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Comm Prof Khamis Weighs In On U.S. Foreign Policy In The Middle East

September 12, 2015 College of Arts and Humanities | Communication

Comm Prof Sahar Khamis says U.S. foreign policy has worsened the security situation in the Middle East.

China Central Television (CCTV)

U.S. foreign policy has worsened the security situation in the Middle East and international cooperation is needed to cope with extremism, says an expert on the region. 

Dr. Sahar Khamis, a professor on Middle East issues in the University of Maryland, said that extremist groups are becoming a bigger threat as they are stronger now and possess more capital, while the United States' foreign policy has also worsened the current situation. 

"With all the crisis going on in the world, there hasn't been much success really achieved. Let's face it this way: in terms of the U.S. foreign policy in many parts of the world. I mean the invasion of Iraq definitely was a total disaster. That's something that should not have happened in the first place. And I know many sensible American academics, writers and intellectuals who share this point of view. The same thing could be said about the invasion of Afghanistan. These were two major, in my opinion, problems that resulted from U.S. foreign policy abroad," the professor said. 

A report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicates that the number of U.S. terrorist cases involving homegrown jihadists has reached 122 in 2015, a three-fold increase in five years. 

The United States, who waged the war in Afghanistan under the flag of anti-terrorism 14 years ago, seems to have not gained much even though it paid a high cost for the war. 

The deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East gave extremism a chance to spread, and the alleged democracy and liberty propagandized by the United States have not been accepted by the local people, but have, instead, aggravated racial tensions as well as unrest in the region. 

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