Dr. Jerel Rosati, professor of political science and international studies at the University of South Carolina, delivered a strong indictment of America’s foreign policy concerning Iraq at Campbell University’s annual Kenelm lecture held Monday, September 13, at the Weymouth Center in Southern Pines, NC.

Rosati called the policy misguided and counter productive both in short and long term effectiveness. “The preemptive strike on Iraq has unleashed a Pandora’s box of instability in the Middle East,” Rosati said. “The Bush administration decided America would be victorious, that the war would be swift and easy, and that the U.S. government would be well-prepared for post-war reconstruction, but it was wrong.”

Rosati found fault with the administration’s treatment of European allies, saying it ignored and dismissed them rather than building a coalition to go to war. He also accused the administration of manipulating American sentiment by taking advantage of the shock and disbelief surrounding the 9-11 tragedy as an excuse for war. In addition, Rosati questioned the expertise of Bush advisors such as Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

“Many of the Bush advisors were from former administrations,” he said. “Most of their experience came during the Cold War. There’s is a group who has had trouble coming up with policy dealing with a post Cold War world.”

The severity of the threat is another consideration America overestimated. “No doubt terrorism is a threat, but is it a threat of the same magnitude as Hitler in World War II or the Cold War?” Rosati asked. “America was deaf to diversity and differing opinions about the war, and the cost in money, lives, and the good will of world has been great.”

Rosati has taught political science and international studies at the University of South Carolina since 1982. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of California at Lost Angeles and a master’s degree from Arizona State University. He earned a Ph.D. in international relations at American University in Washington, DC. He has been a research associate in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Library of Congress Congressional Research Service, a visiting professor at Somalia National University and a visiting scholar at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China. Rosati has also served as president of the International Studies Association’s Foreign Policy Analysis Section and the Southern Region of the International Studies Association. He was named Outstanding Teacher in Political Science by the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha (the national political science honor society). In 2002, Rosati served as program and academic director of a U.S. Department of State Fulbright American Studies Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy.