B R I D G E SW I N T E R 2 0 0 3

B R I G H A M Y O U N G U N I V E R S I T Y • D A V I D M . K E N N E D Y C E N T E R F O R I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D I E S

The Paradox of ReligiousPluralism and ReligiousUniqueness:“Cause MyChurch to Be Established”PAGE 4

What’s So Great AboutAmerica?PAGE 10

A Creative Approach toMaking International Friends PAGE 15

The Paradox of ReligiousPluralism and ReligiousUniqueness:“Cause MyChurch to Be Established”PAGE 4

What’s So Great AboutAmerica?PAGE 10

A Creative Approach toMaking International Friends PAGE 15

Kennedy Center Third Annual Photography Contest

First Place,“Reflecting on 90 Years in the Same Village,” Molly Jones, Shaanxi Province, China

COMMUNITIES

22 Campus

28 Alumni

34 World

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3

2 Director’s Message

Jeffrey F. Ringer, PUBLISHER

Cory W. Leonard, MANAGING EDITOR

J. Lee Simons, EDITOR

Elisabeth Liljenquist, ASSISTANT EDITOR

Robert H. Boden, DESIGNER

Nicholas Pasto, ASSISTANT DESIGNER

Published by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, Brigham Young University, Provo,Utah. Copyright 2003 by Brigham Young University. All rights reserved. All communications should besent to Bridges, 237 HRCB, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602. Phone: (801) 422-2652 E-mail: kcpublications@byu.edu

FEATURES

B R I D G E SB R I D G E S M AG A Z I N E — A N E X P R E S S I O N O F R E S E A R C H , O P I N I O N S , A N D I N T E R E S T S F O R T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY I N VO LV E D.

4 The Paradox of Religious Pluralism and Religious Uniqueness:“Cause My Church to be Established.”“Religious, as well as social, economical, or political, pluralismdeveloped from the beginning in one form or another.” by Elder Charles Didier, Presidency of the Seventy

10 What’s So Great About America?“What is it about America’s role in the world that is simultane-ously the source of great magnetic attraction to many peopleand yet at the same time is a source of intense hatred and repul-sion on the part of others.”by Dinesh D’Souza, Robert and Karen Rishwain Research Fellow at the HooverInstitution, Stanford University

15 A Creative Approach to Making International Friends

“We take great care to ensure that our students are prepared to repre-sent the university, the Church, and our nation.”by Elisabeth Liljenquist

18 Omar Kader—Contracting for the Future“While traveling in the Middle East, Kader kept running into Americanconsultants who were doing what he deemed the ‘exciting’ work:water development, education reform, private sector development,import and export, and government reform.”by J. Lee Simons

PERSONALITY PROFILE

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There is something peculiarly ironic in the fact that as millions of peoplewatch what appears to be the first, prime-time war on television, simultane-

ously the same instantaneous communication dynamic is driving terror over anunknown disease that began in Asia tagged “SARS” (Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome). We have not been immune to either factor at the Kennedy Center.In fact, as students linger in the Herald R. Clark building foyer to watch thelatest CNN Iraq update, international study programs in Asia were cancelled.

This spring, university administrators have been holding daily safety andsecurity consultations for the hundreds of faculty and students who arestudying around the world. The familiar saying, “the world is our campus” isquite literal.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that study abroad programs havebeen making hard choices, both financially and programmatically. Schools whoown physical facilities in Asia are clearly the hardest hit, but anyone planningcredit hours, semesters, years, and degrees, understands that such uncertaintycan be unwieldy at best and disastrous at worst. Deciding how much risk isacceptable and when to draw the line and bring students home has majorimplications for everyone. So far, academic study programs in most other partsof the world continue to run, and we continue to plan for more in the future.

The Kennedy Center and various other international programs across cam-pus will weather this storm and continue to offer an even more geographically-and disciplinarily-diverse program, from formal faculty study abroad to inter-national field study and volunteer programs. Meanwhile, we take solace in T.S. Elliot’s words in “Little Gidding” (from his “Four Quartets”): “We shall notcease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/ Will be to arrivewhere we started/And know the place for the first time.”

Director’s Message

Rodney B. Boynton, associate director

17 November 1983–17 November 2003

20th

David M.Kennedy Centerfor InternationalStudies

3BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

Establishing

a global

community—

connecting

people, ideas,

and methods.

Preparing

students—

mixing intellect,

culture, and

politics.

Watch for

Bridges Fall 2003

Kennedy Center

Twentieth

Anniversary

Edition

A foundation of

excellence to

move us

through the

twenty-first

century.

Anniversaryof the

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by Elder Charles Didier, Presidency of the Seventy

First of all, I would like to thank the InternationalSociety for the invitation to address this distinguishedaudience tonight. I use the word distinguished on purposeas it means literally “to separate by pricking” (Webster’sNew Collegiate Dictionary). Your mark of distinction, ofexcellence, is your testimony of the divinity of Christ andHis restored Church on the earth today. Using this markin your professional field is making a difference in theway The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isbeing known, recognized, and established in the nationsof the world.

aradox of Religious Pluralism and

Religious Uniqueness:“Cause My Church to Be

Established”

PTHE

As for myself, my field is asgeneral as it can be as a GeneralAuthority, and my only distinc-tion is to prick the hearts of peo-ple with the word of God, asmentioned in Jarom 1: 11–12:

Wherefore, the prophets, andthe priests, and the teachers,did labor diligently, exhortingwith all long-suffering the peo-ple to diligence; teaching thelaw of Moses, and the intentfor which it was given; per-suading them to look forwardunto the Messiah, and believein him to come as though healready was. And after thismanner did they teach them.And it came to pass that by sodoing they kept them frombeing destroyed upon the faceof the land; for they did pricktheir hearts with the word,continually stirring them upunto repentance.

This proselyting message willnever change; it is eternal in ourmortal perspective. It is, ofcourse, associated with the verbto prick, which also means toaffect with anguish, grief orremorse, or repentance! Wheredid it start?

From the very beginning ofthe history of mankind, man hasbeen characterized by physicaland spiritual needs as we mayrefer to the so-called primitiveman of Africa, Australia, orNeanderthal, or to our biblicalreligious ancestors Adam andEve. Their physical needs weretheir first priority in order tosurvive, and the earth becametheir first resource. Three essen-tial questions were asked on adaily basis.

The man: “What are we goingto eat tonight?”

The woman: “What am I goingto wear tomorrow?”

Both of them: “Where are wegoing to find shelter and pro-tection from the elementsaround us?”

But after being satisfied withan answer to their physical

needs, namely, from the earth,there came the quest for knowl-edge about themselves, theirexistence, their hopes and pains,their future. How to face thechallenges of life and, especially,death? Spiritual or philosophicalneeds emerged rapidly and wereanswered by revelation by Godor by worshiping man-madeidols. It seems that there wasalways an inborn need for wor-ship or religion. It is the Greekhistorian Plutarch who wrote, “In history I have found citieswithout ports, cities withoutpalaces, cities without schools,but never have I found citieswithout places of worship.”

Religious, as well as social,economical, or political, plural-ism developed from the begin-ning in one form or another. Theone religious form, the original,came by direct revelation fromGod giving knowledge of who toworship and how to worship andgiving mankind a plan of happi-ness, also called the plan ofredemption. Another religiousform was a deviation from divinerevelation that could be definedas human divination leading to aworship of man-made idols orman-created gods. This devia-tion, by the name of apostasy,would take place by defectionfrom true knowledge or renunci-ation of true faith. It is interestingto note that despite eras of apos-tasy, they were always followedby a restoration of the truenature of God and His plan ofredemption for His children.Such a period of establishing orrestoring true religion was calleda “dispensation”—God literallydispensing divine knowledge forthe benefit of His children. Thus,in this religious pluralism, peo-ple had to deal with a fact calleddivine revelation and not onlythe uniqueness of it, but also thatthis divine revelation had beenwitnessed by men calledprophets, and their testimonieswere recorded in sacred books.

Atheists, pagans, or idolatersdid not have such written orrevealed evidence except theirown. In the Book of Mormon,Alma the prophet, confrontingKorihor, the Anti-Christ, askshim, “And now what evidencehave ye that there is no God, orthat Christ cometh not?” Theanswer is plain and direct, “I sayunto you that ye have none, saveit be your word only” (Alma 30:40). Evidence throughout thecenturies testifies of the existenceof God—even though some maychoose to deny that there is one.

For example, returning to ourbeginnings, we read of what hap-pened to our religious ancestors,Adam and Eve, as they werepondering and praying abouttheir spiritual needs. From thebook of Moses, a prophet, in thePearl of Great Price we read,“And Adam and Eve, his wife,called upon the name of theLord, and they heard the voice ofthe Lord from the way towardthe Garden of Eden, speakingunto them, and they saw himnot; for they were shut out fromhis presence. And he gave untothem commandments, that theyshould worship the Lord theirGod, and should offer thefirstlings of their flocks, for anoffering unto the Lord. AndAdam was obedient unto thecommandments of the Lord”(Moses 5: 4–5).

As for myself,my field is as general as it canbe as a GeneralAuthority, andmy only distinc-tion is to prickthe hearts of people with theword of God . . .

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Religious uniqueness hasalways been declared by revela-tion from God, by angels—hismessengers, or other means, andthrough prophets called by Him.Religion, a revealed system ofbeliefs, ordinances, rites, and away of life, was to become anintegral part of life to save manfrom his mortal and imperfectcondition. A Savior andRedeemer was announced tobring to pass the immortalityand eternal life of man throughthe Atonement. His name wouldbe Jesus Christ, the Messiah, theSon of God.

Jumping over the centuries,we find the same reality today.The recent dedication of theNauvoo Illinois Temple, a houseof worship, is a vivid and mod-ern example of what happenedyesterday with Adam and Eveand what has continued in all thevarious dispensations of the

gospel. May I first refer to thewords uttered by the Prophet ofthe Restoration of the gospel,Joseph Smith, in his prayer of thededication of the first temple inthis modern dispensation of thefulness of the gospel, theKirtland Temple:

Remember all thy church, OLord, with all their families,and all their immediate con-nections, with all their sick

and afflicted ones, with all thepoor and meek of the earth;that the kingdom, which thouhast set up without hands,may become a great mountainand fill the whole earth; Thatthy church may come forthout of the wilderness of dark-ness, and shine forth fair asthe moon, clear as the sun,and terrible as an army withbanners; And be adorned as abride for that day when thoushalt unveil the heavens, andcause the mountains to flowdown at thy presence, and thevalleys to be exalted, therough places made smooth;that thy glory may fill theearth (Doctrine and Covenants109: 72–74).

Is that prayer different fromthe dedicatory words ofPresident Gordon B. Hinckley,our present prophet, for theNauvoo Illinois Temple? Let us

review a shortexcerpt:

Now, BelovedFather, this is Thyhouse, the gift ofThy thankfulSaints. We praythat Thou wilt visitit. Hallow it withThy presence andthat of Thy BelovedSon. Let Thy HolySpirit dwell here atall times. May Thywork be accom-plished here, andThine eternal pur-poses brought topass in behalf of

Thy children, both the livingand the dead. May our heartsreach to Thee as we servewithin these walls. May allwho are baptized in behalf ofthose beyond the veil of deathknow that they are doingsomething necessary underThine eternal plan. May thosewho are here endowed under-stand and realize the magni-tude of the blessings that come

of this sacred ordinance. Sealupon them the covenantswhich they make with Thee.Open their eyes to a clearperception of Thy divine pur-poses. As they move into thebeautiful celestial room, maytheir minds be brought to anunderstanding of Thy gloriousplan for the salvation andexaltation of Thy children.

