CHARLOTTE – Former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who served in several Middle Eastern countries over his 37-year career, offered his insight on what he calls “the year of the revolution” to the World Affairs Council of Charlotte on Thursday. In front of a crowd of 120 council members and students, Crocker strived to answer the question, “what's next?” following the protests in Egypt and Tunisia and the violent turmoil in Libya.

Crocker, the dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, said before he can talk about what's going to happen, he needed to provide context sighting most Americans inability to point out the countries of the Middle East on a map. “Besides geography, we have to try to understand their interpretation of their history,” he said. Every country in that region has at one point been occupied by a western power dating back to Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798.

With that context laid out, Crocker addressed the recent events in Libya. “Gadhafi will hold strong,” he said. The insurgents do not have enough power and Gadhafi does not have enough power to 100 percent stifle the insurgents, Crocker added. “Libya, I'm afraid is going to settle into a stalemate and a prolonged civil war,” he said. If that happens, it makes the country vulnerable to Islamic radicalism that has plagued the region.

As far as the U.S.'s involvement, Crocker said the discussion continues because of all the challenges we face in Libya, in particular. He said in no way should American troops be on the ground and that a no fly zone would be difficult to implement. “The discussion continues,” said Crocker.

However, he believes the traditional Arab governments will be able to weather the storm because they have been better at listening to the needs of their people. But his main concern is keeping an eye on Yemen because the current president announced he will not seek reelection.

Crocker stressed these were just predictions based on his experiences serving in Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon and Pakistan. But for students like Colin Fitzpatrick, a junior at Providence Day School, Crocker gave a practical and realistic view of what is the top story on all the major newscasts every night as of late.

“There's so much going on in the Middle East. There always have and there always will be it seems like,” said Fitzpatrick. “It's interesting to hear [from Crocker] when and where the U.S. should be involved and which areas deserve our attention.”

It's an ongoing debate that began with President George Washington's farewell address warning of getting involved in foreign affairs. “The U.S. is very powerful but we do have limitations,” said Crocker. “I think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been great examples of that.”

Crocker said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Egypt and Tunisia shows the country's careful engagement in continuing support of democracy in those countries. “She's going to do a lot of listening,” he said. “I know she's not going to hand them a box and say here's democracy made in America, just follow the directions.”