UMass Lowell Politics, Foreign Affairs Profs Available for Interviews
01/03/2020
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
UMass Lowell U.S. politics and foreign affairs experts are available to discuss the developments surrounding the airstrike against Iran that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander.
The airstrike has “far-reaching repercussions” for the U.S. beyond the battleground, says Middle East expert Deina Abdelkader. She can share her insights into how Iranian culture and beliefs could influence that country’s next moves. U.S. Defense Department officials said the action was in response to Soleimani’s plans to attack American diplomats and service members in the Middle East.
Abdelkader said the strike is reminiscent of the four-day U.S. military action against Iraq in 1998 during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings and upends the balance of power in the U.S. government. Neither Clinton nor Trump consulted Congress about the decisions to pursue military action. The choice, Abdelkader suggests, is counter to U.S. democracy.
“The need for an enemy diverts attention from domestic conundrums. Creating this fear-mongering milieu asserts further an undemocratic political culture by negating the balance of power in the U.S.,” she said.
U.S. politics expert John Cluverius can offer analysis on how tensions with Iran could impact the political landscape at home. Cluverius called the development “a distraction” from Trump’s ongoing impeachment and the 2020 presidential campaign. He believes the airstrike and the Defense Department’s announcement that thousands of additional U.S. troops are deploying to the Middle East won’t sit well with the American people.
“People think military mobilization makes presidents more popular, but that’s largely been true when the country was much less politically polarized and when the United States was directly attacked,” Cluverius said. “Both political parties have become much more isolationist with regard to the Middle East in the last 15 years. Support for wars reliably decreases over time as casualties increase.”
Abdelkader’s research explores democracy in the Middle East, activism and the intersection of religion and politics. An associate professor of political science at UMass Lowell, she is also the co-director of the Cohort of the Study of Islam and International Relations and co-editor-in-chief of academic journals including the International Journal of Islam in Asia.
A U.S. elections and polling expert, Cluverius is an assistant professor of political science and the associate director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion. Before joining the university, he worked as a political operative for a variety of candidates for elective office and interest groups.
To arrange interviews with these UMass Lowell experts, contact Nancy Cicco at 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette at 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu.