(The State Journal, March 18, 2011 - by Scott D. Miller)
Recent astonishing developments in Egypt, Libya, and other nations underscore the significant challenge of colleges and universities in teaching international relations. These events are fast-moving, fueled by decades of frustration and minutes of diligent social networking by would-be revolutionaries.
Recent astonishing developments in Egypt, Libya, and other nations underscore the significant challenge of colleges and universities in teaching international relations. These events are fast-moving, fueled by decades of frustration and minutes of diligent social networking by would-be revolutionaries.
Like the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the former Soviet Union, and our own experience on 9/11, the revolutions sweeping across northern Africa present highly practical, teachable moments on a global scale. Educators seek to give American students relevant, current perspectives on events that are seemingly sudden and technology-driven, and yet deeply rooted in history. How do we make sense of, and the best intellectual use of, these complex and dramatic events on the world stage?
Whatever our approach, if nothing else we have a lot of work to do in conveying to our students the career importance of world awareness.
Speaking at a Council of Independent Colleges-sponsored forum last October, Philip E. Lewis of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation acknowledged the expectations of students and parents in turning expensive educations into “secure and lucrative employment.” But, he cautioned, “the globalized, post-industrial, knowledge-driven economy into which we have gravitated may well remain fragmented, volatile, and politically unmanageable.” Lewis said, therefore, “that a liberal education may provide better preparation for dealing with the turbulent socio-economic environment the younger generations will face than a college experience that provides a currently valuable skill or competency that will fade into obsolescence or be undermined by the vagaries of supply and demand.”
That American students are often woefully ignorant of world history, current events, and economic trends has been well documented. Our students remain so at their peril. American economic strength, national security, and environmental health, among many issues of importance to our nation and others, have a direct correlation to a working grasp of international trends, threats, and opportunities. America’s relationship with China, to cite one obvious example, is a complicated, multi-layered, and evolving story of critical importance to our country. The same can be said of Mexico, India, Pakistan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Those of us who grew up in the Cold War will likely respond strongly to a new book by Ron Rosenbaum, How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III, which offers sobering perspective on the “unthinkable” threat many of us assumed was over. Other international issues may be less frightening but remain just as compelling. Can we deal effectively with global climate change, loss of species, and health and diversity of our ecosystems without an understanding of the politics and cultures of other nations with which we share the planet?
Fortunately, many of our academic institutions continue to be sources of enriched thinking and analysis of international issues. At the height of the turmoil in Cairo, Bethany College Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of International Studies Dr. Marc Sable provided a thoughtful and thorough overview of the revolution in Egypt and its likely implications for other nations in that region. Last fall, 1959 Bethany alumnus and retired United Nations official Charles “Pete” Perry returned to his Alma Mater to offer his insights on a variety of international topics, drawing on his rich experience representing the UN in Africa, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, and the Caribbean. Mr. Perry eloquently challenged our students to do their part to help determine the course of the world’s destiny.
That is a challenge, however, that America’s students cannot manage alone. As educators, business leaders, economic forecasters, and trend watchers, we will very likely need to reframe our teaching of what is known in campus core curricula as “international studies.” Our approach should always be interdisciplinary, uniting the examination of history, languages, culture, economics, art, religion, politics, and society—leading to a more comprehensive appreciation by students of other nations that is not only rewarding intellectually but also professionally. Their future jobs, as Philip Lewis suggests, may well depend on “coping confidently with instability” in a global society.
To teach international relations effectively, we also need to rely on our best professors and other leaders, such as global business executives, with up-to-date international perspectives to offer. Finally, there is no substitute for encouraging American students to travel abroad and to experience other nations firsthand—not as tourists but as scholars learning about their future responsibilities and opportunities as world citizens. What they learn there cannot be duplicated in a classroom, or retrieved from the Internet.
Dr. Thomas Buergenthal, Holocaust survivor, Bethany alumnus, and former American judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, returned to Bethany for this year’s Founders Day Convocation. Citing the value of his liberal arts experience at Bethany College, this leading authority on issues of global law and human rights counseled our students to have “international interests and internationally transferable skills.” He warned of avoiding “foreign policy debacles” resulting from lack of understanding of other nations, and suggested that “weapons alone and grandiose statements by our politicians full of ignorance about other countries and peoples do not make for wise foreign or economic policy decisions which increasingly have negative consequences for the United States.”
For our students, cultivating knowledge, collaboration, adaptability, and vigilance on an international scale is more than a noble cause. It’s an approach that will yield practical benefits for our nation and others whose fortunes will someday depend on the decisions these future leaders will make. We should invest in international pursuits to ensure that those decisions will arise from informed judgment about the potentially challenging, even troubling, but always relevant realities of other nations.
