The Post Election Role of the United States in the World: A Conversation with Carol Bellamy and Garrick Utley
December 10, 2008
In January, The Levin Institute is hosting a two week course by the Vermont based School of International Training, a school that offers graduate students in-depth study of the critical global issues of our times. The collaboration with Levin will provide SIT students the opportunity to do field work in New York City.
To inaugurate this program, SIT alumni and friends gathered at Levin to hear Carol Bellamy, President of the SIT Graduate Institute, and Levin President Garrick Utley discuss their thoughts on the post election role of the United States in the world.
President Utley opened the discussion by asking Bellamy about the primary challenge the US will face under the Obama administration. Ms. Bellamy commented that the most immediate and broadest-based one will be the economic situation which will not only be a challenge for the US, but a global one as well.
She went on to state that in dealing with the economic crisis, there will be a need for the US to restore a positive relationship with the world. Ms. Bellamy cited an article in the Washington Post in which president-elect Obama talked about “re-booting” the image of the US throughout world. She took particular pleasure in his use of the technological word “rebooting.” In the article, she said Obama was quoted discussing the need to recalibrate relations through diplomacy, emphasizing inclusion and tolerance.
Ms. Bellamy went on to discuss a 2007 Pugh Foundation study which said that the favorable perception of the United States which existed in the past has decreased globally over the last ten years. She was optimistic that the Obama administration will be capable of restoring a positive image for the US through his support of an open diplomacy, as well as his pledge to make international development a priority. She also believes that Obama’s intellectual curiosity provides him a flexibility that will aid the US in re-engaging with the world.
Garrick Utley followed up by pointing out that some of Obama’s prime challenges may be domestic political-economic issues that could possibly hinder an open global exchange. He continued by emphasizing the importance of maintaining an open immigration policy in order to keep the talent flow within the US dynamic.
Finally the discussion touched on the study abroad experience and the potential for technology, including the internet, to further broaden those experiences for young people in the US.
At one point in her remarks, Carol Bellamy presented the surprising statistic that only two percent of undergraduates in the US have any international experience, and of that two percent, forty six percent study in only four countries (France, Italy, Spain and the UK).
Ms. Bellamy stressed the importance of young Americans to step out of the “American bubble” in order to broaden their perspective. She believes that technology can be useful as a tool to facilitate communication on a global scale, but stressed that a virtual experience doesn’t function as a substitute for a real international experience.
She went on to mention that global citizenry is not defined by the number of stamps in an individual’s passport , but rather by how broadly one engages with the community in which they are living.