Speaker focuses on Obama administration concerns

The United States has to stand back and put itself in other countries’ shoes, said Mary Beth Long, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Affairs, during her Tuesday night lecture at the Indiana Memorial Union Whittenberger Auditorium.

About 60 people attended the speech, which was sponsored by the Student Alliance for National Security and was titled “Challenges Facing the Obama Administration: Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.”

Long’s lecture emphasized the main issues the Obama administration would face in dealing with the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the upcoming term.

In December 2007, Long became the first and highest-ranking woman ever to serve in the Department of Defense when she was appointed by then-President George W. Bush.

Throughout her career, Long worked for the CIA in covert operations for 13 years and was an associate for Williams and Connolly LLP in Washington.

“It was very inspiring to see how far a woman in politics could rise above and come this far,” senior Lydia Karjaka said.

Long talked about how the Obama administration will deal with the challenges in the Middle Eastern countries of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Long said she believes the main issue with which the United States has struggled is “the fundamental failure to provide the people of Afghanistan basic needs.”

She added that the people of these countries want to see a change as simple as clean water and new roads and as serious as basic medical care.

The issues in Afghanistan create a very complex situation, and the main focus is to get the Afghans and Pakistanis talking, Long said.

Discussing Iran, Long focused on the Obama administration’s need to address the tensions of the use of nuclear weapons and the building of unconventional forces. While in Iraq, U.S. forces will try to pull out as fast as geographically possible while still ensuring the forces in Iraq are mature enough upon the U.S. troops’ exit, Long said.

Long’s advice for the Obama administration is to build up the national security team composed of powerful political icons such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to tackle the situations in the Middle East.

The United States needs to be tough on re-emerging Russia, focus on the coordination of NATO and realize that genocide situation in Darfur, Sudan, will only build until countries like the United States take action, Long said.

“Her speech was not what I expected,” freshman Atiqah Khidhir said. “She brought up topics that are often not talked about – such as Russia and Africa – instead of only focusing on the issues of the Middle East.”

Because “there is no single job that will not be solely affected by international affairs,” students should be connected and aware of the issues going on internationally, Long said.

“She gave an excellent overview of the challenges that the Obama administration needs to face while also giving great personal insight,” said senior Jared Stancombe, vice president of Student Alliance for National Security.