May those who gather atthe altars in the sealingrooms, whether in their ownbehalf or in behalf of theirforebears, comprehend by thepower of the Spirit Thy divinewill concerning the eternity ofthe family—fathers, mothers,and children, joined togetherin an everlasting union. Maythey receive a vision of Thineinfinite ‘plan of happiness’which Thou hast designed forThy faithful sons and daugh-ters (Dedicatory Prayer, 27 June 2002).

Again, from the beginninguntil now, all that has been doneto exercise the true worship of aliving God and His Son JesusChrist has been accomplishedthrough the establishment of theChurch of Christ upon the earth.Modern revelation confirms itover and over, as I quote fromthe Doctrine and Covenants, sec-tion 1, verse 30:

And also those to whom thesecommandments were given,might have power to lay thefoundation of this church, andto bring it forth out of obscu-rity and out of darkness, theonly true and living churchupon the face of the wholeearth, with which I, the Lord,am well pleased, speakingunto the church collectivelyand not individually.

One God; one Savior; one planof salvation; one church; onepriesthood; one set of ordinancesof salvation—that uniqueness hasalways been the subject not onlyof questioning this assertion butespecially of criticism leading

Religion, arevealed system ofbeliefs, ordinances,rites, and a way oflife, was to becomean integral part oflife to save manfrom his mortal andimperfect condition.

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even to persecution. Elder DallinH. Oaks once said, “Anyone whopreaches unity risks misunder-standing” (“Weightier Matters,”BYU Devotional, 9 February1999). One may add that one isnot only risking misunderstand-ing but also risking life—as wehave witnessed in the cases ofJoseph Smith the Prophet andeven Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

How do we deal with thatparadox of uniqueness declaredby God and pluralism advertisedby the world as being politicallycorrect? Is it religiously correct tocondemn and silence or perse-cute nonbelievers or members ofother faiths?

One of the early apostles, Paul,said, “For I am not ashamed ofthe gospel of Christ: for it is thepower of God unto salvation toevery one that believeth; to theJew first, and also to the Greek”(Romans 1: 16). Another apostle,James, asks the following ques-tion, “Know ye not that thefriendship of the world isenmity with God? whosoevertherefore will be a friend of theworld is the enemy of God”(James 4: 4). Lehi warned his sonJacob, “For it must needs be, thatthere is an opposition in allthings” (2 Ne. 2: 11).

As simple and innocuous as itmay seem, establishing theChurch of Christ among reli-gious pluralism has not onlybeen met by skepticism but alsoby opposition, persecution,destruction, and violence bybelievers and nonbelievers.Religion or church are too oftenassociated with chauvinism andexclusion. Being recently inPalmyra and Kirtland, I redis-covered the reality of the perse-cution endured by the earlySaints trying to establish therestored Church of Jesus Christ.

Has the situation changed inthe beginning of this twenty-firstcentury? Are new religiousmovements or the restoredChurch exempt from religious orstate persecution? Apparently

not, as it is quite evident in viewof the destruction of sacred sites,sacred lives, and sacred valuesall around the world in our days.The devastating human effects ofreligious wars, that we thoughtbelonged to theDark Ages of civi-lization, are aliveand doing well inthe Middle East,Nigeria, Kashmir,Sri Lanka, India,Indonesia, andBosnia-Herzegovina, tomention only a few.The more insidiousof these wars is alsobeing fought in theWestern nationsdealing with reli-gious freedom andhuman rights ver-sus the amazing explosion ofreligious plurality among the tra-ditional religions. Paradoxically,this awakening of various newreligious movements has beenaccompanied by a growingextension of the exercise of reli-gious freedom and rights, butalso with increased restrictions tolimit that new freedom to wor-ship how, where, or what wemay. Religious exclusivenessrelated to nationalism, patriot-ism, or favoritism is not new andwill continue, as we recently sawin an incident in Russia betweenthe Orthodox and the Catholicchurches. Tolerance does notseem to belong to the religiousvocabulary!

The major monolithic reli-gions, Judaism, Islam, andChristianity, also seem to buildmore than ever before the physi-cal and spiritual walls of intoler-ance, hate, and distrust amongthem. All three are majorrevealed religions based onwords of prophets recorded intheir sacred records: the Torah,the Qur’an, and the Bible. Inessence, all have the same sourceand foundation!

How can ordinary people,who are members of these reli-gions, deal with constant refer-ences to war? The most challeng-ing temptation of this twenty-first century will be to turn to

oneself and to use reason to dealwith religion or to simply negatethe role of religion, churches,and priesthood. The recent scan-dals affecting priesthood leadersand church shepherds in theCatholic Church will neitherhelp the growing desertion oftheir faithful nor prevent grow-ing distrust for church leaders ofother confessions.

The dogma of the existence ofGod is a message of love to helpus to be transformed to becomelike Him. A dogma is a promise,it is hope that will change life byfaith. It is up to the individual toaccept it or to tear it down.Logical reasoning, relativism,and the modern propensity todiscard judgments to be political-ly correct are the temptations tochange the divine nature of Godinto a natural god, the divineinstrument of love and salvationinto a worldly instrument offriendship and unconditional sal-vation, the divine righteousnessinto hedonism. That is much eas-ier to believe when there isalmost nothing left to believe in.

The Lord has warned us aboutthis calamity in very clear terms:

One God; oneSavior; one plan of sal-vation; one church; onepriesthood; one set ofordinances ofsalvation—thatuniqueness has alwaysbeen the subject . . . ofcriticism leading evento persecution.

8

They seek not the Lord toestablish his righteousness,but every man walketh in hisown way, and after the imageof his own god, whose imageis in the likeness of the world,and whose substance is thatof an idol, which waxeth oldand shall perish in Babylon,even Babylon the great, whichshall fall (Doctrine andCovenants 1: 16).

What is the Lord’s solution?He called a Prophet, JosephSmith. He gave him command-ments. He told this Prophet and

his followers to proclaim therestored truths unto the worldthat the fulness of His gospelmight be proclaimed by theweak and the simple unto theends of the world, and beforekings and rulers. Then, in Hispreface to the doctrines,covenants, and commandmentsgiven in this dispensation, theLord said:

For verily the voice of theLord is unto all men, and thereis none to escape; . . . And thevoice of warning shall be untoall people, by the mouths ofmy disciples, whom I havechosen in these last days. . . .Wherefore the voice of theLord is unto the ends of theearth, that all that will hearmay hear (Doctrine andCovenants 1: 2, 4, 11).

Religious pluralism and reli-gious uniqueness, despite beinga major cause for contentionand wars, can coexist even if atfirst glance it seems unsolvableas a paradox. The one and onlytruth can exist without exclud-ing or condemning the unbe-lievers and others. Religiousfreedom has a double edge butaddresses both sides of the tableand should assure communica-tion, friendship, and peacedespite the differences.

So are there any doubts aboutthe uniqueness, the reality, the

necessity to share andexpose the gospel ofsalvation to mankind?The Lord has spoken inour day. His Churchwill continue to beestablished in all thenations of the earth,missionaries will con-tinue to share their tes-timonies, there will con-tinue to be persecution,but we have a spiritualduty and a spiritualassignment to declarethe message of theRestoration that Jesus is

the Christ, that Joseph Smith wasthe Prophet of the Restoration,and that The Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints is thechurch led by Jesus Christ. It isour motivation to do so withoutimposing our message or restrain-ing the agency of others.

The eleventh Article of Faith isa declaration of love and respectas “We claim the privilege ofworshiping Almighty Godaccording to the dictates of ourown conscience, and allow allmen the same privilege, let themworship how, where, or whatthey may.” It is not differentfrom the various internationaldeclarations trying to cope withthe mortal challenge for an indi-vidual to decide for himself orherself without the interventionof the state or a church or a courtto join, belong, or leave a religionor a church. The Universal

Declaration of 1948 states,“Everyone has the right to free-dom of thought, conscience, andreligion; this right includes theright to change his religion orbelief.” It has been repeated inevery possible assembly of gov-ernment and church leaders as itwas recently in Rome in theInternational Symposium onHuman Rights in Islam. In hismessage to the symposium, KofiAnnan, Secretary General of theUnited Nations, stated, “Humanrights are the expression of thosetraditions of tolerance in all cul-tures that are the basis of peaceand progress. Human rights,properly understood and justlyinterpreted, are foreign to no cul-ture and native to all nations.”He then went on to refer toImam Ali, the fourth Khalifaafter Prophet Muhammed, who“instructed the governor ofEgypt to rule with mercy and tol-erance toward all his subjects, for‘your subjects . . . are your broth-ers in religion or your equals inthe creation.’”

Apparently, everyone agreestoday, too often in words only,that religious freedom and theexercise of human rights can orshould be applied equally to allpolitical regimes, cultures,nations, and particularly reli-gions. The Vienna Declarationand Programme of Action of1993 states:

All human rights are univer-sal, indivisible, interdepend-ent, and interrelated. Theinternational community musttreat human rights globally ina fair and equal manner, onthe same footing, and with thesame emphasis. While the sig-nificance of national andregional peculiarities and vari-ous historical, cultural andreligious backgrounds must beborne in mind, it is the duty ofStates, regardless of their polit-ical, economic and culturalsystems, to promote and pro-tect all human rights.

The oneand onlytruth canexist with-out exclud-ing or con-demning theunbelieversand others.

9BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

There is still a major differencebetween the word of the law andits intentions and the reality ofthe world and its traditions. Wecan help by building bridges ofcommunication, friendship, andpeace instead of elevating wallsof incomprehension, hate, andwar. It is not only our duty butalso our responsibility to claimour religious uniqueness.

What is the conclusion of thisvery short examination of reli-gious plurality and religiousuniqueness, that unique para-dox? We must look and listen asJoseph Smith did when heprayed to know which of all thesects was right, that he mightknow which to join. The visionwas of the Father and the Son,the message was the greatestmessage ever given again tomankind: “This is My BelovedSon. Hear Him (JSH 1: 17).” Itwas the message of love: “ForGod so loved the world, that hegave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoever believeth in himshould not perish, but have ever-lasting life” (John 3: 16).

Jesus Christ is the Son of Godsent to bring to pass the immor-tality and eternal life of man. Heis the central part of the plan ofsalvation, and the ordinances ofsalvation are found in HisChurch, The Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. Thismessage is unique and is an invi-tation for the honest and sincereto find out for himself or herselfas Moroni the prophet concludedhis exhortation:

. . . remember how mercifulthe Lord hath been unto thechildren of men, from the cre-ation of Adam even downuntil the time that ye shallreceive these things, and pon-der it in your hearts. Andwhen ye shall receive thesethings, I would exhort youthat ye would ask God, theEternal Father, in the name ofChrist, if these things are nottrue; and if ye shall ask with a

sincere heart, with real intent,having faith in Christ, he willmanifest the truth of it untoyou, by the power of the HolyGhost. And by the power ofthe Holy Ghost ye may knowthe truth of all things (Moroni10: 3–5).

The invitation is not coercive.It is given with respect for oth-ers’ beliefs; it is given in the spir-it of love and recognition that wemay be different in our religiousthoughts but we are essentiallythe same—all are spirit childrenof our Heavenly Father. Ourquest for happi-ness and peace isalso the same, andeternal life is aresult of agencyand choice.

May the Lordhelp us to remem-ber our religiousuniqueness amongthe religious plu-ralism of our days,but may we alsothat we do it theLord’s way andnot the world’sway, as He com-manded us to loveour neighbor asourselves.

In the name of Jesus Christ,amen.

This talk was given at the ThirteenthAnnual International SocietyConference fireside 18 August 2002.

We can helpby buildingbridges of com-munication,friendship, andpeace insteadof elevatingwalls of incom-prehension,hate, and war.

