In Madison and on campuses around the country, it is International Education Week. To celebrate, educators and administrators are encouraging students to enlist in one of the thousands of study abroad programs that take American students overseas each year. Although globalization is slowly eroding national borders, this week is a time to honor the fact that state perspectives still vary greatly, and to recognize that this brings a host of challenges and benefits to our lives within the global society.
Students are doing their part. The Wisconsin State Journal recently reported that the number of students studying abroad continues to increase. This is an outstanding development because our media makes it difficult to gain global perspective in the United States. After spending a few months in Great Britain last semester, I realized that America's international understanding is even narrower than I had expected. The American lens is difficult to shed but it is important in this globalized era to try, which is why students should be praised for their decision to go abroad.
Europe's international press puts ours to shame, providing daily accounts of political, social and economic change around the globe with the same degree of dedication that we award domestic news. The growth and extent of globalization seems even greater across the Atlantic. It definitely had a huge effect on my view of the world outside the United States, and it made me more aware of American exceptionalism than I had ever been.
I had always understood "exceptionalism" as a term to denote America's unique position as "the last remaining superpower." As a result, we were awarded special rights. Despite instances of abuse in the past, I understood our exceptionalism to be a good thing, something we had earned through military might and global leadership.
Yet only weeks into my European adventure, my view of exceptionalism began to change. I realized it is an outdated frame of mind. The European Union is making huge strides in economic integration and the promotion of a human rights agenda. Some nations take the latter issue so seriously that they have changed their understanding of jurisdiction to allow for prosecution of human rights violators. While America has often been willing to lower its barrier of exceptionalism in the area of free trade, it has fallen behind European countries as they seek to legally prosecute human rights violators.
Our prosecution thus far has reflected our exceptionalist mindset — using our massive military might to accomplish our human rights agenda. Iraq comes to mind, as does Kosovo a decade ago. Yet as the Iraq quagmire deepens, leaders should be looking for alternative ways to intervene on behalf of human rights.
America has thus far refused to become a part of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and has often denied the jurisdictional claims of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This is a shame because American exceptionalism, exercised in this fashion, limits our ability to protect innocent lives not only internationally, but also domestically. As our war on terror rages on, it is becoming apparent that military intervention will not be a sustainable method for combating terrorism; nor will our abysmal detention methods, which may face reform now that Democrats control Congress.
Prosecuting terrorists through the ICC, and holding nations that harbor them accountable through the ICJ could do wonders for American standing in the world. Yes, it could limit the degree of our exceptionalism in terms of absolute power, but it would be a huge step forward in regaining our diplomatic, symbolic and political power.
The kind of international integration practiced by the European Union and offered by the institutions of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice should be embraced by the United States. Not only would our foreign policy gain political legitimacy, our international objectives could attract more material support as well. There is much to gain by shedding our exceptionalist mindset and accepting the security and political benefits that more robust international cooperation can bring.
So this week, while thousands of American students commit to going abroad, we should praise their bold decision to step outside the comfortable bubble of American exceptionalism. Perhaps when they return home, they will be ready to help the rest of the country, and especially its leadership, to do the same.
Sarah Howard ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science.
