International Education: The Neglected Dimension Of Public Diplomacy: Recommendations for the Next President
http://www.nafsa.org/_/Document/_/public_diplomacy_2008.pdf
By NAFSA: Association of International Educators
Reviewed by John Brown

In 1966, the philosopher Charles Frankel, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs during the Johnson administration, published his often cited volume, The Neglected Aspect of Foreign Affairs: American Educational and Cultural Policy Abroad. Now comes a new report on this subject, International Education: The Neglected Dimension of Public Diplomacy: Recommendations for the Next President by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

The nine-page NAFSA report forcefully argues that narrowly conceived security measures taken since 9/11 have resulted in a loss of America’s international legitimacy. In order to overcome this dire situation, harmful to U.S. national interests, NAFSA recommends that American public diplomacy develop “the long-term relationships through which the world most fundamentally ‘knows’ Americans and forms its core assumption about what America ‘is.’”

This goal can be achieved, the report argues, by a major presidential education initiative that should have three objectives: 

• The internationalization of higher education in the United States, centered on a national program to establish study abroad as an integral part of U.S. undergraduate education;
• The restoration of America’s status as a magnet for international students and scholars, the next generation of foreign leaders, teachers, and innovators; and
• The substantial strengthening of international exchange and volunteer-service programs to foster a long-term reservoir of good will for our nation.

Among the many specific means to carry this out are the following:

• The passage by Congress of the Senator Paul Simon Study Foundation Act, which would send at least one million U.S. undergraduates overseas within ten years. (Only one percent of American college students currently study abroad each year.)
• Eliminating the legal requirement for applicants for student visas to demonstrate intent not to immigrate to the United States.
• Increasing the size of the Peace Corps by 50 percent by March 1, 2011.