Speech
of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
Reaching Out to the World - Public and Private Diplomacy
for the 21st Century
University
of Wisconsin, Madison
March 24, 2008
Gilles, thank you for that
kind introduction, and for your leadership in international education
here at UW-Madison. I’m very proud that my alma mater has such
strong programs in this area.
I would also like to thank
Aaron McKean and everyone at the Distinguished Lecture Series, Global
Connections, the UW Division of International Studies, and AIESEC for
their work to make this event possible.
Finally, I thank everyone
here for your interest in the world beyond our borders. As I talk tonight
about the importance of citizen diplomacy, I know that many of you are
already reaching out to people in other countries through volunteer
and exchange programs, or by hosting someone from overseas. I applaud
the work you are already doing, and I will do my best to support your
efforts.
Thirty three years ago, like
many of you here today, I was preparing to graduate from this campus.
I was a kid from Janesville, looking forward to the extraordinary opportunity
of living and studying in England for two years as a Rhodes Scholar.
The prospect of going abroad presented a new horizon for me. I couldn’t
know then what lay over that horizon, but I knew it would be a challenge,
and an adventure. At age 22, that sounded about perfect.
Today, among other Senate
duties, I serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chair
the Africa Subcommittee. My daily responsibilities are now intertwined
with people in countries that, as a UW student, I would not have imagined
I would engage. Recent and ongoing events in Iraq, Sudan, Kenya, Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Cuba alone are a testament to how closely we are connected
to that wider world beyond the horizon.
Despite many years of service
on the Foreign Relations Committee, and the international activities
and travel associated with those duties, however, September 11, 2001,
was a transformative date for me. That day made clear that America’s
top national security priority must be combating the threat posed by
al Qaeda. And in order to combat that threat, America would need to
engage with the world in new ways. Like Pearl Harbor, 9-11 painfully
established that what happens abroad is directly relevant to our lives
and that we ignore at our peril threats beyond our boundaries.
We must meet those threats
with the military action we have taken – and are still taking
-- against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. But we cannot simply
rely on our troops in this fight. Since 9-11, it has also become clear
to me that some of the most powerful tools we have to counter al Qaeda
and its allies are the American people. The extremists who threaten
us rally their followers by drawing an ugly caricature – if not
an outright false portrait – of America. Sadly, they are able
to succeed, in part, because not enough people abroad really know us
personally -- know our interests, values and aspirations as Americans.
As I have often reflected
on this in the years since 9-11, I have felt an increasing urgency for
us to reach out to the world to make these interests, values and aspirations
evident –with a human face - because at their root, many of them
are the common interests and aspirations of humanity. Our nation must
be engaged in this common cause. It is in our personal and national
security interests that we, as Americans, show the rest of the world
the true principles for which our nation stands – democracy, tolerance,
diversity, freedom, and the rule of law.
Two Wisconsin stories stick
with me. One of them is from Sue Nelson who comes from my hometown of
Janesville. She shared this story with me about her experience in an
Arab culture:
We were sitting in a small
cafe in Zarzis, Tunisia just a stone's throw from the Libyan border.
It was January, 1989 barely a week after the U.S. had bombed Libya.
My daughter . . . then a Fulbright Scholar doing research in Tunisia,
and I were the only non-Arab folks in the cafe. It was soon apparent
that we were noticed.
For a while we continued
sipping our sodas trying to ignore the commotion we were generating,
hoping we would soon be viewed as the thirsty travelers we were. Finally,
when the agitation reached a crescendo, we realized that the people
in the cafe were afraid of us.
Afraid of us?
With this new information
we picked up our belongings and left the cafe astonished that two
pacifists would be viewed in such a light. Where we had visited and
the people knew us, we had always been well received. Many of the
customers in the cafe were Libyans.
This experience made a
major impact on the formation of the Habiba Chaouch Foundation in
1991. In reality, we know Americans make the same unreasonable assumptions
about Arabs that the people in the cafe made about us.
Since the foundation was
created, we have helped to give information to Americans and when
traveling, we have opened the dialogue to the people on the other
side of the world and we have hosted a Tunisian this past spring.