10

by Dinesh D’Souza, Robert and Karen Rishwain Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

What I’d like to talk about is the special role of America in theworld today, and the enormous controversy which surroundsthe position of America as the world’s only super power. We

are one year into the war against terrorism, and we have made some mil-itary progress, it seems, in this war. And yet, I want to suggest that wehave not made very much intellectual progress in understanding thenature of this conflict, the nature of the enemy—what this fight is allabout. You remember that right after the terrorist attack President Bushannounced, “This is not a war against Islam.” Islam, he assured us, is areligion of peace. The Islamic concept of Jihad, we were told, does notrecord the holy war, but is a kind of moral campaign to cleanse one’sinner soul. Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Britain, said, “I don’t like theterm Islamic terrorist, because the vast majority of Muslims are not ter-rorists.” Now, I would suggest to you that all of these statements that setout the intellectual background of our understanding of this war areeither dubious or manifestly untrue.

For example, it is certainly true that the vast majority of Muslimsare not terrorists, but isn’t it also true that the vast majority of terroristsare Muslims. The Islamic concept of Jihad is a fairly elastic concept. Ifyou read the Qur’an and the Islamic commentaries, you can read aboutmany different types of Jihad—the Jihad of the pen, the Jihad of thetongue—but right in the middle, right up there, you’ll read about theJihad of the sword. And historically the Islamic empire, like most otherempires, established itself by force. I think we need to step back for amoment and reconsider the true sources of this controversy, and oneway to look at that is to ask this question, “What is it about America’srole in the world that is simultaneously the source of great magneticattraction to many people and yet at the same time is a source of intensehatred and repulsion on the part of others.” I mean, think about it,America has this dual status in the world. Immigrants are drawn toAmerica and come here from many different countries. You can go intoa hotel in Barbados or Bombay and you’ll find the bell hop is whistlingthe theme song from Titanic.

There’s this fascination with the idea of America that has to beexplained. But on the other hand, you have a certain intense criticism ofAmerica. Some of it comes from European intellectuals, some of it comesfrom Islamic radicals. Interestingly, some of it comes from people inAmerica. How often do you turn on the television and see some profes-sor of romance languages at Oberland College denouncing the UnitedStates’ foreign policy: our foreign policy is the cause of all these prob-lems; we have been a wreck in these countries for centuries; no wonderthey are lashing out at us.

What’s So Great AboutAmerica?

11BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

This is what I want to look at, and I want to begin, perhaps,by looking at the three main schools of anti-Americanismabroad. The first is the European School. You hear it mostintensely from the French. I know what the French are saying,they’re saying “We don’t like the threat of America because thethread of American ideas is making the whole planet look alike.We’re going to be planet America.” What’s going to happen tothe French language, the French restaurant, and the Frenchintellectual? All of these wonderful things are being overrun bythe ugly golden arches of McDonald’s. The French are theEuropean critics in the name of homogeneity.

Then you have the Asian critique. You hear them inMalaysia and Singapore and China—Asian critics like LeeKuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore. What they sayis, “Look, America and the West are very prosperous, but theyare also socially and morally decadent.” In other words,America and the West knows how to create wealth and knowshow to create technology but doesn’t know how to create socialdecency. And if you look at America, you will find high crimerates, high divorce rates, a popular culture that is often trivial,if not disgusting. The Asian critics say, “We think we can dobetter; we think we can combine prosperity on the one handwith social order and social decency on the other hand.” Thatis the Asian view.

Then you have the Islamic critique of America. The Islamiccritique of America is, in a way, the most timely, and I think, insome ways, intellectually the most challenging, because it is themost fundamental. It strikes at the root of what America is allabout. The Islamic critics are saying two things. First, they’re say-ing, “Look, everybody else in the world is trying to selectivelyimport Western civilization. Everybody else in the world wantssome aspect of the West, but not the rest. For example, lets lookat the Chinese. They want Western capitalism, but they don’twant Western democracy. The Islamic view is, “Listen, you can’tdo that. The idea that you can selectively import America andthe West is an illusion. If you import the West, then you importwhat America has to offer; you get the whole package. And ifyou get the whole package, hey, it is going to have a disastrouseffect. It’s going to undermine faith in Allah; it will transformpolitical and religious structures; it will create a moral revolutionthat will leave the whole Islamic world unrecognizable fromwhat it has been since the days of the prophet Mohammed.” TheIslamic critics fear this, and I will suggest this morning, that theyare completely right. There is something that is subversive aboutthe idea of America and the West.

And what I want to do is to try to say what that is. I wantto begin by saying a few words about Western civilization, and

then I want to say a few words about America. We live in aworld that is decisively shaped by Western civilization. This isa little bit of a puzzle. You know, if you enrolled in the typicalAmerican school or college, you hear about the sin ofEurocentrism. I don’t know if you’ve heard the word“Eurocentrism.” What it basically means is putting Europe orthe West, in the center. The only problem with this is that welive in a world where Europe and the West are at the center anddoes define and shape our universe.

Now what do I mean by this? Well, if you came to mynative country of India and you walked around you’d see anamazing sight. You’d see millions of Indian men are going towork everyday in suits and sweating profusely. Why? Becausethe suit is, if I may say so, most ill-suited for the Indian climate.If you were to go into any of the Indian parliamentary build-ings, you would see British-style parliamentary debates. And ifyou went to the Indian law courts, you would see dark-skinnedfellows in white wigs issuing verdicts. You might say, “Wellyeah, that’s the legacy of Colonialism.” Well yeah, but theBritish left India in 1947! The Indians could have easily said,“Well you know, the British are gone, let’s take off these hotsuits, or let’s stop speaking English, or let’s go back to tradi-tional Indian ways of resolving disputes,” but, my point is, theIndians didn’t do that. Apparently, voluntarily, they decided tocontinue, if you will, in the Western way.

That’s my question: How did Western civilization becomethe dominant civilization in the world? Now, historically it wasnot so. If you go back in history, let’s say to the year 1500, notso long ago, the two most dominant civilizations in the worldwere the civilization of China and the civilization of the Arab-Islamic world. These were the most advanced in learning, inknowledge, in exploration, in wealth, and literature. By almostany measure of civilizational achievement, these cultures wereon top and Western civilization, then called “Christendom,”was the relative backwater. How did this backwater civilizationaccumulate so much economic and political and military andcultural influence that by the nineteenth century it was shap-ing—and having conquered—virtually the entire world? Howdid this happen?

One explanation, a very popular explanation that’staught in American schools and colleges, is that Western civ-ilization became affluent and became successful essentiallythrough oppression. Western civilization is defined by theseunique crimes of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism.Basically, the idea here is that the West only got rich becauseit was able to conquer and beat up all the other fellows andtake all their stuff.

How did Western civilization become the dominant civilization in the world?

This argument has become very timely today because it isa domestic, moral engine driving the so-called reparationsdebate. Jesse Jackson came back from the World Conference onRacism, and said, “Listen, I’m not going to focus on affirmativeaction. I want reparations—financial reparations forColonialism for the Third World, financial reparations for slav-ery to be paid by whites to nonwhites in America.” And thenabroad you hear the same argument, the same notion thatattributes Western success to oppression when used to ration-alize terrorism. The West has been oppressing these culturesfor centuries; it should not be surprising when they try to lashout in a kind of belated retaliation against Western oppression.My question is, “Is this argument in fact true?” Did the Westbecome rich in this way? If you look at history you see thatthere is nothing particularly Western about slavery orColonialism. Both are, in fact, universal institutions.

Consider Colonialism. The British ruled India for a coupleof hundred years, but long before the British came to India,India was invaded and occupied by the Afghans and thePersians and the Mongols and the Moguls and the Turks andthe Arabs. I’m not a math major, but by my count the Britishwere something like the eighth colonial power to invade India.There’s nothing Western about Colonialism, and, interestingly,there’s nothing Western about slavery. Slavery too has existedin every known culture. The Chinese had it; the Indians did;the Greeks and Romans had slavery. Slavery was common allover Africa. American Indians had slaves long beforeColumbus arrived on the continent. What I am saying is thatthere is nothing distinctively Western about slavery.

In fact, what is distinctively Western is the movement toget rid of slavery. Emancipation, abolition—this is the Westernidea. Never in world history, outside the West, has there beenan anti-slavery movement ever. Now, don’t get me wrong, inevery slave culture, the slaves don’t want to be slaves. You’vegot runaways and slave revolts in every known slave society.But what I’m saying is that never in world history has a groupof people eligible, not to be slaves, but slave owners mobilizedagainst slavery. Think of what Abraham Lincoln said. He oncesaid, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”Lincoln doesn’t want to be a slave, we understand that.Interestingly, he doesn’t want to be a master either, and he’swilling to expend a lot of treasure and, ultimately, blood to getrid of slavery. All of this gives a bit of new light to the so-called“reparations debate.” My own view of reparations was ratherneatly stated by, of all people, Mohammed Ali. You will recallthat in the 1970s Mohammed Ali fought for the heavyweighttitle against George Foreman. The fight was in the Africannation of Zaire—somewhat insensibly called “The rumble inthe jungle.” Anyway, Ali won the fight and emerged victoriousand returned to America. As he got off the plane, a journalistshouted at him. “Champ, what did you think of Africa?” Ali

said, “Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat.” Thinkabout it. This is Ali being Ali, but I want to suggest that behindthe script Ali is making a quite interesting and provocativeclaim. He is saying, “Look, these institutions of slavery andColonialism were oppressive for the people who lived underthem, true. But by a strange paradox of history, they have lefttheir descendants better off.”

In other words, what he is saying is that my grandfatherliving in India might have been worse off under BritishColonialism, but isn’t it true that I, Dinesh, am better off. Isn’tit true that India is in many ways better off. Think about it,India today is a democracy. The educated middle class speaksEnglish. India, like China, is making enormous contributionsto Western technology. Look at the presence of Indians inSilicon Valley. An Indian entrepreneur was just quoted as say-ing that the computer revolution in India will realize Gandhi'sdream of wiping a tear off of every Indian’s face, which showsthe degree to which India is looking to technology—andAmerican technology—for its economic redemption. The samecould be said of slavery. Obviously the slaves were muchworse off as the result of slavery, but is Jesse Jackson worse off?Here’s a guy who flies around in a private jet, his boy’s son isa congressman, isn’t it true that he is a hundred times better off,and, by the way, not just materially. I’m also talking in terms offreedom—being able to speak his mind, being able to vote. Justlook at any comparable group of Africans on the continent ofAfrica. Okay, I said a few words about the West, and now Iwant to say a few words about America and then open thefloor for some discussion.

The question I want to ask about America is “Why isAmerica simultaneously so attractive and so repulsive?” Whydo some people love it and other people hate it? To answer thisquestion, I began by reading some of the immigrant literatureon America—being myself an immigrant to this country. Theimmigrant literature on America says that immigrants come toAmerica for one basic reason: to make money, to get rich. Thisargument, by the way, is very popular with the critics ofAmerica, because it attributes the appeal of America to greed.I want to suggest that this is a partial and a narrow and per-haps even a wrong view of what is truly significant andappealing about America. Now there is a small grain or mole-cule of truth in this claim.

What is the molecule of truth? Well, the molecule of truthis this, that more than any other country, including, by the way,all of Europe, America provides a remarkably good life to theordinary guy. What I mean is that the rich guy lives well any-where in the world. Think about it, if you’re a rich guy, you’regoing to thrive anywhere. In fact, let me suggest that if you area really rich guy, you might be better off to live outside ofAmerica. You know why? Because you can buy some stuffabroad with money that you can’t buy in the United States.

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13BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

What is that? One such thing is the pleasure of being a superi-or human being; the pleasure of aristocracy. What do I mean bythat? Well, consider the example of Bill Gates. If Bill Gates wereto walk the streets of America and stop people at random andsay, “Hey listen, I’ll give you a hundred dollars if you kiss bothmy feet.” What do you think the typical American responsewould be? The typical American response even from the elec-trician is going to be, “Bill take a hike, you know you mighthave more money than me, but you’re not better than me.”

