 ‘...there are individuals and groups who constantly preach violence...'
- Stanley Wolpert
Stanley Wolpert is an American historian. Currently he is the Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Stanley has authored several books. His famous publications include Morley and India, A New History of India, Roots of Confrontation in South Asia, Jinnah of Pakistan, Nehru: A Tryst with Destiny, etc. He answers questions here put to him by SouthAsia about the U.S. role in world affairs and especially Afghanistan.
What are the challenges you think the U.S. faces today in terms of the role it has played to bring about peace in the world?
Our challenges remain what they always have been, to confront and defeat lawless violence and terror wherever they attack or threaten the lives of innocent people, while upholding our highest principles of human rights and faith in democratic ideals of freedom, justice and universal order.
With the war campaign in Afghanistan not doing as expected, a dwindling position in the international market and public dismay over domestic issues, is the U.S. ready to accept these new realities or does it still insist on its primacy as a superpower?
We remain, as you know, the world's strongest power, but our strength has always been based at least as much on our ideals ("soft power") as on our weapons and wealth, and I hope that our best leaders will never forget or neglect that vital reality.
Media reports are rife about new U.S. foreign policy angles being worked out with Iran, North Korea and Russia. Do you feel there will be a major diversion, maybe even an attempt to initiate a peace process?
I have no specific information about a "new policy" concerning Iran, North Korea or Russia, but hope and trust that we will always be ready to try our best to assist in the evolution of any "Peace process."
How far do you think America is keeping its foreign policy in line with its public's own sense of American values?
I believe that our present Administration in Washington has the support of most of our people, in major foreign policy matters as well as on domestic issues.
There is a growing feeling in the U.S. public and the Muslim world that the 9/11 attacks were faked. Is America taking any steps to counter this viewpoint?
I have read nothing to substantiate such a "faked" charge, and do not believe it has any credibility.
What are the possible reasons, in your view, behind the sudden emergence of "children of Bin Ladin"? Is it a simple "systemic failure" in America's screening process as pointed out by President Obama or do you think there is more to it?
Historically, global leaders have always been attacked by those who aspire to replace them. Unfortunately, there are more individuals and groups the world over today, who constantly preach violence, and thanks to the growth of media and more universal communications, they seem to influence many more people then ever before.
How successful has America been in "maintenance of peace" in Afghanistan?
Afghanistan remains a mostly divided, basically tribal society, which has unfortunately enjoyed very little peace as yet.
How is the continued pursuit of security in Afghanistan vitally important for America's national interests?
Every great global power is or at least should be vitally interested in maintaining peace and security everywhere on earth, since modern science and technology have brought all of us inhabiting this planet within little more than a day's "distance" at most from each other. We should try our best globally to live peacefully together, helping each other overcome natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, pandemic diseases and famine. 
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