Sue is here in the audience
tonight with her husband Gordy, and I thank them for their work to replace
fear with understanding and friendship, and to bring us closer to people
in a seemingly distant part of the world.
The second story comes from
one of my listening sessions, which are town hall meetings that I hold
in each Wisconsin county every year. People at the session were talking
about our system of law and how it should apply to suspected foreign
terrorists. Specifically the issue was whether we should suspend the
writ of habeas corpus – the eight hundred year old right to challenge
the legal basis for one’s detention that is a fundamental part
of our legal tradition, and keeps us from becoming an authoritarian
state. And I was pained to hear someone simply say: “If they have
a name from the mid-east they should be in prison.” That’s
a direct quote. It’s a viewpoint that is hard to hear, and fortunately
it’s not one I hear often in this state, but it’s something
we have to contend with as we do the hard work of changing minds not
just overseas, but here at home.
I am here today to discuss
how you at UW see your own horizons in a world that is still deeply
affected by the events and aftermath of September 11, 2001. These are
personal concerns to me. How as individuals, as Americans, do we fit
into this post 9-11 world -- a world that is considerably more interconnected
than the world I ventured into when I graduated from UW Madison? Can
we ensure that the qualities that we and our families cherish most in
our country will remain strong? Can we -- can you -- overcome the disaffection,
mistrust, and even anger and violence, that al Qaeda has been so skillful
in exploiting?
I ask you to explore these
themes with me tonight. I have no doubt that the world you will live
in will be shaped by how you respond to events and people beyond our
borders. As one American from Wisconsin I would like to suggest ways
in which we not only can but must reach out on behalf of our country.
I can’t begin to talk
about how we can reach out, however, before I talk about something that
stands in our way, and that’s the war in Iraq.
At my listening sessions I get a chance to hear what people in Wisconsin
are thinking, what concerns them. It rejuvenates me and keeps me grounded
in what I do in the Senate.
In recent years the most
significant theme I have heard at my Wisconsin listening sessions is
about what is happening abroad, including the war in Iraq. Many of you
are concerned that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks
we suffered on 9-11 from al Qaeda and that our continued engagement
in Iraq is a serious and dangerous distraction from the threats we continue
to face from al Qaeda and its affiliated groups. A majority of Wisconsin
citizens, like a majority of Americans, is deeply concerned about the
terrible burden borne by our troops – in loss of human life and
limb and in mental health -- and the massive drain on our financial
resources caused by this misguided war. I share these concerns. They
underpin my efforts in the Senate today to change our mistaken course
in Iraq so that we can focus on the neglected threats we face elsewhere,
including in Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Let’s make no mistake
about it – the continuing threat of al Qaeda and its affiliates
to our physical safety here at home is real and active. Our most recent
National Intelligence Estimate of July 2007 tells us that al Qaeda has
regenerated and reconstituted itself in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
region. The Director of National Intelligence recently testified that
“al Qaeda’s central leadership based in the border area
of Pakistan is al Qaeda’s most dangerous component” and
that it is improving its ability to attack the United States through
“the identification, training, and positioning of operatives for
an attack in the homeland.” As this very real threat grows, and
as we continue to spend over $10 billion a month in direct costs in
Iraq alone while our troops, including our National Guard, are stretched
beyond their limit, it is clear that our national security requires
us to redeploy from Iraq. By ending our current massive, open-ended
presence in Iraq we can start to put our resources in the right places
to address the threats facing us.
Today, however, I want to
focus on a separate, though related, concern. Americans are suffering
other very serious casualties from the war in Iraq – ones that
damage our standing and long term relationships with our partners and
prospective partners in combating al Qaeda. The June 2007 Pew Global
Attitudes Project, which surveyed over 45,000 people in 47 countries,
tells us that five years into the Iraq War, Americans are now disliked
by people who used to count us as friends and allies. And the poll tells
us that this dislike is driven, in great part, by the war in Iraq.
These reactions are a barometer
of our country’s global standing and influence. They do not bode
well for our prospects to secure the needed global partners to realize
our own security and interests -- whether that requires enhanced military
efforts in Afghanistan or coordination to curb nuclear weapons risks
in Iran.
This is also having a spillover
effect on how we are viewed, not just as a country, but as a people.