In other words, money buys you a lot of stuff, but itdoesn’t, in America, buy you the right to be better than anyoneelse. The social egalitarianism in America limits the prerogativeof wealth. But be that as it may, the point I’m making is, theaffluent person lives well anywhere. America is distinguishedby the quality of life it provides to the common man. We live ina country where the construction worker will walk into a coffeeshop and spend four dollars for a non-caf latte. We live in acountry where the maid drives a car, and a pretty nice one. Afriend of mine has been trying to come to America for severalyears—the poor fellow cannot get a visa—and I finally said tohim, “Why are you so eager to come to America?” He said,“Because I am determined to move to a country where the poorpeople are fat.” Yes, it is true that America does, materially,offer a lot. But what I want to suggest is that is not the wholestory. That is not even the main story.

Not long ago I asked myself a very simple question. “Howwould my own life have been different if I never came toAmerica—if I’d stayed in India?” I grew up in a middle-classfamily. My father was a chemical engineer, my mom was ahousewife; I didn’t have great lux-uries, but I didn’t lack any necessi-ties either. And while my life isbetter materially, in America, it’snot a radical difference. In fact, mylife has changed a lot more inother ways. If I’d stayed in India, Iwould probably have spent my entire life within a one-mileradius of where I was born. I would have married a girl of myidentical social and religious cast and ethnic background. Iwould today, without a doubt, be a doctor like my grandfatheror an engineer like my dad, or maybe a computer programmer.And I would have a whole set of opinions and views on religionand politics in society that could be easily predicted in advance.What am I saying? What I’m saying is that my destiny would toa large degree have been given to me. Not that I would have nochoice, but the choices would be within defined parameters.

By contrast, to the degree that probably most of us take forgranted, in America, by and large, you get to write the script ofyour own life. In America, your life is like a blank sheet of paper,and you are the artist. In America, your destiny isn’t given toyou, it’s constructed by you. This it seems to me, the idea of

being the architect of your own destiny, this is the hugely impor-tant idea behind the appeal of America. And it is especiallyappealing to the young—anywhere in the world. If you corral ayoung person in Riyadh or Barbados or Baltic or anywhere, andyou say, “Listen, you have two choices, somebody else can tellyou how to live your life, or you can decide yourself. Is therereally any doubt how virtually every young person wouldchoose? This, in a nutshell, is to me the appeal of America.

I want to go on and say a word about what makes Americaso controversial and—for some people—so hated. Part of the dis-pute focuses on foreign policies. And many people abroad, cer-tainly in Europe, some in the Arab world, some in America say,“America may be a good country, but American foreign policy isdespicable. Because American foreign policy is basically basedon hypocrisy. Essentially, America talks about one thing anddoes another. America talks about democracy and human rights,but she has supported and continues to support dictatorshipsand unelected regimes all over the world. In the 1970s and 80swe supported Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, the Shahof Iran, and Marcos in the Philippines. Who are we supportingnow? Musharraf in Pakistan, the royal family in Saudi Arabia,and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The argument is, “America can’tbe believed; America is hypocritical and duplicitous in its foreignpolicy; no wonder the rest of us are upset.”

Is there any merit to these criticisms? In my view, thesecriticisms are fundamentally misguided because they missthe central defining element of American foreign policy—adefining element that if you think about it is a deeply moralelement—and it is the following: American foreign policy is

based on the principle of the lesser evil. The principle of thelesser evil simply states that in the real world, which is not aphilosophy seminar, we are often not choosing between thegood guy and the bad guy but between the bad guy and thereally bad guy. And the principle of the lesser evil says that itis sometimes, in fact, frequently permissible to ally with thebad guy to get rid of the worse guy. The classic example ofthis was in World War II, where we allied with a really badguy, Stalin, to fight somebody who posed a greater threat atthe time, Hitler.

And if this was morally defensible, as I believe it was,then I want to suggest that many of America’s alliances withsurrogate dictatorships, and they were that, were fully justifi-able because they were part of a great alliance against an evilempire—the Cold War.

American foreign policy is based on the principleof the lesser evil.

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By the way, we won the Cold War, and the world is muchbetter off, much freer as a result. And you might say, “The ColdWar is over.” Why are we supporting right now unelectedregimes in the Muslim world? And my answer to you, onceagain applying the principle of the lesser evil is, yes, I agreethat Musharraf is a dictator. Yes, I agree that the election that herecently held was a sham. But my question is, “What is thepractical alternative?” What is the alternative to Musharraf? Isit Al Gore and Joe Lieberman? Well, if it were then we shouldsupport them. But what if the alternative to Musharraf is theBin Laden guys? Then I would suggest that the principle of thelesser evil dictates that we should in good conscience supportthe lesser evil against the greater evil.

The classic example, by the way, of the failure of a purelymoralistic foreign policy was given in the 1970s. Rememberwhen Jimmy Carter became president, he said, “I’m con-cerned about human rights, and, by the way, I noticed that weare supporting the Shah of Iran. How can I, in good con-science, talk about human rights when we are supporting aman who undermines human rights? I can’t. Therefore Ishould work to get rid of the Shah.” And that’s what we did;we got rid of the Shah. And what did we get? Khomeni. Wegot the guy who lit the match that has set off the Islamic con-flagration in the twenty-two countries of the Muslim world.Without Khomeni, I doubt that we would have had BinLaden. Were human rights better off as a result of what JimmyCarter did? In my view, clearly and emphatically no. That wasa disastrous failure of U.S. foreign policy.

Alright, I said a word about foreign policy, and now I wantto say a final word about virtue, because it seems to me that atthe deepest level of the Islamic critique of America, one thatmany American conservatives can sympathize with, is theargument that America may be materially prosperous, but it ismorally rotten. America may be an economically successfulsociety, but, in terms of values, it is unsuccessful. And the mostintelligent Islamic critics of America cannot be rebutted bymany of the things that we hear President Bush and other peo-ple saying. If you read all the articles about America recently,you know we have the 4th of July and so on, “America is pros-perous; America is free. America extends rights to women;America is pluralistic.” The most intelligent of the Islamic crit-ics would reply, “Well, yeah, of course America is all thesethings, but frankly who cares. Those things are not the mostimportant things to be. American society is based on freedom,but Islamic society is based on virtue.” They will say, “Freedomis a flawed idea, because freedom is frequently used badly.”Look around you in American culture. Isn’t it true that lots ofpeople misuse and abuse their freedom? They will say, “Herein the Islamic world, we might be poor, but we are trying toimplement the will of God. We might be failing, but at leastwe’re trying, and that makes us morally superior to you.”

I want to leave you with this question. “How does onebegin to answer this kind of lofty argument?” I want to leaveyou with my own way of answering it. I think that the Islamicpremise that virtue is an important goal of society is absolutelytrue. I further agree with the Islamic radicals that virtue is atsome level a higher principle than liberty. However, I want tosuggest that what the Islamic critics are missing, or ignoring, isthat liberty is the essential prerequisite for virtue. To put it some-what differently, without liberty there is no virtue.

Imagine the case of a woman in Afghanistan or Iran who islegally required to wear a veil, a hijab. In my opinion, thiswoman is not modest. Why? Because she is being compelled;she is being forced. Only when you choose freely can you choosewhat is good. This is the real moral argument for the free society,which is not just that we are more free, even though we are, ormore prosperous, even though we are, or more pluralistic, eventhough we are, or we treat women better, even though we do.The real moral argument for the free society is that the free soci-ety is ultimately the only society that makes provisions forvirtue, because a coerced virtue is not a virtue at all. It wasEdmond Burke, a long time ago, who said, “To love our coun-try, our country should be lovely.” And what he is saying is thata true patriot, the highest form of patriotism, is not based on theidiot assertion “my country right or wrong.” And the highestform of patriotism is not even based on loving your country justbecause it is yours. The highest patriotism in Burke’s view isbased on loving your country because it is good.

Fundamentally, that is the interesting and important ques-tion facing us today—especially a relevant question in the uni-versity context, which is can we give rational and intelligentassent to the idea of America? Can we love our country accord-ing to this high standard, and the argument that I’ve been try-ing to hint at in my talk, and that I develop further in my book,is that at the end of the day we can. Enough of the Americanidea is an unflawed idea. It is in some ways a flawed idea. Butapplying a comparative or historical standard, the Americanexperiment on balance, has worked better than any otherexperiment in the world. There have been many revolutions bythe way, the Russian revolution, the French revolution, onlyone—the American revolution—has in a sense succeeded. Onlyone has produced a society that is today, in many ways, thehope for the world.

I want to leave you with the thought that this rationalpatriotism, this Burkian standard, can be met, and we can, atthe end of the day, love our country, not just because it makespossible the good life, but also because it makes possible thelife that is good.

This lecture, given at the Kennedy Center 19 September 2002, and the question and answer session that followed, are online athttp//:kennedy.byu.edu/events.

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he BYU performinggroups have touched the

lives of millions across theworld beginning in the early1960s. “It makes a lot offriends for the school andthe Church,” said EdwardBlaser, BYU Performing ArtsManagement director. “Itbreaks down barriers.” Since1971, the groups havetoured one hundred coun-tries and performed overthirty-five hundred times,making a lasting impressionon nations worldwide.

For example, BYU is saidto be the best-knownAmerican university inChina. “Americans who goto China will hear aboutBYU and wonder, ‘WhyBYU? Why not Harvard orMIT?’” said Blaser. Since1979, China Central

by Elisabeth Liljenquist

Television has taped everyBYU performance in twenty-one tours to China. “Theyput them on the air manyholidays of the year, so mil-lions of Chinese see them,”he explained.

Performances aredesigned to appealto familiesand promote

good values. Because of9/11, Randy Boothe, YoungAmbassadors director, sayshis group is “committed tobuilding bridges of under-standing. We take great careto ensure that our studentsare prepared to representthe university, theChurch, and our

nation.” Prior toleaving, each

group takes a culture classon the countries they willtour and even learn lan-guage basics. While touring,the groups reach out to themargins of society and “takeperformances to places

where the people wouldnot normally be able

to see them—hospitals,orphanages, resthomes,schools,”

continued on page 16

T

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according to Boothe. Thetours also provide a uniqueoutlet for students to sharetheir talents. “It’s one thingto perform here on campusfor this audience, but it’squite another to try to pleasean audience in Stuttgart,”said Blaser.

After 9/11, however, thegroups were kept close tohome.“We decided, ‘Let’sreroute, let’s be cautious,’”said Blaser. Subsequently,BYU cancelled all interna-tional tours until 2003,rerouting to North America.BYU now takes extra pre-cautions with student safety.“We keep a sharp eye onState Department bulletins,and we work closely withChurch security,” saidBlaser. BYU also added aterrorist activity section toits tour handbook.

Although prohibitedfrom traveling far in 2002,

the groups still reached aworldwide audience in theWinter Olympic Games,which aired to an estimat-ed 3.5 billion people. “Welooked at it as the peoplesof the world coming to usinstead,”said Blaser. “Wedid over 150 performancesin two and a half weeks.”Fifteen groups participatedin the Olympics—severalin the opening ceremoniesand at the medals plaza.The International FolkDance Ensemble, LivingLegends, Young Ambas-sadors, and Dancers’Company all participatedin the Church’s production,Light of the World.

Getting its groups in theOlympics took convincingfrom BYU. “The choreogra-phers and the productionpeople weren’t too familiarwith BYU,” explained Blaser.“We kept inviting themdown to see the groups, andwe finally sold them.”As

early as November2001, the groups beganrehearsing every week-end, then three to fournights a week as thegames approached.Blaser noted thechallenge of provid-ing transportation forthe students, “whenevery other bus in thestate was reserved.”

