and my guest is doctor my hand in hand he is director at the University
Massachusetts
civic initiative he's been political consultant your communications director
to
a former Governor Jane swift you've been with us many times our political
roundtable
we always introduce you as director of civic initiative in US we've never
explained it
the organization is coming up on its 10th anniversary
there's an April 11th event at you master it to mark that
anniversary and in fact tell what is
the University Massachusetts civic initiatives well as you said Jim Leape
started 10 years ago and we've become an organization that is what I would call
democracy
education at home and abroad and mi amor programs are actually
involved with international visitors so we tend to bring groups have
students professors teachers you know whatever the content can vary
to United States for four to six-week programs and then we often tend to go to
those countries and do follow-up
programs at I know you give me a great phrase
home we were talking about how to talk about this yeah and you said you know
its soft diplomacy well though the words of diplomacy to feel can have a lot of
different meanings you know from my perspective there's a feeling that
they're just having people come to the US
having honest conversations with americans and then having us go to their
countries and having
conversations with people there he has a lot of meaning it has 21 is it opens up
people's eyes to the way the country really is
for its good and bad but I think even more they build their own networks
within the country
for people who are experienced with each other so people in Iraq or Pakistan
they don't always meet each other and only between ethnicity and religion
they tend to form their own group within the country they call each other on the
following their problem they solve them
knows echoes for in the future that's beneficial thing
when the kind of people you have involved here US your your civic
leadership fellows
are largely political science people people interested in
government future leaders and many times that people from around the world with
your cum
or you go to visit also are potentially if not already to some extent
leaders in there can I mean you you really as you say you're really making
network connections conceivably for the future for decades to come
yet is to take a step back when you mention the word civic fellows that
involves University of Massachusetts tunes
work for us in the summer and they live with the participants in
they drive them their friends with them they go to class with them they talk to
them late into the evening the kind of things that people the same age would do
that
you know i win necessarily participate n
hand it's a pretty big I think a big experience for them in in their lives I
was just in DCA just came back in
I met one of our former fellows who now works for the State Department another
one works for world learning in another room washer command axes are all firms
it
do this kind of work but you know we can talk in the classroom about
pakistan iraq that means a lot more thing for the students to actually meet
and talk
face to face over time that's a big part in the program the big party to it
struck me and you're kind of a
through four years back to invite Leah meet with the group you had
if I remember a lot of them were Fulbright Scholars I think sergeant from
from Argentina they they were fascinating to spend a couple hours with
and the thing that strikes me is everybody around the world knows
something about the United States now granted they they may be ill-conceived
preconceived notions
above the giant superpower but still they know something about us
most Americans can't say the name the canadian Prime Minister the president
makes one year's neighbors
it how is it this broaden our perspective
because that's so important seems to me but you really had a a very important
gap to use it the example Argentina
it's even wider in Pakistan and and the gap is that everybody knows something
about the United States and Pakistan but often they're wrong
whereas people you know it's a start anything at all about taxed at
and so getting a chance to meet the students go to dinner with them they get
a chance to speak to group sex Adara makes an enormous difference just a
little bit of knowledge
is sort of a gee-whiz moment all there just to go to school
I mean all silly things like that you know it's has a big impact
attractive a game this wrong but I know you've you spent a lot of time working
with people from some other former Soviet
republics George I think in Azerbaijan
I you've spent time in Iraq I know
he spent a semester in Argentina it
you had recently added a reunion with a a large number of
iraqi alumni of the Civic Initiative Program
it strikes me that country in particular the US history in the last twenty years
or so with iraq
that's going to be really important because they've got all kinds of ideas
about who we are think they've been on the receiving end some love
who the United States is militarily and diplomatically
that's going to be a critical connection to make
it is a you know wanted to some extent the the people in Iraq are dealing with
their own issues now
in the United States as a player but for the most part the players iraq your
Middle Eastern you know it at this point
and but it still is a very important for the students
as much as they dislike or like american policy memo sleep just like
to get a chance to see the country itself and for americans to go there are
taken Americans
to the to a rock and a Pakistani a chance to
talk to students there I think it's important for them to see we're willing
to go there as well as
you know them having an opportunity come to the US
one other things was facing for me when I'm I met with your argentinian
group a few years back well the things they want to know about it was it was
very much in the news in its
American exceptionalism was being talked a lot about we were leading up to the I
guess it was the 2000
12 presidential campaign ever talked a lot about Mitt Romney
fact I'd met interviewed him they were fascinated by but
the they wanted to know what I thought but the idea of American exceptionalism
and I want to ask him about why don't you think your country Argentina
is exceptional and they look to me then like I was from the movie this is
something different
Americans are feeling americans have purses people
round-the-world about even their own country in like cases but I think
factually america is
exceptional in the in the narrow sense it's a very powerful nation that has a
foreign policy that
affects more countries than most other countries foreign policy affects
but nonetheless I think you have a point in most people
underestimate the extent at their own nationalism
you know the Argentinian soccer team plays in a game every house in Argentina
pulls the flag out
and the Argentinians love their country you know just like people in iraq like
their country people on
Pakistan like their their countries to the exceptionalism is not
that interesting any it were a big country is very powerful and everybody
with the knowledge that for good or bad
it's not that interesting I think a lot of ways
you've got a group love you man. students going to Pakistan
if I remember it is the first US student group to visit
actually part of a government program in sixteen years i mean
that to me is telling in itself the kinda links
you make that are made very often yes we did have an interest in the in the past
and it was a very exciting trip because the students not only met with their
Pakistani alumni but
kids from India for their kids from Afghanistan is a four hundred people at
this
the vet and then they get a chance to visit hospital your chance to tour
around Simon
and see a little bit of the life love their friends who they meet and spend
time within the United States or completed a circle in many ways
10 years in now to the program and 10 years at making connections as you call
the 10th anniversary event
when you look for in the years to come do you keep building
does it grow do you refine what you doing what what what are the thoughts
with others like to continue the programs but I think it would be good to
build on on-line networks as well I think in the future what
the dream is a bunch of these kids are twenty twenty years old 22 years old
when their 40 they call each other for help in their own country in the form a
network of people with a common experience
who get into million high-level positions in business medicine
government and they began to help each other out and I think that's a vision
that that I would personally like to
to pursue to keep that network together that takes work in
communications with it can be done not oversimplify the real quickly with about
20 seconds left
it's a lot harder to disliked intensely or hate somebody
if you've shared a meal with them if you know them face to face is
well you don't have to agree with a minute I we say that when I write a
grant or talk you don't have to agree with someone that understands the first
step
Mike and director by the regime issues it's a big initiative
thanks for being our guest lecture have me