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A Park University political science professor who has been following the exchange in the Middle East for months says Americans likely won’t feel the full consequences of the recent U.S. military attack for months down the road.
The attack, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury” by the Pentagon, comes after recent nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran proved unsuccessful.
Park University Associate Professor of Political Science Jack Maclennan says the Iranian government now faces a critical decision.
Brian Luton
“They’re confronted with a choice right now, which is, do they find a way to create an environment where they can return to stability quickly in order to try to avoid a wider degradation of their control of the government, or do they react really powerfully because the government is already in a weakened position given the civil unrest,” Maclennan said. “This is the unknown factor.”
That unknown factor has led to uncertainty around what the attack means for U.S. citizens. Maclennan says Americans will feel some impacts from the fallout.
“Instability in the Middle East is historically something that does have long-term negative impacts on the global economy. It can create conflicts that are difficult to control,” Maclennan said.
The cost and insurance to move oil in the area will likely be impacted.
Vahid Salemi/AP
Maclennan says those prices are likely to become much more expensive.
“And that could mean two things,” Maclennan said. “It could mean we see a rise in oil prices and sort of inflation across the economy as that sinks in. Oil prices tend to dictate the price of lots of other things that have to move around. And then also it depends on how long the instability lasts as to how broad and entrenched that becomes.”
Maclennan says that due to the operation’s expensive nature, there may also be indirect costs that the U.S. government will have to handle.
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