The Pew Global Attitudes Survey tells us that “[o]verall, the
image of American people has declined since 2002.” Many of you
probably have a friend or have heard of an American who has placed a
Canadian flag on his or her backpack to make it more comfortable to
travel in a foreign country. These narratives don’t sit well with
me and, I suspect, not with you. They are not reflective of what America
is or who Americans are – and we have to change that.
The traditions of this campus offer fertile ground for change. UW Madison
has consistently been near, if not at, the top of this nation’s
campuses in generating Peace Corps volunteers. And Madison is home to
one of the largest, most proactive communities of returned Peace Corps
volunteers. Through its award-winning international calendar, the Madison-based
graduates of Peace Corps programs have contributed more to Peace Corps
community projects abroad than any other group in the country. As someone
fortunate enough to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, I’m
deeply proud of that commitment, among so many people in our state,
to help and learn from others in communities around the world.
UW and Madison have a rich
tradition of reaching out to the world, not only to improve the lives
of disadvantaged people abroad, but to enrich yourselves and build personal
and cultural relationships that bring a human face to our global interconnectedness.
I am a strong champion of the Peace Corps. I have joined Senate colleagues
in calling for a doubling of the Peace Corps, and for a robust Peace
Corps budget. But even with the tremendous efforts of Peace Corps volunteers,
we need greater, more varied and more flexible outreach and interaction
in both our public and private diplomacy initiatives.
The time has come to revisit,
renew and redouble our commitment to reaching out to the world. History
and sentiment are with us. There is a growing bi-partisan and non-partisan
chorus of voices that recognize that we have over-militarized our response
to the global challenges of the 21st century and that we have to reach
out in other ways to understand and shape what is happening beyond our
borders. We increasingly are hearing phrases like “smart power”
and “soft power”, or the concept of a “3D” foreign
policy that recognizes the need for a range of defense, diplomacy and
development efforts. These broader efforts include not only the traditional
diplomatic art of sustained dialogue among government representatives;
they also include collecting covert intelligence and public information
about events in healthy and failing states; development efforts to support
fair and responsive government, human survival and dignity; and people
to people communication and interaction.
Yet, despite this call for
change, large deficits remain in the sheer numbers of people who engage
in diplomacy, whether as employees of our Department of State, as members
of a sister cities delegation, or as volunteers in a church-based foreign
community development project. We are not reaching out to the world
the way we can and should – and while government certainly has
a role to play in increasing its support for these activities, all of
us have a personal responsibility, too, as citizens of this country.
Government Diplomacy – Foreign Service Officers
Let me suggest to you today
a framework for how we should be strengthening the full range of diplomatic
efforts. First -- and I am not saying anything new here – we need
to increase the number of Foreign Service officers and enhance their
skills. We don’t have enough of these people in the field. We
don’t have enough diplomats keeping their ears to the ground,
so that we can head off crises before they happen, and only put boots
on the ground as a last resort.
Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates, in his speech at Kansas State University last December, made
it clear that we have a duty to dramatically increase our 21st century
investments, as a nation, in the civilian instruments of national power,
including diplomacy. When the Secretary of Defense makes an explicit
push for the use of non-military power, it’s a sign that it’s
time, probably long past time, for significant change.
Gates has famously said that
we have fewer Foreign Service officers than it would take to man a single
aircraft carrier strike force – and Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice has noted that there are twice as many lawyers in the Defense Department
as there are Foreign Service officers. To begin to address this gap,
Secretary Rice recently submitted a fiscal year 2009 budget that calls
for more Foreign Service officers -- though it is unclear after expected
attrition and the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan, whether we will have
a significant net increase in experienced personnel in places where
a diplomatic presence is needed. The point is, we have to dramatically
increase the number of diplomats and place them in regions we have ignored.
And we need to do this in a fiscally responsible way by, for example,
making a shift in our investment priorities from outmoded military hardware
to human resource “software.”
We also have to improve skills
in our diplomatic corps, especially so-called “super hard”
language skills like Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, and Swahili. The President
should be commended for creating the National Security Language Initiative
– this program is a good start to addressing this need. And we
also need to strengthen traditional language programming in our schools
to provide a strong foundation for global awareness and communication.
