I believe that poor Ed is way out of his depth; he is a paid pretender or actor as some call that "august profession", not a foreign relations expert, an elected official, or military analyst. In fact, I believe he holds only a high school diploma. He should not lecture to university students on any subject except acting.
Through most of history the profession of acting was viewed as a sister or cousin to the profession of being a whore. This was partly because for an unemployed actor or actress, there was usually nothing they could actually do but remember lines and pretend on a stage, or in lieu of a paid part, perform the act that every creature from an insect to a human seems to instinctively know how to do.
Most actors are not very bright. The one talent they have, speaking clearly while convincingly pretending to be something or someone they are not, allows them to frequently pass as intelligent and informed. There have been exceptions but they are just that, exceptions to what seems to be a fairly hard and fast rule. Most actors are stupid frauds and Ed Asner is one of them