This year, BYU per-forming groups wereback on their spring inter-national schedule—withtours planned in sixteencountries including France,Spain, the Ukraine, SouthAfrica, and Australia—until27 March, when BYUadministrators and theBoard of Trustees made thedecision to cancel the per-

forminggroups’interna-

tional toursdue to glob-al unrest

and prevail-ing anti-American sen-timent. “It’sheartwrenchingbecause

we’ve spentso many hours preparingthe shows and gettingeverything ready by attend-ing culture classes, learningthe language, and writingand translating scripts,” saidBoothe. He noted thatalthough he and the stu-dents are disappointed, heunderstands the concern.

For BYU Performing ArtsManagement, the cancella-tion means a lot of lost workin planning and the addedburden to inform hotels, air-

17BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

lines,and dig-nitariesof thechange.“While thedecision isdisap-pointing,we also understand it wasmade as a cautious and pru-dent step in light of currentworld conflicts,” said Blaser.“As we notified our presen-ters in all sixteen countries,they readily understood thedecision and are hopeful wewill return another timesoon.” With insufficient timeto plan stateside tours forspring, Performing ArtsManagement is working toschedule performances inUtah County.

Former Young AmbassadorsEast Russia and Japan Tour—May 2001

Jason CelayaThe first thing we did was go to an orphanage in far East Russia.There’s a high rate of children without parents there—a highrate. There were a lot of kids and they were a little nervous andstandoffish. They didn’t know if they should approach us, andthey knew we couldn’t communicate with them. Our directorsaid, “Let’s perform for them first.” So we went into a room andperformed for them. We saw their faces start to light up, andmaybe they only recognized a few of the songs, but after thatthey were jumping on us, hugging us to the point where an hourlater when we were leaving, a lot of the kids were crying andsaying “I love you” in their broken English. It was a great way tostart out the tour.

Wyatt DarlingIn Japan, we visited a school for the mentally retarded and physi-cally challenged. We performed for them like we would for anyschool—of course their level of participation was different, but itwas so amazing to see the way the Japanese people treated theirmentally ill or their physically challenged. They were treated verywell, and they received all of the training and resources that theyshould have. When we go to a school where there are little kids, orthe physically challenged, the administrators and the faculty noticeand feel the Spirit so strongly, because they know that this is aservice and that we didn’t have to come and perform for thesepeople who don’t really know, necessarily, what the show is about.I noticed that the faculty and the administration really took toheart what was going on.

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Omar Kader, president and CEO of Pal-Tech, Inc.,launched his Washington, D.C.-based companyin 1987 to “provide high quality services that

exceed customer expectations.” Pal-Tech is a manage-ment consulting firm that focuses on training, techni-cal assistance, and management.

Kader, who was born in Provo, Utah, to Palestinianimmigrants, received his undergraduate education atBYU, earning a double major in political science andinternational relations. He followed that with an MAin political science and PhD in international relationsfrom the University of Southern California, where hewrote his dissertation on foreign policy and interna-tional terrorism. Kader then joined BYU’s faculty andserved as assistant dean in the College of SocialSciences, where he taught political science and interna-tional relations.

He left the university in August 1983 for a year-long sabbatical in Washington, D.C., where he servedas the executive director of the United PalestinianAppeal, a Palestinian charity, and later as executivedirector of the Arab-American Anti-DiscriminationCommittee (ADC), a civil rights group. “I had oneyear. I wanted to get out and get some experienceand come back. I went out to run a charity that wasbuilding schools and educational and health facilitiesin the West Bank, in Palestine,” Kader explained.“After a year I called BYU and said, ‘I think I want tostay longer.’ The dean and I both agreed that maybethis is what I really wanted in life.” That was thebeginning of his connections both in the Middle Eastand in Washington.

“I stayed with the charity until 1985 and with thecivil rights organization for a year. Then I looked atmy travels in the Middle East, and the developmentopportunities,” said Kader. In the beginning, Kaderconcentrated on commercial work with event manage-ment. He had projects overseas assisting with tradeand information exchange conferences. What he reallywanted to do was break into the government mar-ket. “It took me a couple of years to break into gov-ernment contracting. Most people don’t know thatthe U.S. government market is the single-best market in the world—two trillion dollars a yearin one sitting,” Kader stated.

Omar Kader—Contracting for the Futureby J. Lee Simons

19BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

Pal-Tech has contractswith the Department ofHealth and Human Services,the Department of Labor,the Department of State'sForeign Service Institute, theoffice of PersonnelManagement, and theUnited States Agency forInternational Development(USAID). Today, they haveapproximately 150 employ-ees located in the UnitedStates and abroad and anannual revenue of $19 mil-lion. “The government con-tracts out almost everythingin the defense industry, andall the foreign aid is con-tracted out or workedthrough nongovernmentalorganizations. There arethousands and thousands ofcontractors here in town get-ting big shares: computers,training,—you name it, theU.S. government buys it,”marveled Kader. “There area lot of competitive bids,and it’s a pretty open mar-ket, so I decided I would getinto the Middle East sector.”His previous work there hadconnected him with peoplein the IT area, health careand nutrition, population,and policy.

“I also got involved inthe democratic process inother nations. We work withcountries setting up theircourt systems, election sys-tems, their civil society andelectoral systems, or parlia-mentary systems. There’s alot of reform work that’sgoing on, so we’ve set up acouple of court systems withthe Palestinians, and we’vedone a little

bit of that in Egypt, andsome in Jordan,” Kaderreported. To that end, he hasbecome an internationalelection monitor. “Any timethey’re having an election inthe Middle East—and theUnited States is going tomonitor any of those elec-tions—I’ve had the privilegeof being on the team. I wason the Carter team in 1996,when we monitored thePalestinian elections. Therewere forty others on thatteam, and President Cartercame with us on that one,”he said.

Election monitors ensurethat the procedures arebased on international stan-dards. Monitors read thepolicies, procedures, laws,codes, etc. to make sure theyare in compliance and assistwith implementing thosestandards. Kader said,“Then you evaluate thembased on their performance,and at the end of the elec-tion, they receive a stampthat says, ‘This was an openand fair election,’ or it wasn’t.” He has served as an official international elec-tion monitor and observer ofelections in Morocco, Yemen,and Palestine.

While traveling in theMiddle East, Kader keptrunning into American con-sultants who weredoing what hedeemed the“exciting”work:

water development, educa-tion reform, private sectordevelopment, import andexport, and governmentreform. “I thought, ‘That’sthe kind of rewarding workyou want to get involvedin.’ So I came back and start-ed working toward thatgoal,” resolved Kader. “Myfirst project was with water,where they were trying toset up water-sharing re-gimes and protocolsthroughout the Middle East.The second one was tryingto get the private sector upto standards for internation-al trade. You can’t justexport and import; you’vegot to have standards. Forexample, there’s a lot offood produced in theMiddle East—say, tomatoes.They don’t know how tocan them properly and labelthe cans for export. TheEuropean market is wideopen for fruits and vegeta-bles for export. But unlessthey are produced in a can-nery, that is, unless theymeet the international stan-dards for hygiene, you can’texport them.”

Kader has discovered avery large niche to capturefor development. “TheUnited States is trying topromote that kind of tradebecause these countries buy

the technology fromus, and they

buy theexpert-

ise

from us. They want to selltheir products, but, in orderto sell their products, theyhave to buy the expertisefrom somebody else to go tomarket,” Kader said. “Ithought this would be agreat way to help privatesectors develop their mar-kets. And it works—we’redoing that in Egypt in avery large project, right now.We’re doing pilot programsin the schools, K–12, and inuniversities, for computer-ized tech learning online—distance learning. And theother program is to getEgypt into the World TradeOrganization (WTO) byupgrading their standards.”

Pal-Tech, with sevenoffices in the United Statesand two in the Middle East,now specializes in trainingservices, technical assis-tance, interactive technologysolutions, and outreach andstakeholder involvement,while holding to their corevalues: commitment to cus-tomer service, customer sat-isfaction, and ethical behav-ior. Since 1997, they haveexperienced a 24 percentannual growth rate—90 per-cent of that growth is due torepeat business.

“The U.S. governmenthas country-by-country proj-ects, and they may give youglobal projects. They’ll say,‘We want you to do thiskind of work anywhere weneed it,’ and then we waitfor it to come up,” Kaderrelated. “In the last year,we’ve been to thirty–fortycountries worldwide wherewe do a lot of interactivemultimedia upgrading andtraining. We’ll be going intoLatin America, Africa, theMiddle East, Asia, and—Ijust got back from theMiddle East and Georgia. I’llbe going back out to

continued on page 20

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ming—has nothing to dowith multimedia and dis-tance learning.”

Pal-Tech’s contract withthe Department of Healthand Human Services is towork in the Head StartProgram—the inner-city pro-gram for disadvantaged chil-dren. “We have a dozensocial workers on staff as thenational support service con-tractor for the Head StartBureau. We make sure thatwe have all the core compe-tencies that are required fortheir teachers, and we pro-duce the materials—newslet-ters, conferences, etc. We dotwo hundred conferences ayear for them—nationwide.We have a ton of materialthat we’re producing backand forth on how to com-plete the grants, we reviewthe grants, and we fund their2,200 bureaus nationwide,”stated Kader. “The reason Ilike this project is that it’slike international work,because you’re dealing withthe disadvantaged poorwithin this country. It’s likegoing to a Third World coun-try.” That should be a hint toothers looking out there thatwe have plenty to accom-plish right here in the U.S.

Pal-Tech also works withUSAID in three areas. “Wedo 1) IT, 2) health, popula-tion, and nutrition work—that’s one bundle, we call itglobal health, and 3) democ-racy and governance,”Kader said. “When the IMMwork goes around—tradeand training, everything’sonline. We have the interna-tional trade database, andwe work directly with theWTO out of Geneva. Thenwe go to the countries thatneed training and showthem how to find buyersand sellers for every productin the world. And there areover five thousand com-

Armenia soon—we do workall over.”

Kader said the origins ofgovernment contracting goback as far as the graves atGettysburg, which were putout to bid; the contractorwho won the bid to burythe bodies botched it. Hedidn’t bury them deepenough, and when thespring thaw came, all thebodies raised, and they hadto re-issue the contract.

Pal-Tech’s 150 employeeswork to implement theirfive core competenciesacross the globe, and theirprojects are not all centeredin the Middle East. “At theState Department, we’re aprime contractor at theForeign Service Institute,where all the diplomatsworldwide come back fortraining. We develop train-ing materials and distancelearning for all theembassies worldwide,”Kader said. “That could besafety work; it could be lan-guage learning; it could beorientation for dependents ifthey get deployed. We’redeveloping multimediamaterial there, for training,and it’s essentially distancelearning. The second areawith them is that we areprogramming an entirelynew registration system—admissions, registration,registrar’s office—every-thing that a college woulddo, except that we’re build-ing it around the StateDepartment’s ForeignService Institute. In the newsystem, everyone in theForeign Service is trackedjust like an undergraduateor graduate student—theircredits, their training mate-rials, all the classes they’vetaken in the past—and wejust monitor them over theircareer. The programming—pure, hard IT program-

difference in people’s lives,in small ways. You don’tneed really big ways. Youdon’t need billions of dol-lars. People only needopportunity; they just needa chance. And that is the bigsurprise in my experience,”Kader reflected. “I couldgive you two examples. Thefirst one is international—what you could do to peo-ple’s lives internationally, toturn them around and makethem competitive, give themopportunity, get their livesgoing—it’s just stunninghow little it takes to helppeople to make their livesbetter. It’s very refreshinghow that happens. The sec-ond surprise is the peopleinside the company—I found that very few peoplein industry recruit womenor minorities. And if youcould get a mix of everykind of American: white,black, Hispanic, Asian,—everything you couldget—you would have themost competitive workforcein the world. Nobodyrecruits women; they recruitmen. White males can’tmanage a diverse workforceunless they know how to

deal with them.White males

coming outof MBA

programs

modities worldwide, everyitem—right down to mulesand horses—listed in six-digit numbers—who buysthem and who sells them.”Kader spends much of histime training to get the traderegimes of various countriesin compliance with interna-tional standards so they canbe competitive.