Public Diplomacy
To reach the new constituencies
of our 21st century global community – to convey the true character
of this country and its citizens -- we also need to realign our outreach
and our strategies. That means strengthening not only our state-to-state
diplomacy, but also our public diplomacy.
Public diplomacy seeks to
enhance the national interests of this country through understanding,
informing and influencing foreign public audiences. It is our government,
and the resources at its disposal, reaching out to “ordinary people”
abroad to convey this nation’s principles and beliefs and influence
their perception of this country. It is a tradition and effort as old
as our nation. Members of our Continental Congress -- Ben Franklin,
John Jay, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among them -- wrote
letters intended for the people of other countries, including the people
of Great Britain, explaining their efforts to form a representative
government “ruled by laws” and not the “edicts of
men.” They sought public approval for their efforts – that
others “may incline your minds to approve our equitable and necessary
measures.” Our Declaration of Independence, itself, was a message
from our early government leaders to the people of the world of the
fundamental principles that underpinned our grand and revolutionary
experiment in democratic governance. Today, our leading State Department
award for public diplomacy is named after Benjamin Franklin, in recognition
of this longstanding American value and tradition of reaching out to
the world.
We need to reshape and enhance
these efforts in a 21st century world. We have to increase the ranks
of diplomats who are devoted, not just to supporting or negotiating
economic, military and political agreements, but to more fully depicting
who we are as a culture and a people, rooted in the democratic values
of our founding documents and as ethnically, politically and spiritually
varied as the nation of immigrants that we are.
Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates recently highlighted this continued deficit in our public diplomacy
efforts:
[P]ublic relations [he
said] was invented in the United States, yet we are miserable at communicating
to the rest of the world what we are about as a society and a culture,
about freedom and democracy, about our policies and our goals. It
is just plain embarrassing that al-Qaeda is better at communicating
its message on the internet than America. As one foreign diplomat
asked a couple of years ago, “How has one man in a cave managed
to out-communicate the world’s greatest communication society?”
Speed, agility, and cultural relevance are not terms that come readily
to mind when discussing U.S. strategic communications.
Karen Hughes, the most recent
Under Secretary of State of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, had
the right idea. That office, established in 1999, now seeks to implement
a comprehensive public diplomacy strategy based on three objectives:
- Offer people throughout
the world a positive vision of hope and opportunity that is rooted
in America's belief in freedom, justice, opportunity and respect for
all;
- Isolate and marginalize the violent extremists; confront their ideology
of tyranny and hate. Undermine their efforts to portray the west as
in conflict with Islam by empowering mainstream voices and demonstrating
respect for Muslim cultures and contributions; and
- Foster a sense of common interests and common values between Americans
and people of different countries, cultures and faiths throughout
the world.
I support these objectives.
I believe our country continues to have a role in this world to share
our democratic vision with other people.
So why do we need to fix
and enhance our public diplomacy? In part because this Administration’s
actions have spoken louder than any of its words and, in so doing, have
reduced the credibility of public diplomacy efforts. One of the reasons
Karen Hughes had a hard sell was the fact that she was part of an administration
that launched a misguided and globally resented war in Iraq that, as
an afterthought, was cynically marketed as an effort to bring freedom
and democracy to the people of Iraq. It is difficult for our public
diplomats to promote this country and its principles of freedom and
democracy when, to people in other countries, our words and best intentions
about supporting democracy are undermined by our actions. And Iraq is
not the only problems – we are also paying a price for our continued
support for a Pakistani leader who sacks the head of his country’s
supreme court to preserve his power despite popular opposition, to give
just one example.
So, we have to recognize
that our public diplomacy efforts face barriers from both our Iraq legacy
and from an inconsistent foreign policy that pays homage to democracy
in lofty rhetoric but continues to support authoritarian leaders in
places like Pakistan and Egypt.
All this is not to say that
we must discard or diminish our public diplomacy efforts. Quite the
contrary. We must reshape and enhance them into a more meaningful and
coherent strategy. We must, as democracy expert Thomas Carothers suggests,
“decontaminate” democracy promotion by ending its close
association with military intervention and regime change. And, as another
noted international democracy scholar, Larry Diamond, emphasizes, we
must continue to “engage societies directly through a web of educational,
economic, cultural, social and scientific exchanges.”
