Skip to the content

Kansas State University

 

 

 

facebook

Join us on facebook

 

Check out K-State on YouTube

 

Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu
Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

K-STATE POLITICAL SCIENTIST SAYS IRAN, TERRORISM ARE THE TOP FOREIGN RELATIONS CHALLENGES AWAITING NEW U.S. PRESIDENT

by Katie Mayes

 

Regardless of political party, the next U.S. president's most pressing foreign relations challenges will be Iran and terrorism, according to Dale Herspring, distinguished professor of political science at Kansas State University.

Assuming present day economic woes subside, he said, a potentially nuclear Iran and the effect that will have on other Middle East countries -- like Israel -- will be of the utmost importance.

"The Middle East remains volatile and unpredictable," Herspring said. "The Iraq war appears to be winding down, but Afghanistan and Pakistan are becoming more dangerous."

The issue with Iran is that it is building a nuclear weapons program, Herspring said. Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency cited numerous difficulties investigating the true nature of Iran's nuclear program and rearticulated suspicions that the country is enriching uranium to build a nuclear arsenal.

Should Iran establish a functional nuclear arsenal, leaders in not only the Middle East but across the world will have to make some tough decisions, Herspring said, and the president of the United States should lead the way.

"The world's got to decide whether they want to live with an Iran that has nuclear weapons," he said.

Both presidential candidates have essentially said they'll continue to work with Iran through diplomatic channels. But Herspring said talk has yielded little in the last year and that the next president may be forced to pursue a course of action beyond diplomacy.

"If there is an attack on Iran, the future is totally unpredictable," he said.

Herspring also said that the more unstable the Middle East is, the higher the likelihood of an attack by Al Qaeda and/or Hezbollah on U.S. soil.

"As leader of the free world, the next president will be charged with restoring political stability to a region that has been in turmoil for centuries," Herspring said. "That's challenge enough without throwing nuclear weapons into the mix."

In addition, the next administration also will be charged with developing firm policies on Russia and China and reestablishing ties to "old Europe," Herspring said.