The work to reform with-in other governments maybe the most fulfilling forKader. “The rule of lawworks with courts, and thedemocracy and governancedeals with the executivebranches of government tomake it transparent. Wework to build—actually cre-ate—advocacy groups thatsculpture civil society,” heremarked. “We create NGOsand lobbyists, and say, ‘Allright, here’s how you get thegovernment to change. Yougo to the legislature, andyou make them pass billsand allocate money for yourcauses.’ For example, thehandicapped in poor coun-tries are the first neglected—people who have disabilitiesof all kinds. So you organizethem, because that’s a legiti-mate advocacy group.”

Currently, Pal-Tech isupgrading the Departmentof Labor’s worldwidecomputer capabilities—matching job opportu-nities with job require-ments. “We have takenthe software to aroundforty countries, andwe’ve got about eightyto go—just setting uptheir IT,” Kader said.

When asked whathe had found mostsurprising in hiswork, Kaderhad a readyanswer.“You canreallymake a

21BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

are skilled and talented, butthey lack experience in howto work in a diverse work-force.

“We’ve had more troublehiring people who knowhow to deal with minoritiesand women. And it worksboth ways. You’ve got to beable to have African-Americans, Asians, andHispanics who can dealwith white males as well.It’s just smart variety. Youwant variety—and then youcan have the best workforcein the world. When you do,you can go overseas anddevelop the same thing. Itsurprised me to find outthat I had to work at design-ing my workforce—youcan’t just haphazardly hire.”

With the continued unrestbetween the Israelis and thePalestinians, and now thewar with Iraq, Pal-Tech’swork has been affected. Atthe time of this interview,they had received a noticethat the staff in the WestBank/Gaza werevoluntarily evac-uating becausework has beendisrupted.Although herelies pri-marily on nation-als to staffoperations,

his consultants travel backand forth for two-weekstays. “The two-yearIntifada that has been goingon between the Israelis andPalestinians has been devas-tating. The Israelis haveessentially destroyed about$400–$600 million worth ofinfrastructure that the aidcommunity has built overthe last seven to eightyears,” Kader imparted. “Aswe got ready for the millen-nium, most of the infra-structure—including thesewers—had beendestroyed. And the UnitedStates has decided not topay attention.”

Dr. Omar Kader is also anactive participant in civic affairs.He was a member of the WhiteHouse delegation at the peace sign-ing between Israel and Jordan in1994. He frequently providesexpert commentary to news organ-izations and conducts publicspeaking engagements on thedevelopment of political issues inthe Middle East. For more infor-mation, see Pal-Tech’s web site at

http://www.pal-tech.com.

Pal-Tech training capabilities include:Needs assessment Instructor-led training Curriculum development Materials development Training development Training implementation Training of trainers Training evaluation Internet/Intranet training CD-ROM/multimedia Knowledge management Web site development Video training Hybrid and web-based training

Pal-Tech provides technical assistance in the follow-ing sectors:

Workforce development Health Management information systems Education Early childhood development Monitoring and evaluation Small and medium size enterprise development Democracy and governance

Pal-Tech interactive technology services include:

Interactive multimedia

Web design and development

Distance learning

Digital media lab support (networking support,help desk, troubleshooting)

Develop programs from prototype to delivery

Quality assurance

Network security

Regulatory compliance, including SCORM andSection 508

Microsoft Certified Partner

Pal-Tech outreach and stakeholder involvementservices include:

Publications writing, editing, layout, anddesign

Policy analysis

Document production, dissemination, andtracking

Planning, managing, and conducting confer-ences, workshops, and conventions

Developing conference and meeting supportmaterials including agendas, briefings, reports,and visual aids

22

Times CorrespondentKicks Off New Series

Brigham Young University is oneof more than one thousand schoolsnationwide to benefit from the NewYork Times Partners in Education(PiE) program. Those benefits willnow include a guest lecturer each falland winter semester sponsored bythe Kennedy Center.

The first guest was AdamClymer, chief correspondent inWashington, D.C., who addressed“Privacy and Secrecy in the Shadowof War,” Thursday, 20 March.

“The New York Times is pleased tobe able to bringAdam Clymerfree of chargeto the KennedyCenter for itslecture series,”said NanciAshworth, edu-cation managerfor the RockyMountainregion. “Themission of ourPiE program isto assist educa-

tors in using the New York Times as aresource to foster students’ intellec-tual growth and curiosity, civic par-ticipation, and personal success.”

Cory Leonard, assistant directorof the center, said, “The Times contin-ues to be an excellent source of timelyinformation and useful analysis oninternational affairs. We see this newpartnership lecture seriesto be another way to makethe world come alive onour campus.”

Clymer, who becamechief Washington corre-spondent of the New YorkTimes in April 1999, haswritten on major issues ingovernment and politics.He had been Washingtoneditor since 1997. Beforethat, he was assistantWashington editor, in charge ofCongress coverage since 1991. Hewon the 1993 Everett McKinleyDirksen Award for distinguishedreporting on Congress. Clymer’sbook Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography

was published in 1999, and he con-tributed to Reagan: the Man, thePresident, a book by Times reporterspublished in 1981.

IR NewsTop honors students and faculty

from the international relations major(IR) were hosted at a luncheon inMarch. “This was an opportunityextended to the top twenty students,”said Ray Christensen, IR coordinatorand associate professor of political sci-ence. “I felt students and facultywould have an opportunity to get toknow each other, and students alsogot to know each other better.”

The informal event afforded fac-ulty and students time to mingle inan atmosphere apart from the class-room. Christensen said he felt every-one enjoyed themselves, and he willstrive to repeat the informal lunch-eon each fall and winter semester.

Also on the schedule for thenext academic year is an opportuni-ty for IR students to participate in aunique study abroad experience.“This will be of particular interestto students who want to combineinternational relations and politics,”said Christensen.

During winter or spring 2004,students may join Christensen,Kennedy Center Director Jeff Ringer,and Kristine Hansen, associate pro-fessor of English, in London. Theprogram description reads in part:

Stand in the middle of politicalhistory in the making. Be a first-

hand observer tothe saga of theRoyal Family, tothe excitement androllicking give-and-take of the BritishParliament, to theongoing strifebetween Britainand Ireland, and toBritain’s jockeyingto position herselfin the newly-

emerging European Alliance andin world politics in general.

Look for more programs details onlineat http://kennedy.byu.edu/isp/ studylondon.html.

Mission FeverAn interesting but not unexpected

phenomenon is occurring at BYU.Missionaries are returning from theirfull-time service to study the culturesin which they served. Among thedegrees the Kennedy Center offersare Latin American Studies andAsian Studies—majors that attract alarge amount of returned missionar-ies from these areas.

From a love of the culture to adesire to understand the global com-munity, students list a variety of rea-sons for choosing these majors.Bethany Beyer, a graduate of LatinAmerican Studies, who served inHouston, Texas, wanted to determine“whether or not living in Americahad an impact on the lifestyles ofLatinos.” Beyer plans on helpingUtah Latinos “overcome the all-too-real barriers that they face because oflanguage and also prejudice and mis-understanding.”

Jared Elison, (Bangkok, Thailand)decided on Asian Studies when henoted that “China, India, SoutheastAsia, and Indonesia contain wellover two billion people. I figured Ibetter understand since our world isbecoming more global.” Elison hopesto work in a U.S. embassy and laterbecome a psychologist for theForeign Service or CIA.

Larry Walton (Tokyo, Japan) alsofound himself deeply interested inthe cultures of Japan, China, Korea,and Mongolia. “My decision tostudy Asian culture when I got backwas sort of an afterthought, but I’mvery glad for it.” Walton has consid-ered working for the State Depart-ment with Asian cultures or eventeaching Asian Studies. “I’m notquite sure right now,” he said. “I’mjust content in studying something Ilove so much.”

For Carl Smith (Tijuana, Mexico)and Nathan Welch (Brazil, SalvadorSouth), who both intend to be med-ical doctors, the love of Latino cul-ture and its history motivated themto study Latin America. Smith wasintrigued by Latinos’ “mixed histo-ries, their hospitality, language, andof course, their food.” Having donemedical research in Mexico in 2002,he plans on volunteering with non-

Clymer, whobecame chiefWashingtoncorrespondentof the New YorkTimes in April1999, has writ-ten on majorissues in gov-ernment andpolitics.

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During winter orspring 2004, stu-dents may joinChristensen,Kennedy CenterDirector JeffRinger, andKristine Hansen,associate professorof English, inLondon.

profit organizations such asOperation Smile. “The abundantpoverty in my mission compelledme to want to returnand help many of thefamilies that we asso-ciated with,” he said.

Welch, vice presi-dent of the StudentAssociation for LatinAmerican Studies(SALAS) will servethe Latino popula-tion in the U.S. “Ihope to do an intern-ship dealing withhealthcare and LatinAmericans in theProvo area rather than go to anothercountry,” he said. He feels his knowl-edge of Latino languages and culturewill help him relate to the U.S.’slargest minority.

Area Studies majors feel that thestudy programs and internships arethe most beneficial resources thatthe center offers. Jonathan Wade, astudent facilitator for InternationalStudy Programs Volunteers’ pro-gram, Employment Services,recruits students to go to LatinAmerica and teach a Church-designed workshop that helps peo-ple obtain an education, secureemployment, or even start smallbusinesses. Wade, a Latin AmericanStudies minor, works to pique inter-est in students to do the program.“I’m against the notion that you’redone with that aspect of your lifebecause you’ve served a mission.”

As the Church continues to growglobally, the Kennedy Center is likely to see the missionary trendcontinue, bringing new meaning toBYU’s motto: Enter to learn. Goforth to serve.

For information on degrees or interna-tional study options, see our web siteat http://kennedy.byu.edu.

Changing the WorldOne Banquet at a Time

With their Thirteenth AnnualHunger Banquet in February,Students for InternationalDevelopment (SID) continued to

inform students of the disparitiesbetween developed and underdevel-

oped countries. Thebanquet is a micro-cosm of present-dayworld conditions,representing thefood distribution inFirst-, Second-, andThird- World coun-tries. “The firstHunger Banquet,had maybe a hun-dred people there.Now it’s two nightswith five hundredpeople each night,”said Julie Johnson,SID co-president.

Hunger Banquet participantswere randomly assigned a mealbased on actual statistics. “So 325 ofthe five hundred people representedthe Third World, 110 theSecond World, and 55 theFirst World,” saidJohnson. First Worlderswere seated at tables inthe center of the room;their meals came fromlocal restaurants, includ-ing Carrabas, Ottavios,and Los Hermanos.Second Worlders atepizza and sat in chairs onthe edges of the room. Themajority, Third Worlders,shared small portions ofbeans, rice, and tortillasamong one another and saton blankets on the floor.

If all the participants didnot get a great meal, theycertainly received greatentertainment. Elder John K.Carmack, an emeritus member of theFirst Quorum of the Seventy, spokeon the Perpetual Education Fundand the power education has tochange lives. Several entertainmentgroups performed including theCapoeira club, Fiddlesticks—a Celticband, and Hari Krishnas fromSpanish Fork.

As much as possible, the banquetatmosphere mimicked situationsfound in the Third World. “We had4-H girls from the community sell

flowers and chocolates; somethingyou might find in developing coun-tries, like kids on the street sellingstuff,” said Johnson. The secondnight of the banquet, a few studentsrole-played as tourists who walkedaround taking pictures of Third-World students. “A lot of questionswere raised about how the HungerBanquet was set up,” said Johnson.