To do this we have to extend
our international relationships beyond the myopic theme of Iraq and
beyond an effort to sell our unilateral effort there as an exercise
in democracy building. We need to update our public diplomacy to address
21st century realities. Jan Melissen, a diplomatic studies and international
relations expert, puts it well:
Modern public diplomacy
is a ‘two-way street’, even though the diplomat practicing
it will of course always have his own country’s interests and
foreign policy goals in mind . . . . It is persuasion by means of
dialogue. [I]t is fundamentally different from [propaganda] in the
sense that diplomacy . . . is not one-way messaging.
Dialogue is a critical element
of effective public diplomacy. We must reach out to understand others
as well as share what we stand for and believe in.
Lastly, as Professor Diamond
notes, our country’s leaders must, with some humility, recognize
that we have ongoing work at home to perfect our own democratic systems
and performance. For our public diplomats to effectively model and promote
freedom, justice, opportunity and respect for all, we must acknowledge
that building and maintaining a vibrant democracy is an ongoing effort,
including here at home. Simply acknowledging that our own democracy
is not perfect and that it needs our ongoing involvement and support
is a strong message about the importance of citizen participation and
responsibility. That self-recognition alone resonates with global audiences
and makes us a more credible partner and champion of the systems and
values we seek to model and promote.
Citizen Diplomacy
Our third, and perhaps most
important diplomatic initiative, must be to encourage and support individual
citizens to reach out across our borders in their private and personal
lives. Our best diplomats in the world today are our private citizens.
This is especially true, given again what Carothers calls the “contamination”
of our public diplomacy by the war in Iraq.
The Pew Global Attitudes
poll tells us that, while our popularity may have declined, Americans
as a people are still consistently more popular than our country. Our
diplomacy must draw on individual Americans, who best convey the human
face, the human character, of who we are and what we believe. In an
ethnically and religiously fractured world, we can show how our democracy
accommodates us in all our diversity and disagreement, including in
our occasional disagreement with our own government.
Studies have shown that, in areas where U.S. citizens have contributed
their time, money, and services, opinions of the United States have
improved. A 2006 Terror Free Tomorrow poll found that, “[i]n Indonesia,
almost two years after the tsunami, American aid to tsunami victims
continues to be the single biggest factor resulting in favorable opinion
towards the United States. Almost 60 percent of Indonesians surveyed
nationwide in August 2006 said that American assistance gave them a
favorable view of the United States. This number has remained solid
following tsunami relief, despite a growing number of Indonesians who
oppose American-led efforts to fight terrorism.”
Here in Wisconsin, in River
Falls, elementary school students contributed $623 in pennies to fund
the construction of girls’ schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Those pennies launched a national effort, Pennies for Peace, which has
made a tangible impact in one of the most difficult areas on earth.
And, in his best-selling book, Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson describes
how he tried to give something back to the people who nursed him back
to health after a challenging mountaineering experience on K2, the world’s
second highest mountain.
In a speech about his book,
Mortenson explains the title as follows:
I learned a very important
lesson in 1996. I had been working for three years to get the first
school built . . . . I was doing what we call in the West "micromanaging."
One day a wise, old village chief named Haji Ali took me aside and
said, "We are grateful that you are going to build the first
school in the area and bring education to our people. But you need
to do one thing: You need to shut up, sit down and let us do the work.
You need to let go and give empowerment to the local villagers."
Late that evening, we were drinking . . . salt green tea with rancid
yak butter. Haji Ali told me, "In our culture it takes three
cups of tea to do business. On the first cup you are a stranger. The
second cup you become a friend, and the third cup you become family.
The process takes years." Later, on my own, I compared it with
30 minute power lunches in America. Over there, I have learned, it's
about relationships.
It is about relationships
– and it is about respecting the initiative and pride of ownership
of others. It is not just about money or building projects, though those
are important contributions that bring very real tangible benefits to
those in need. It is about personal experiences, personal interaction
– and mutual benefits -- not just the dispensation of charity.
It is through private, people-to-people contact and exchanges, that
these relationships are built, mutual understanding and respect reached,
and opportunities identified, developed and sustained.
