Texas Tech’s Vice Provost for International Affairs Tibor Nagy Talks About Crisis in Middle East [AUDIO]

During Monday's edition of Lubbock's First News on KFYO, TTU's Vice Provost for International Affairs Tibor Nagy, Jr., talked with Tom about the worsening situation in the Middle East.

Tibor Nagy, Jr., who has served as the United States Ambassador to both Ethiopia and Guinea, is now Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University. Nagy provided information on the current state of the Middle East.

In Syria, the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared himself caliph, or leader of the Islamic world. It is his goal to establish a caliphate, or unified Islamic state without borders. The self-proclaimed caliph has very radical views. Even "Al-Qaeda has disavowed any links with him because they say he is way too over the board, the way he treats other people," Nagy said, giving an idea of the mans extreme beliefs.

The proclamation of a new caliphate has caused ISIS to dissociate themselves. The caliphate is intended to have no borders. "The borders no longer exist. The borders are absolutely imaginary," Nagy stated.

Interestingly, the caliph is a Sunni. While the caliphate is said to encompass all followers of Islam, al-Baghdadi has made it clear that this does not include Shi'ites. "Assad was this monster," Nagy said, but he's now "the least bad choice." He added "our interests and Iran's interests are now coincidental. You know, you talk about a strange world. Remember a year ago Iran was the evil of evils."

While there is no clear answer as to the best way for America or the world to address these escalating problems, Nagy believes that if America doesn't get "down and dirty" in the Middle East, that it is possible "we're going to be bitten a lot worse than before."

To listen to the full interview, click the play button below: