The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, have changed not only U.S. domestic policy, but also foreign policy.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said the dynamics between the United States and other countries have changed dramatically.

“One of the problems is that the Cold War was really easy because there was the U.S. and the communists – the world was really just two camps, either our friends or adversaries,” Schmidt said.

“You could have your military doctrines set, you could point your missiles. [We] got used to the idea that we were dealing with actual locations.”

Now, he said, foreign policy has to be “made up” in a sense because terrorists are scattered everywhere. Schmidt said the global economy also makes it difficult to deal with foreign issues.

James McCormick, professor and chairman of the political science department, said issues other than those involving the military have been gaining importance with respect to U.S. foreign policy.

“The most fundamental change is that it became more executive-centered,” he said. “Over the last three decades it’s moved to a more pluralistic system. Other issues came onto the agenda such as trade, the environment and human rights.”

Another problem is the immense military power the United States holds, he said.

“The U.S. is the only big military power left in the world by tenfold, so where do you use it and how?” he said. “Even Americans are kind of divided – is the U.S. too arrogant and should it not use its power but [work] with other countries, or should it just use its military power?”

Michael Dale, chairman of ISU College Republicans, said he thinks the United States has been making positive foreign policy decisions.

“I think we appropriately dealt with the situation in Afghanistan, and we have to continue to make sure Afghanistan has a government that won’t compromise our freedom such as the Taliban did,” said Dale, sophomore in liberal arts and sciences.

The decision to create a Homeland Security Department has been a controversial one, but he said he is in favor of it.

Schmidt said part of the solution to creating stronger foreign policy involves educating more people about other countries’ cultures and belief systems.

“We seem to not have any people who are trained or educated to know what is going on in the heads of Muslims,” Schmidt said. “We don’t have enough diplomats. We need to invest a lot more in other language and cultural education so we can understand these societies.”

Although he said people were educated about Russia during the Cold War, the United States hasn’t focused on increasing knowledge about the Middle East.

“That’s something they need to put on their wish list in Washington because I don’t think [those countries] are going away,” Schmidt said. “We don’t have to accept what they’re doing, but we have to understand where they’re coming from.”