You may know that Greg is
one of this year’s first ever recipients of the National Award
from the U. S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. You are lucky to be hosting
Greg here at UW Madison a week from today.
Our history is filled with
citizen efforts that helped to literally change the world. Many of you
know the story of how Americans participated in table tennis tournaments
in China in the early 1970’s and how this ping pong diplomacy
contributed to a re-establishment of relations after decades of enmity
and estrangement. Or you will have followed the recent privately funded
travels of the New York Philharmonic in its concert tour of North Korea
as it played the New World Symphony and Gershwin’s American in
Paris – in Pyongyang. Or the series of baseball games between
the Baltimore Orioles and Cuban baseball teams.
We must allow, encourage,
and support these types of initiatives. They are in our national interest
as well as in our personal interests. Instead of limiting people-to-people
exchanges, as this administration did with Cuba in 2004, for example,
we should be increasing them, especially at this time of transition
in that country. The passage of Fidel Castro from active leadership
presents us with a golden opportunity to promote democracy and new relations
through a free exchange of people and ideas. It is clear that our decades
old policies and limitations on US travel and exchange programs have
had no impact on Cuba’s leadership. People to people exchanges,
however, offer a real and meaningful opportunity for citizen dialogue.
Congressman Jim McGovern tells us from a meeting with Fidel Castro that
Castro’s two most feared words in the English language are “spring
break.” Democracy travels best in person.
Though we have important
programs already in place – the Peace Corps, programs administered
through the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural
Affairs, the Fulbright program that took Sue’s daughter to Tunisia,
USAID’s Volunteers for Prosperity, and most recently their Service
Incentive Program – we can and should be doing more. We need to
enhance the opportunities of our university students to have meaningful
international experiences. In this vein I support the proposed Senator
Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act which is aimed at increasing
participation in study abroad programs and encouraging diversity in
student participation and in locations, with a particular emphasis on
developing countries.
But it is not just our students
and young people who should have opportunities for interaction with
others abroad. Many of the people I meet in this state are unable to
volunteer overseas because of financial or time-related barriers. As
much as we might like to, few of us can easily take the time or afford
to take off for a year or two, especially once we have a family and
professional lives.
In an effort to reduce these
barriers, I recently reintroduced, along with Senator Norm Coleman of
Minnesota, the Global Service Fellowship Act. This bill would fund travel,
housing and other appropriate expenses up to $7,500, associated with
an international program designed by the recipient. By providing flexibility
in timing and programming, this approach expands the pool of those who
might be interested in engaging in such an initiative but would otherwise
not be able to do so. For those selected, all we ask is that you share
your stories and thoughts with your community and your government representatives
when you return so others can gain from your own experience. I was pleased
to learn that Volunteers for Prosperity announced a smaller, but similar
program called VFP Serve and it is my hope that my bill will complement
and strengthen this type of programming.
For those for whom even a
week or two abroad is not possible, it is not necessary to ever leave
home to personally experience our world’s varied and rich cultures
– and I am not just referring to Madison’s diverse restaurants.
We can also reach out across our borders when we welcome someone from
abroad into our communities, our classrooms and our homes. In opening
your homes to exchange students, perceptions are changed, maybe long
term bonds and relationships developed – and in so doing you reach
out to the world and help shape its views of this country, its people
and its ideals. You also provide experiences to people from other countries
that may become some of the most meaningful and memorable of their lives.
Think about it. If I picked a random date ten or even five years ago
and asked you where you were and what you were doing on that day, you
probably would have no idea. But if you happened to be traveling outside
of the U.S. on that day, I bet you’d remember, perhaps in great
detail.
Experiences we have with
people and cultures outside of our own are seared into our memories.
They stay with us forever. And each visitor to this country who you
encounter and share your life with is having that kind of experience.
Small kindnesses, just a little bit of effort, can have a powerful and
lasting impact on someone.
People-to-people contact
offers our foreign visitors the chance to see past the stereotypes and
to know us as we really are. The Pew Global Attitudes Project found
that “those individuals who have traveled to the U.S. have more
favorable views of [our] country than those who have not.” It
also notes that
[T]he image of America
tends to be more positive among those who have friends or relatives
in the U.S. whom they regularly call, write to, or visit. . . . People
with friends or relatives in the U.S. are generally more likely to
have a favorable opinion of the country than those who do not have
personal connections in the U.S.
