tell it in America.”
Well, this is not America. Over here robots aren’t milking cows. Most farms lack basic agricultural technology like drip irrigation. Few firms have customer service over the phone. The government is still figuring out how to create effective laws and taxes; next will be the challenge of actually implementing them. Until the solid legal framework is there, we need more activist lawyers, not software.
This isn’t to say that Kurds should install landlines instead of buying iPhones, or that irritating phone conversations with robots about your bank account aren’t right around the corner. Kurdistan should bypass outmoded technologies to take advantage of cutting-edge innovation whenever possible. It should also embrace robots and cultivate leaders for the new digital age. Kurdish entrepreneurs and inventors will help the region leapfrog over defunct or inefficient practices.
The point is that this young nation needs to recover from war and genocide, fill huge gaps in its economy, and resolve disputes with its neighbors before it can focus entirely on graduates “realizing their potential.” This individualistic language may inspire Americans, but it doesn’t mean as much to the more collectivist Kurds. In a subsequent speech, AUIS business school valedictorian Bayad Jamal Ali captured this ethos well: “As we started our individual programs, it was our hope that once we reached today, we would be able to give back to our community and better serve the people.” According to him, being successful does not “equal the passion that serving this country creates.”
It’s worth noting that Bayad already runs Iraq’s biggest Samsung retailer. He didn’t reinvent the wheel to launch a business – he identified a gap in the local market and he filled it. Last year’s undergraduate valedictorian, Jwan Serbast Kittani, landed a great job doing business development with French industrial giant Lafarge. The best and the brightest will often take on conventional jobs, and that’s a good thing.
Of the international oil and gas companies operating in the region, only one out of nine executives is local. Five out of 54 managers are Kurdish. As more international companies set up shop in Kurdistan, local universities must groom candidates to assume positions of power within existing firms and institutions. This is the only way that Kurds can harness globalization and shape the course of their nation’s destiny.
“Many say that this generation has it easier compared to earlier generations, but the challenges you face are by no means easier,” said University Chairman Barham Salih. “You have to revive the potential of Kurdistan beyond the history of tragedy, violence, and conflict…. Our region doesn’t need to be stuck in history.” The entrepreneurs have already arrived. Maybe the next Bill Gates is working in his parents’ garage somewhere in Kurdistan, inventing a technology beyond our wildest dreams… But for Kurdistan to realize it’s full potential, it will need to enlist a legion of well-educated engineers, accountants, managers and other desk warriors for the task.
Alexander Whitcomb is a graduate of Columbia University and holds a Masters in Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He is a staff writer for Rudaw specializing in Political Economy. Twitter @Alex_Whitcomb
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