Acorn

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Seth Gorenstein Professor of Political Science Emeritus Doug Simon speaks to Alexandra Steinheimer ('08) and Fidele Harfouche ('08) after his talk on global issues last week.

On the evening of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, Professor Emeritus of Political Science Douglas Simon tried to make sense of 21st century United States foreign relations.

Speaking as part of an Alumni/ae College program in the Mead Hall Founder's room on March 20, Simon's lecture, titled "The Future of American Foreign Diplomacy," drew from his background as a Political Science professor for 33 years. Simon addressed the shifting polarity of the international superpowers, highlighted the diplomatic and military challenges facing the incoming president and suggested ways for the United States to remain internationally viable in the coming years.

Simon first stormed through the multitude of foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. and its next president. Simon said new democracies are performing poorly, North Korea and Iran are proliferating nuclear arsenals, the opium trade is soaring in Afghanistan, Pakistan is "the most dangerous country in the world," the Iraq War "can't be sustained much longer" and America's hegemonic power is swiftly eroding.

"We are rapidly approaching the end when we can call ourselves the only superpower in the world," he said. "Today, in a world of multi-polarity, the U.S. is one of several major players."

There are three superpowers amid the international landscape, according to Simon. The United States is "still a formidable power, [but] is in decline because of imperial overreach," Simon said. The influence of the European Union is growing, as they seal deals with North Africa, spread their borders toward the Russian republic and become economically dominant. Growth of China's market economy and military makes the communist country the third of the three central powers. However, China's voracious consumption of resources and fragile relations with neighboring countries threaten to undermine its development.

Simon criticized the United States' foreign policy toward the Middle East. The "downward spiral" of Middle East relations began before 9/11 and encompasses more countries than just Iraq and Afghanistan, Simon said.

Continued...

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