Nafsa: Association of International Educators has issued a call to arms in the presidential race. International education, writes Marlene M. Johnson, the group’s executive director, should have a central place in the next president’s solution to economic, security, and public-diplomacy challenges.
In a statement, Ms. Johnson says the next president must articulate a national strategy for restoring the status of the United States as a magnet for international students, scholars, and leading scientists, and for making sure that Americans know about the rest of the world through study abroad. She proposes that a senior White House official be appointed to carry out that strategy and to hold each federal agency head accountable for ensuring that different bureaus are not working at cross-purposes.
“It is no longer a point of debate on either side of the aisle that America’s image in the world has suffered,” she declares.
“The relevant questions are: what can be done to improve our relations with the rest of the world, and how the next president can best lead our nation to demonstrate the values of openness and fairness, understanding and mutual respect that have made this country a beacon of hope in the past.”
You can read more about the presidential candidates’ views on economic and global competitiveness here.
