The Global Education Conference, held in April at Georgetown University, brought together educators, policy analysts, and students to discuss how to incorporate global issues into the K-12 classroom. Although the organization that organized the event, Americans for Informed Democracy, claims to be politically neutral, it was clear that the panelists invited to participate in the forum represented one side of the political spectrum.
The first panel on “Current Issues in the U.S. Role in the World” had three panelists: Steve Clemons of New American Foundation (and former advisor to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)), Gayle Smith of the Center for American Progress (and a former adviser to President Clinton), and Paul Joffe of the National Wildlife Federation. With Clemons as the only apparent moderate on the panel, the conversation quickly turned into a discussion of the inability and unwillingness of the Republican Party to address “pressing international issues”.
Speaking on international security issues, Clemons claimed that now is a “time of discontinuity” and warned that “America and the world are skating on thin ice.”
Clemons claimed that before 9/11 the United States was considered to have limitless power, calling this the “American mystique.” “Then [before 9/11]”, he contended, “other nations didn’t know our limits militarily or economically.” Since then, “we showed our limits to them,” he proclaimed.
Returning to the topic of education, Clemons criticized Senator Feinstein (D-California) of being shortsighted when it comes to international students attending American universities, stating “America has been so successful because it is an international brain drain.” Feinstein is promoting legislation to charge double the application fee for international students applying to American universities. Clemons, then, was criticizing a visibly liberal Democrat for being to conservative.
Gayle Smith, an expert on international development, said that Americans have to “secure the US,” at the same time as “fundamentally translating our core values to other nations.” She suggested that Americans should move away from the “simplistic paradigm” that “we love freedom and they hate it.”
She then touched upon how she gets energized to change the world: “I watch FOX News for 15 minutes everyday,” jokingly assuring the audience, “this is not a political comment, it just gets me going!”
She proceeded to call the immigration debate “hateful at best” and insisted that what America really needs to do is lead the world in ideas. Her suggestions included ending cotton farm subsidies and replacing them with clean fuel subsidies and promoting global internet access.
Speaking on global environmental issues, Paul Joffe of the National Wildlife Federation borrowed the words of an ancient Turkish proverb to express his views on American environmental policy, “No matter how far you have gone down the wrong path, turn back!”
During question and answer time, one audience member asked the panel, “Because of the climate of fear [created by 9/11], what are the chances of us moving toward internationalism?”
Clemons responded, “The way the neo-conservatives are is that if you can’t assimilate you annihilate,” adding, “we are in a sad time of structural corruption.” He then suggested to get to the root of the problem you have to take out Tom Delay (R- Texas and former House Majority Leader) insisting, “he should be sued because he punished moderate Republicans.”
Smith jumped in, stating, “I totally agree with Steve about Tom Delay,” and additionally argued that the problem is the media, such as FOX News. “You can’t be critical or you are seen as unpatriotic,” she proclaimed to the audience, “we need to get our media back.” She did not mention the far more liberal ABC, CBS and NBC.
Joffe added to the conversation, “Don’t throw in the towel,” pointing out, “the state that swung during the last election [Ohio] is swinging the other way!”
He then reiterated that his organization, the National Wildlife Federation is, “a very mainstream organization.”
Rosemarie Capozzi is an intern at Accuracy in Academia.
