Senator Carl Levin visited Associate Professor and Political Science Chair Roger Durham’s World in Crisis class on Friday, Nov. 17, supplementing the course with his expertise in military and foreign policy.Levin, a Democrat and the longest-serving U.S. senator in Michigan’s history, currently serves as chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. Despite his Democratic alliances and his own reelection bid against Republican Jack Hoogendyk, Levin was insistent in his focus on the issues.

“People were really impressed,” said freshman Kyle Pray. “He wasn’t focused on the election. He was very bipartisan and not at all confrontational.”

Levin focused his remarks on the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Regarding Iraq, the senator cautioned students that a difficult road lay ahead for the United States, predicting that as power shifts within the Iraqi government, the pressure to withdraw U.S. troops will only intensify.

Whereas Levin sees a gradual withdrawal from Iraq on the horizon, he also spent time at Aquinas advocating a troop “surge” to reinforce U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and prevent resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda forces from advancing further.

Such a sudden influx of U.S. troops into Afghanistan would be similar to the recent “surge” strategy implemented in Iraq, according to Levin.

Levin additionally took the opportunity to commend students for their interest and activism in the 2008 campaign cycle.

“I’ve never seen this kind of energy level to get out the vote,” Levin said. Levin, who supports Barack Obama, did take a moment to address the Democratic candidate’s much publicized tour overseas.

“He talked about how Obama went to Germany and 200,000 people went to hear him speak, and then Americans criticized him for it,” said Pray. “Levin said people shouldn’t criticize him for that because when people are excited about the United States abroad, it’s a good thing.”
According to Pray, Levin struck students as both courteous and knowledgeable.

“He knew what he was talking about,” said Pray. “It was really interesting.”