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Haverford College Professors Reflect On Implications of bin Laden's Death

Political science professors said the al-Qaeda leader's killing is good for President Obama's presidency but may prompt more terrorist attacks.

Osama bin Laden’s death may serve as an image-booster for President Barack Obama and a symbolic blow to al-Qaeda, but it will not lead to an immediate withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Afghanistan or an end to terrorism, according to Haverford College political science professors.

Barak Mendelsohn, an assistant professor of political science, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and author of the book "Combating Jihadism: American Hegemony and International Cooperation in the War on Terrorism," was asked what bin Laden’s death means for the U.S. and its politics.

“(It) means the U.S. can get out of Afghanistan,” although not immediately, Mendelsohn said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

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It also means that the war on terrorism will take another step toward using intelligence and policing work, and there will be “much less on war as a counter-terrorism tactic” and “less of a militarized view on terrorism,” Mendelsohn said.

Mendelsohn also shared his thoughts on bin Laden’s death and the future of terrorism in opinion pieces he wrote for The New York Times and the Foreign Policy Institute.

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His research interests at Haverford College include terrorism and counter-terrorism, radical Islamic movements, politics of the Middle East and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, according to his faculty profile on the Haverford College website.

Craig Borowiak, assistant professor of political science at Haverford College, said in an interview which was conducted via email that for the U.S. and its politics, bin Laden’s death "brings a sense of closure” for many and may also “bring a momentary reprieve from the politics surrounding the economy. But that reprieve will be momentary.

“Bin Laden symbolized a great deal in the U.S.  Among other things, he represented an existential threat to the U.S.,” Borowiak wrote. “The government's failure to capture him represented the (real or imagined) impotency of the government. This taps into a more generalized (and often subconscious) anxiety about the future of the U.S. in the world. Now that he has been killed by U.S. forces, that particular symbolic politics will lose some of its potency. The anxieties will be channeled elsewhere.”

Borowiak’s teaching and research interests at Haverford College are globalization, democratic theory, the global political economy, civil society, cosmopolitanism, and the history of political economic thought, according to Borowiak’s faculty profile on the Haverford College website.

Susanna Wing, another assistant professor of political science at Haverford College who was interviewed for this story, did not respond to the question about what bin Laden's death means for the U.S. and its politics, because she felt it was outside of her area of expertise.

Wing’s “research and teaching interests include comparative politics, Islam and politics, development, women's rights and Africa,” according to her faculty profile on the Haverford College website.

Her book, "Constructing Democracy in Transitioning Societies of Africa" received the 2009 Best Book Award from the African Politics Conference Group, Wings’s profile states.

What bin Laden's death means for President Obama

There is “no doubt” that bin Laden’s death will help the image of President Obama, who has been viewed as weak on terrorism, Mendelsohn said.

Mendelsohn said he is “sure” that the president “gained trust from the American people that he can deal with terrorism.”

Whether that will be relevant toward the 2012 presidential election is yet to be seen, Mendelsohn said.

What it means for Obama’s presidency, is “that he delivered something Americans were hoping for, for 10 years,” Mendelsohn said.  “Health care was his first presidential signature.  This is probably another big signature for his presidency… He will always be remembered for the presidency under which bin Laden was eliminated.  That’s a big deal.”

Borowiak said in an email that bin Laden’s death “obviously” improved President Obama’s image.

“Mostly I think it saves him from having to face embarrassing questions about Osama bin Laden during his re-election campaign,” Borowiak wrote.  “He will get a momentary bump in approval ratings, I suspect. This may also shift the focus away from the economy, temporarily.”

Wing said in an interview that was conducted via email that bin Laden’s death “is very important for President Obama, at least in the short term. He has accomplished what President Clinton and President G. W. Bush were unable to accomplish despite their efforts.”

Bin Laden’s demise is also good for Obama’s presidency, Wing added.

“President Obama and his foreign policy and security team deserve a great deal of credit for capturing bin Laden and I expect his presidency to receive a boost of broad-based support as a result,” Wing wrote.

It is hard to say what bin Laden's capture and death will mean for the November 2012 presidential election “because so much can happen between now and then,” Wing said. “Unless it improves dramatically, the economy will most likely be the primary issue in 2012. Our role in Afghanistan will have to be clarified over the coming months."

America's future in Afghanistan

Mendelsohn, Borowiak and Wing agreed that bin Laden’s death will not prompt an immediate withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Afghanistan, but they said the death might lead to an eventual withdrawal.

“I think it’s (bin Laden’s death) going to make it easier to help Obama stop the process,” Mendelsohn said.  “It’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Borowiak wrote, “Capturing/killing Osama bin Laden was perhaps a necessary condition for withdrawal, but it is certainly not sufficient.”

Wing said the withdrawal will not be immediate because, “Our presence in Afghanistan has not been based solely on finding bin Laden. The country continues to be unstable and the Taliban continues to thrive. The administration will be asked this question and will certainly have to explain exactly what factors on the ground in Afghanistan would lead to our withdrawal.  The longer we stay, the more questions the President will be asked.”

Will bin Laden's death be a blow to al-qaeda, reason for more attacks?

Mendelsohn, Borowiak and Wing were also asked what bin Laden’s death means for al-Qaeda, and whether they think his death will prompt more al-Qaeda terrorist acts against the U.S.

“It’s a huge blow for al-Qaeda,” Mendelsohn said. “His successor doesn’t have the same stature that Osama had.”

Mendelsohn said that the terrorist organization will be able to carry on because “operationally, bin Laden wasn’t very involved.”  But with him gone, there will be a “lot more conflict within the organization that bin Laden’s stature was able to suppress,” Mendelsohn said.

Mendelsohn said he is “not sure” that bin Laden’s death will prompt more terrorist attacks from al-Qaeda, but it may prompt terrorist attacks from other groups because “supporters around the world will try to revenge.”

Borowiak wrote, “In terms of its day to day operations, I'm not sure bin Laden was all that important for al-Qaeda. I suspect he was more important for symbolic reasons (as a recruitment tool). But even for that, he might not have been so important that others can't take his place. I don't know if more attacks will happen.”

Wing agreed with Borowiak’s assessment.

“Al-Qaeda has been operating without bin Laden's visible leadership for some time. In West Africa, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is expanding its activities as the recent bombing of a cafe in Morocco illustrates,” Wing said. “They will continue to target French citizens and U.S citizens as well. Unfortunately, I do believe there will be increased terrorist activities attempted, particularly against U.S. citizens overseas.”

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