These personal encounters
with people from other cultures have a lasting impact and importance
because they can change perceptions of the world going forward. We have
seen that with Peace Corps volunteers whose few years of service inform
their world view for the rest of their lives. The same thing can happen
to people who have contact with foreign visitors here in the United
States.
For some, reaching out beyond
our boundaries literally changes and continues to shape our lives and
relationships. That’s certainly the case for Mike and Kathy Anderson
from Marathon, Wisconsin, who have hosted so many people from around
the world over the years. They are here tonight and I want to thank
them for their wonderful work. They recently shared their story with
me:
We have been hosting folks
from all over the world through a variety of programs for nearly 35
years. We started with programs offered through the University of
Minnesota while we lived in Minneapolis, and have continued for the
last 15 years with programs sponsored by North Central Technical College
in Wausau.
Our children have grown
up with dinner guests and “extended family” from countries
as remote as Lesotho and Ivory Coast, Siberia and Turkmenistan, as
old as Egypt and China, and as close as Wales and Germany. They discussed
security arrangements for the Seoul Olympic Games with the man who
was in charge. They have discussed the arts in China, education in
Ukraine, and trade unions in Africa.
Along the way we seemed
to become an unofficial embassy for Morocco in Minneapolis, with students
passing along our names to other students coming in following years.
We just crossed the generational gap with a guest last month from
the University of Morocco in Rabat, where one of our original “kids”
is now a professor.
It wasn’t and isn’t
at all atypical to have 10 to 15 folks from other countries over for
dinner and conversation at the same time.
We aren’t sure of
the reason, but our youngest son is now an Anthropologist. Perhaps
it was a result of having multi-cultural dinner table stimulation
for years.
Kathy had an opportunity
to return the favor, when she was selected for a two week trip to Ukraine
to discuss farming methods with folks under the Community Connections
program.
We have also traveled to
Morocco to look up former guests from long ago, and were treated like
royalty. All the neighbors came over for introductions, kids everywhere,
all talking in Arabic and Berber, no one understanding each other,
and everyone having a great time. Laughter needs no translation.
We have lots and lots of
stories, but the headline may be that people interact with people
at a very different level than countries interact with countries.
I may not like what your country is doing, but if I get to know you
as an individual, I can still build a connection. Programs like these
put a face on the country, making it less abstract and impersonal.
Once the guests get to know a farmer from Wisconsin, I’m sure
they also have a better understanding that our country is more than
the image they see presented by the politicians, or the sports figures,
or the media folks. It’s real folks with the same kind of dreams,
hopes, and wishes for the future that they have. And perhaps we get
a bit closer, one relationship at a time.
There are many other Wisconsin
stories like those shared by the Andersons. Just last week I introduced
a new webpage for citizen diplomats to share their experiences overseas
and for prospective citizen diplomats to seek out federal government
volunteer opportunities. I invite you to share your story on my website
at www.feingold.senate.gov.
These are the faces and voices
of Wisconsin’s private citizen diplomats. They reflect the traditions
of Americans, in our ethnic and cultural diversity, reaching out to
the world – and the world responding. They reflect, too, the opportunities
we have, following in the traditions of our founding fathers, to define
who we are as Americans and to establish who we are as a country and
as a culture. Through our personal outreach we have an opportunity to
re-establish our nation’s role as a champion of freedom and democracy,
and to enhance respect for the values we represent. In so doing, not
only can we learn and gain pleasure from these life affirming experiences,
we have an opportunity to forge human bonds among ordinary people, disarm
narrow-minded ideological opponents and strengthen both the values and
security of this country.
I suppose the simplest way
to summarize my aspirations for you here today is that I hope you will
be proud to place an American flag on your backpack when you travel
to Asia, Africa or Europe – and equally proud to share your home
and your community and your daily lives with someone who knows little
of them. And as you do this, I hope you will reflect both our confidence
and our humility, as you support the common aspirations of an increasingly
interconnected and interdependent global world. |