罢丑别听Council on Foreign Relations聽recently published on article on "The Decline of International Studies: Why Flying Blind is Dangerous." The article discusses the recent decline in funding for language and cultural studies despite the the reality that these are very relevant to today's global issues.
"In October 2013, the U.S. Department of State eliminated its funding program for advanced language and cultural training on Russia and the former Soviet Union. Created in 1983 as a special appropriation by Congress, the so-called Title VIII Program had supported generations of specialists working in academia, think tanks, and the U.S. government itself. But as a State Department official told the Russian news service RIA Novosti at the time, 'In this fiscal climate, it just didn鈥檛 make it.' The program鈥檚 shuttering came just a month before the start of a now well-known chain of events: Ukraine鈥檚 Euromaidan revolution, Russia鈥檚 annexation of Crimea, and the descent of U.S.-Russian relations to their lowest level since the Cold War. The timing was, to say the least, unfortunate...
"Shifting priorities at the national level, a misreading of the effects of globalization, and academics鈥� own drift away from knowing real things about real places have combined to weaken this vital component of the United States鈥� intellectual capital. Educational institutions and the disciplines they preserve are retreating from the task of cultivating men and women who are comfortable moving around the globe, both literally and figuratively. Government agencies, in turn, are reducing their overall support and narrowing it to fields deemed relevant to U.S. national security鈥攁nd even to specific research topics within them. Worse, academic research is now subject to the same 鈥渃ulture war鈥� attacks that federal lawmakers used to reserve for profane rap lyrics and blasphemous artwork. Unless Washington stops this downward spiral, these changes will not only weaken national readiness. They will also erode the habit of mind that good international affairs education was always supposed to produce: an appreciation for people, practices, and ideas that are not one鈥檚 own...
"All of this points to just how important international and regional studies can be when they are adequately funded, publicly valued, and shielded from the exigencies of national security. Their chief role is not to enable the makers of foreign policy. It is rather to constrain them: to show why things will always be more complicated than they seem, how to foresee unintended consequences, and when to temper ambition with a realistic understanding of what is historically and culturally imaginable. For more than half a century, the world has been shaped by the simple fact that the United States could look at other countries鈥攖heir pasts and presents, their myths and worldviews鈥攚ith sympathetic curiosity. Maintaining the ability to do so is not only a great power鈥檚 insurance policy against the future. It is also the essence of an open, inquisitive, and critical society."
To read the full article, visit聽.