Newswise — Much has happened around the world in 2004. Where will the focus of the U.S. and the world be in 2005? What challenges lay ahead? Creighton University experts in International Relations, International Law and Political Science share their views of 2004 and 2005:
Ken Wise, Ph.D., Political Science and International Relations: "Here is what I see sees as important in 2005 for the U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda: 1) Search for someone who can return "style" to U.S. action in the world -- item one in regaining U.S. legitimacy as world leader. 2) Return to building global governance institutions, under which the U.S would like to live when someone else is in charge in twenty years. 3) Begin remodeling the United Nations to accommodate the challenges of terrorist action, to strengthen weak states, and to make the oligarchic Security Council more egalitarian and better able to facilitate the violating of state territorial sovereignty. 4) Cope with the inevitable: Cuba post Castro, Iran the Terrible, a unified Korean peninsula, war in the South China Sea, spoiled elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, the collapse of Pakistan, a Russia resurgent."
Terry Clark, Ph.D., Political Science and International Relations: "The focus of global attention will continue to be on the war on terror and the effort to bring stability to the Middle East, in first order Iraq and Palestine. Those efforts are likely to bring Iran and Saudi Arabia increasingly to the forefront of world attention. US-Russian relations will likely become closer as those efforts continue. This could force the EU to become increasingly more supportive of US efforts. However, tensions in Ukraine or other parts of the Russian "near abroad" could unsettle the relationship and open the door for France and Germany to revitalize their leadership in Europe. North Korea is likely to be an issue that goes away, unless the regime collapses, in which case global attention will focus on the reunification of Korea.
Michael J. Kelly, J.D., School of Law: For 2004, the big event was the policy impact of detainee treatment, both at home and abroad, who have been captured in the war on terror and in Iraq. For 2005, aside from whether elections will be held in Iraq, the big story is going to be the trial of Saddam Hussein and whether he will be held accountable for his 30 years of dictatorship. Hussein faces charges of genocide, mass killings, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Roger Bergman, M.A., director of Justice and Peace Studies Program: "While the war in Iraq has commanded headlines during 2004, another US-led attempt at regime change much closer to home has gone largely unnoticed. Having "escorted" the constitutional president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, out of the country early in the year " the 200th anniversary of its birth as a free nation -- the U.S. now watches from a distant sideline as Haiti slips further and further into chaos, violence, and despair. The stakes are much higher for the U.S. in Iraq than they are in Haiti, it is hard to imagine that the U.S. will even notice as the beleaguered Caribbean nation claws its way back from political and natural catastrophe. My hope for Haiti in 2005 is that grassroots movements like Fonkoze (the nation's largest microcredit organization) will continue to build a new society from the ground up. Right now, everything else in Haiti seems stuck in the mud."
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