Johnson noted the various reac-tions of those in attendance. “Someof the First-World people wouldstand up and bring their whole plateover to a group on a blanket,” shesaid. “Other times, Third-Worlderswould revolt and steal food ortakeover a First-World table.”

This year, the Hunger Banquetraised almost seven thousand dollarsto support humanitarian projects.SID received twenty grant proposalsand had the difficult task of deciding

what to fund.“It’s a produc-tive learningexperience forthe club,because wetalk about howwe are going toevaluate theproposals,”said Johnson.

SID voted for these five projectsto fund:

1) Laura Vicuna Shelter is for sex-ually-abused girls in thePhilippines. SID will contribute tothe education fund for girls whoturn eighteen and have to leavethe shelter.2) National Organization ofBenin Peasants. SID will helpfund a community hall for a vil-lage in Benin, Africa, to use as acommunity-education center and

23BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

The banquet isa microcosm ofpresent-dayworld condi-tions, represent-ing the food distribution inFirst-, Second-,and Third-Worldcountries.

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Among thedegrees theKennedy Centeroffers are LatinAmericanStudies andAsian Studies—majors thatattract a largeamount ofreturned mis-sionaries fromthese areas.

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a place for the women to weavemats to sell.3) Paramita Group helps Tibetanrefugees “find adequate voice torealize their economic, social, andcultural aspirations,” according toJohnson. SID will provide fund-ing for training manuals.4) Lulu is a project in the Sudanthat helps rural communities pro-duce lulu oil (from nuts to beused for cooking) that can helpthem both in short-term andlong-term development.5) Bala Shanti is a group in Indiathat works to get kids in school.SID will fund several primaryschool entry fees.

SID is making sure the funds areused in the best ways. “We may haveenough money to fund a few moreprojects, but we won’t know until wecut the checks to these places,” con-cluded Johnson.

For more information on SID, seetheir web site at http://kennedy.byu.edu.

One Student at a TimeThe Foreign Service Student

Organization’s (FSSO) excitementfor the Foreign Service is gaining afollowingaccording toFSSOPresidentMatt Krebs,“It seems thatthe level towhich weadvertise isthe numberof studentsthat come—there’s adirect correlation.”

The organization’s unique adver-tising approaches seem to be work-ing, including planting transparen-cies in teachers’ boxes to be dis-played in classes. A current memberof FSSO’s staff learned about theclub when her French teacher laugh-ingly displayed the transparency inclass. “She thought, ‘Oh, my gosh!That’s perfect.’ and she contactedus,” said Krebs.

Interest for the career seems to begrowing rapidly at BYU although

FSSO has only been organized forthree years. An information meetingwith retired FSOs Blaine Tueller andJames Palmer last semester had overa hundred students in attendance.Surprisingly, FSSO attracts studentsbeyond its immediate audience at theKennedy Center. “We’re getting moreresponse from outside the KennedyCenter than inside by far,” said Krebs.Many of those interested are foreignlanguage students looking for a careerin which to use their skills.

For the past two years, FSSO hasbeen working closely with StateDepartment Recruiter Cindy Woodto increase student interest in takingthe Foreign Service written exam.During International EducationWeek last semester, Wood ran a dis-play about the Foreign Service withFSSO officer Matt Whitton. “When Iwent, they had students waiting—four or five in a line at a time—totalk to Matt or Cindy,” said Krebs.

The only organization of its kindin the U.S., FSSO is a rare gem forthe government. “We’re definitelythe only student organization gettingpeople informed and interestedabout it [the Foreign Service],” saidKrebs. “That’s why the StateDepartment loves us.”

Now, with aneighteen-memberstaff, FSSO isready to expandits influence oncampus. Alongwith informationand encourage-ment, FSSO offersprep-classes forthe written exam.This year theorganization

expects to have “four or five hundredstudents taking the exam,” accordingto Krebs.

In February, FSSO held an “Eve-ning of Diplomacy” which offeredstudents a chance to mingle with sixretired Foreign Service officers andlearn more about the career. “Thatwas the magic of the evening— thatso many people could discuss theForeign Service to their hearts con-tent,” he said. The party went anhour over schedule and was consid-

ered an astounding success. Krebsalso feels it was an “opportunity forstudents to learn how to handlethemselves at formal functionswhere they’re meeting people ofinfluence.” At the function, studentswere addressed by a retired ForeignService officer and were entertainedby live singers, pianists, and violin-ists. “No doubt many great contactswere made by students and manywere converted to careers in theForeign Service,” said Krebs.

Despite increasing interest fromstudents, Krebs feels their task is farfrom over. “We need people who areBYU graduates established globally,”said Krebs. “So until we’ve contactedevery student—so they can knowwhat it is and decide if it’s forthem—we haven’t finished.”

For more information, see their website at http://kennedy.byu.edu/fsso.

SALAS:A Home Basefor LAS

The Student Association of LatinAmerican Studies (SALAS) is theKennedy Center’s newest organiza-tion. Advised by Latin AmericanStudies coordinator, George Handley,the association was officially organ-ized in September 2002. “Our open-ing event was during InternationalEducation Week where we hosted alecture by Elder Carmack,” saidErika Edwards, SALAS president.

This semester, SALAS officerswill formulate their goals and objec-tives. “I see it as instrumental for thestudents in the major because of itsinterdisciplinary approach,” saidEdwards. Because Latin AmericanStudies majors study a variety of dis-ciplines including sociology, humani-ties, and political science, they rarelyhave the same teacher more thanonce. According to Edwards, SALASprovides students “a home base toget to know professors on a moreintimate level as mentors.” Edwardsalso feels that “by hosting guest lec-tures in different fields that have anemphases in Latin America,” SALAScan help students expand their edu-cational experience.

To complement its educationalpurposes, SALAS also contains aservice component. “We want to

FSSO held an“Evening ofDiplomacy”which offeredstudents achance to minglewith six retiredForeign ServiceOfficers andlearn more aboutthe career.

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focus on service within the Hispaniccommunity,” said Edwards. “There’sa lot our students have to offer inlinguistic abilities and in their cul-tural understanding.” Presently,SALAS members volunteer atJoaquin Elementary School translat-ing for ESL students. “Students willgo after school to help them withtheir homework or go during schoolto help them understand what theteacher is saying,” said Edwards.Others have volunteered at theProvo Public Health Center translat-ing for families with children need-ing immunizations.“There is a hugeneed especially because the ProvoHispanic population is growing sofast,” Edwards said.

By default, all Latin AmericanStudies majors and minors are mem-bers of SALAS, but getting theminvolved is Edwards’ present chal-lenge. She also hopes to interestincoming freshman in the LatinAmerican Studies major. “So manyof us discover it after we return frommissions or studies abroad,” shesaid. “We want to make them awarethat this is open to them as well.”

An Alternative Way toRemember

International Outreach is a classthat allows students to chronicletheir international experiences in aunique way. John Collins, an interna-tional relations major, developed adesire to see Africa on his mission inFrance. “I served with Africans andArabs, so I’ve always wanted to goto Africa since then.”

Collins went to Senegal in 2000for a three-month study abroad withthe French department. Now inInternational Outreach, he feels he islearning to “interpret, but alsounderstand culture through differentperspectives.” In addition, as part ofthe course work Collins is compilinghis knowledge of Senegal into lessonmaterials called CultureGuides. “Itgives me a chance to go back to mypictures and my journal and talkwith people that went with me,” saidCollins. “It’s forced me to get backinto the culture.”

Outreach students must alsomake presentations to local elemen-

tary and high school students. “Thehard part is making the informationinteresting,”explained Collins. “I’mmore interested in the topics forolder students, but how do I make itinteresting for ele-mentary kids?”Collins usuallyteaches elementarystudents whereSenegal is located,what the people eat,and what kids theirage are like. “Forteenagers, I talkabout slavery andcolonialism, Islam and its effect onthe culture, what role Senegal playedin the slave trade, and how colonial-ism has impacted what they aredoing now,” he said.

If students’ CultureGuides havesubstantive quality, they may bepublished as lesson plans for teach-ers. “You need to put in the time,”said Collins. “But it’s something youenjoy, so it’s worthwhile.”

Above all, International Outreachallows students to relive their experi-ences abroad. “It’s a way of goingback without paying all the money,”said Collins.

For more information on Interna-tional Outreach or CultureGuides,visit their web site at http://kennedy.byu.edu/InternationalOutreach.

An Evening ofExcitement and Flare

International Outreach’s bi-annualInternational Cultural Showcase hascome and gone once more, stillmaintaining its reputation as an out-standing display of cultural excite-ment. Coun-tries fromaround theworld wererepresented asnatives and stu-dents alikeshared their tal-ents in mar-velous colorand beauty.

“I wasamazed at thevariety of performances,” said JohnLyon, a former BYU student. “I

was really astonished at the peopleand how they demonstrated theirheritage.”

The event unfolded with a tapclub performing the American clas-

sic, “Stray CatStrut.” The cul-tural tour thenexpanded to thePacific islandswith Termone, agroup led byJoseph Ahuna,performingdances fromHawaii, Tahiti,

Tonga, and even New Zealand, whilea live band kept them (and thecrowd) moving. Ahuna finished withthe traditional Native American“Hoop Dance,” deftly controllingtwenty-two hoops simultaneously.

The Taekwondo Club, led byPaul Him, then put on a traditionalKorean martial arts display. “Theboard smashing at the end of theperformance was wicked!” statedstudent Greg Hansen. Next, theshow featured music from aroundthe world with the French Choir andOutreach student Huong Cio,singing typical French and SouthKorean songs, respectively. Thenight also showcased dance per-formances by Naira Galoustian, anative Armenian, Claudia Rios, whoperformed the Flamenco, and audi-ence members as they joined per-formers on stage to learn differentdance forms. The night ended withthe audience filing outside for anencore performance of Ahuna’s firedance demonstration.

The evening was filled with pas-sion andexcitement,bringingtogether for-eign andAmericanstudentsand uplift-ing andteachingeveryoneinvolved.

Countries fromaround theworld were represented asnatives and students alikeshared their talents in marvelous colorand beauty.

25BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

Outreach students mustalso make pre-sentations tolocal elementaryand high schoolstudents.

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Africa ColloquiumA near-capacity crowd of stu-

dents filled the HBLL auditorium tohear visiting professors speak onslavery at the Third Annual AfricanColloquium, “FromSlavery to the AfricanDiaspora,” on Thursday,20 February. “The collo-quium went extremelywell. We had a mix ofdifficult topics with aspecific focus to presentto undergraduates,” saidWilliam C. Olsen, BYUanthropology andAfrican studies profes-sor. “We received positive feedbackfrom everyone.”

Visiting faculty were stunned tolearn of student interest and partici-pation in things African at BYU.Seventy students are minoring inAfrican Studies, with classes taughtfall, winter, and spring. There arefour to seven faculty-mentored fieldstudies projects in Africa everyyear. This year, ninety-plus studentsare enrolled in programs takingplace in seven African countries:Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique,Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, andSouth Africa. All this in spite of thefact that there are only two full-time faculty engaged in Africanstudies: one in the social sciencesand one in anthropology.

Visiting Professor John Middletonsaid, “The conference was certainly asuccess, using as measurement boththe impressive size of the audience,and the pleasure experienced by yourvisitors.” Middleton also expressedappreciation for the campus. “It was agreat pleasure for me to meetProfessor Olsen and his colleagues,and the other guests. I was impressedby the university itself and thefriendly, yet serious, atmosphere. Ialso learned a great deal.”

The presentations encompassed avariety of issues dealing with slav-ery: “Creolization and Slaveryamong ‘Mozambiques’ in Mauritiusand Brazil,” Edward A. Alpers, pro-fessor of history, UCLA; “Slaveryand Emancipation in French WestAfrica,” Martin A. Klein, emeritusprofessor of history, University of

Toronto; “The Civil War and theSlave Trade: Remembering Violencein Sierra Leone,” Rosalind Shaw,associate professor of anthropology,Tufts University; “Islam, Capitalism,

and Emancipa-tion in Senegal,”James F.Searing, profes-sor of history,University ofIllinois atChicago;“Slavery inSudan: a Tool ofCulturalHegemony in

Disguise as Strategy for War,” JokMadut Jok, assistant professor ofhistory, Loyola MarymountUniversity; “Swahili Slavery: HowLong Should It Be?” John F. M.Middleton, emeritus professor ofanthropology, Yale University.

During the noon hour, the filmGlobal Africa was screened. Questionand answer sessions followed eachpresentation, and students mixedwith visiting faculty during breaks.Next year’s theme will focus on art,music, and performance.

Seeking KnowledgeThrough Field Study

Ethnobotany, child welfare, agri-culture and African culture wereonly a few of the topics addressedduring the Fifth Annual FieldStudies Inquiry Conference held atthe Kennedy Center, Wednesdaythrough Friday, 5–7March. Differentregions of the worldwere the focus onrespective days. “Thethree-day conferencewas a forum for stu-dents to present theirinternational researchand findings, as wellas an opportunity forthe university andlocal community tolisten and participatein discussions touch-ing on global issues,”said KathrynGourley, one of the organizers forthis year’s event.

“A number of the presentors indi-cated that their family or friends hadwatched them on the webcast,” saidSusanna Johnson, conference co-chair. “Overall, the InquiryConference was a tremendous suc-cess from the presentations to thenumber of those in attendance. Thepresentations seem to be more aca-demically solid and culturallyinsightful each year.”

Wednesday was designated as“World Day” with presentationsfrom countries such as thePhilippines, Marshall Islands, Tonga,and India. Thursday highlighted“Latin America” with presentationsfrom Mexico and Guatemala. Fridayfeatured “Africa” presentations onSouth Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania.All students who participate in afield study receive faculty mentor-ing—an invaluable contribution tostudents’ academic development—particularly concerning theirresearch papers, which are the culmi-nating field study experience.

“One of the key factors for such alarge attendance this year is the fac-ulty. They were extremely support-ive and helpful. We were so thankfulfor their support,” said Johnson.

“I think this year’s conferencereally provided a forum for studentsand faculty to come together to dis-cuss important international issues.The conference really proved to makethe ‘world our campus’ as knowl-edge, experiences, and research find-ings of an international nature were

discussed,” Ghourleyreported. “Those inter-ested in cross-cultural orinternational studiesfound the conferenceparticularly beneficial,”said Gourley.

The Inquiry Conferencewas webcast live andarchived for convenientviewing at http://kennedy.byu.edu/inquiry.

“The conferencewas certainly asuccess, using asmeasurementboth the impres-sive size of theaudience, and thepleasure experi-enced by your visitors.”

“I think thisyear’s confer-ence reallyprovided aforum for students andfaculty tocome togetherto discussimportantinternationalissues.”

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MicroenterpriseConference:Empowering the Poor

BYU continues to make huge for-ward strides in the fight againstglobal poverty. At the MarriottSchool’s Sixth AnnualMicroenterprise Conference,13–15 March, LeePerry, associatedean, announceda new centeraimed at helpingthe under-privi-leged become self-reliant. “We are onan outreach mis-sion,” said Perry.“We feel like thiscan spread tomany other busi-ness schools.” Perry stated that withthe Center for Economic Self-reliance,the Marriott School wanted “to senda message to our students that thereare higher things than getting a big-ger salary or better stock options.”The center, which will focus onresearch, will be completely fundedby outside donations. “We are all onthe same mission to help the world’spoor,” said Perry.

The conference offered fourtracks of lectures and workshops: 1) Research Symposium 2) Micro-enterprise Sessions 3) NGO training4) Self-reliance. Joseph Ogden,Marriott School assistant dean, saidthe conference is the largest “of itskind held anywhere.” The confer-ence was attended by local, nation-al, and international nonprofitorganizations, financial institutions,educators, students, and volunteers.According to Warner Woodworth, aBYU organizational behavior profes-sor, the attendees—approximatelyfive hundred in all—had alreadydonated $220 million to help bringmicroenterprise to about five mil-lion people.

Larry Reed, of OpportunityInternational—a microenterpriseinstitution, gave a keynote addressat Friday’s plenary session. He out-lined the goals of microenterprise:eradicate poverty and hunger,achieve universal primary educa-tion, promote gender equality and

empower women, reduce child mor-tality, and improve maternal health.

Reed also spoke of the positivetrends exhibited by microenterpriseclients. He reported that in India,seventy-five percent of long-termclients graduated out of poverty. InGhana, one-year-old children ofclients were significantly healthier

than those of non-clients. In Bolivia,loans to womenresulted in greaterself-confidence andleadership skills.Reed emphasizedthat “the poor canrepay loans at veryhigh rates”andencouraged hisaudience to see themas assets, not liabili-

ties. “They can become producers,who can not only produce for them-selves, but for others,” he said.

Reed reported that currently,microenterprise institutions lacksufficient funds to serve more peo-ple. He called upon the private sec-tor to help. “God has already pro-vided the resources weneed to address this prob-lem,” he said. He con-cluded with a story of awoman who lived on agarbage dump in thePhilippines. She obtaineda microenterprise loanand one day, a large stormarose when she was onher way to a meeting.When she forgot her loanpayment and ran back toget it, the garbage dumpcollapsed, crushing her in theprocess. Reed lamented thatmicroenterprise had not found herearlier so she could have improvedher livelihood and moved off thedump before this tragic incident.“It’s a life or death issue everyday,”he said.

Canadian ConsulGeneral Guest atAnnual Palmer Lecture

Colin Robertson, Canadian con-sul general in Los Angeles, spoke on“Prospects and Challenges for

Canada–U.S. Relations” at the AsaelE. and Maydell C. Palmer AnnualLecture Series in Canadian Studieson Thursday, 3 April at the KennedyCenter. As consul general, Robertsonis responsible for Canadian interestsin California, Utah, Arizona,Nevada, and Hawaii, and consulatesin San Francisco and San Jose.

Throughout his career,Robertson has served in variouspolitical positions including as amember of the team that negotiatedthe Free Trade Agreement with theU.S. (1985–87) and as director gen-eral of public affairs at theCanadian Department of Citizen-ship and Immigration (1994–96).

“The Palmer Endowment wasinspired by Delbert Palmer whoworked tirelessly to developCanadian Studies at BYU,” said EarlFry, Canadian Studies research pro-gram coordinator. “In collaborationwith Delbert Palmer and BrighamCard, professor emeritus at theUniversity of Alberta, I started theCanadian Studies program in 1980.”

In the twelve years since itsinception, the Palmer Distinguished

Lecture has featuredleading Canadian aca-demics and two formerprime ministers ofCanada. “BYU is note-worthy because it hasthe largest enrollmentof Canadian studentsamong institutions ofhigher learning in theUnited States,” saidFry. “Approximately adozen BYU faculty andstaff now work on an

informal basis as part of theCanadian Studies ResearchProgram.”

The Palmer Distinguished Lecturein Canadian Studies is funded bythe Palmer family in honor of Asaeland Maydell Palmer. Asael was anacclaimed agricultural scientist inCanada. Both Asael and Maydellwere actively involved in TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints and in their community inAlberta, Canada.

“They canbecome produc-ers, who can notonly produce forthemselves, butfor others.”

Throughout hiscareer, Robertsonhas served in various politicalpositions includinga member of theteam that negoti-ated the FreeTrade Agreementwith the U.S.

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Jennifer BoehmeIn 2000, Jennifer Boehme received

a BA in international studies, with adevelopment emphasis, and a dou-ble minor in TESL and ScandinavianStudies. “There were a few pivotalexperiences at BYU that changed mycareer path,” shestated. “Threeprofessors in par-ticular helpedshape and influ-ence the work Iam doing today.Gary Bryner’sintroduction todevelopment andmany of ValerieHudson’s classesbrought together my social con-sciousness with my interest in inter-national affairs.” Prior to that,Boehme said she had been fixed onworking in the political arena.

“I also had the privilege of study-ing development and its theorieswith Warner Woodworth. Warner isa visionary who believes in thepower people have to make a posi-tive change in the world. As I stud-ied the integrated nature of develop-ment, I became fascinated by thecomplexities of appropriately servingour brothers and sisters,” she said.“At first, I was disturbed by thenumber of people who are trying todo good, but whose activities notonly go awry, but in the process alsohurt the lives of the people they aretrying to assist. I became committedto educating both people trying toassist the poor and those we areseeking to serve.”

Mother Nature and other eventsconspired to shift Boehme’s courseduring the spring of 1999. “I wasinvolved in creating a group then-called HELP Honduras and traveledwith them to assist in the aftermathof Hurricane Mitch. The process ofpreparing and serving was an amaz-ingly challenging and rewardingexperience,” Boehme declared. “Weworked with FINCA International intheir microcredit banks and assistedin Honduras’ recovery fromHurricane Mitch.”

After their return, the groupexplored ways to continue what they

had begun. “We became convinced ofthe positive effect this experiencecould have on both the students vol-unteering and on the people we wereserving. We grew the organization,moved off BYU’s campus, andbecome a federally recognized not-for-profit corporation, HELP

International,” she explained.After graduation, Boehme becametheir executive director. She said,“Summer 2003 will be our fifthsummer of training and sendingstudents to Latin America to part-ner with local organizations inhelping to eliminate poverty andhuman suffering.”

Working with HELP Interna-tional has given Boehme a broadrange of experiences. “Being in a

small organization has meant that Iam involved in every facet of theorganization, ranging from Third-World development activities, finan-cial planning, and long-term strate-gy, to marketing and training. Myeducation at the Kennedy Centerencompassed a broad range of top-ics including political environments,development theories, and under-standing of cultures and economies,which are vital for oursuccess as an organiza-tion,” she said. “For stu-dents desirous of a careerin international develop-ment, BYU offered aunique opportunity for amultidisciplinary degree.With my degree, I gar-nered knowledge from anumber of fields. I foundthis multidisciplinary edu-cation extremely helpful in mycareer—very few things in this fieldare not interrelated.”

Recalling her passion for the rightkind of service objectives, Boehmesaid, “Attempting to undertake adevelopment intervention withoutunderstanding the political, cultural,and economic background and his-tory of our participants could pro-duce horrendous consequences. Onthe other hand, going into a commu-nity with an intimate understandingof those factors, coupled with devel-opment techniques geared towardlearning the needs of the people and

facilitating their own growth anddevelopment, leads to positive out-comes and lasting change.“

Boehme’s involvement with herorganization has brought a sense offulfillment on a global scale.“Directing and growing HELPInternational has allowed me totake steps towards educating bothour American populous and thosepersons in developing countrieswho take steps to better ourworld,” she concluded.

For more information about volun-teering with or donating to HELPInternational, please contact Jenniferat (801) 374-0556, or by e-mail atjennifer@help-international.org.

Mark D. FellowsMark D. Fellows graduated in

international relations from theKennedy Center in 1996. “My educa-tion [in the center] developed myability to clearly communicate, ana-lyze, and maybe most importantly, toexpress my opinion in open dia-logue,” said Fellows. Upon receivinghis undergraduate degree and hop-ing to learn more about government

operations and manage-ment, Fellows immedi-ately entered theRomney Institute ofPublic Management.

Graduating with anMPA in the middle ofthe IT/.com boom,Fellows went to workas a business analystand technology con-sultant to state and

local governments with AmericanManagement Systems. “As a con-sultant, the ability to communicatewith all types of people from manydifferent cultures and backgroundsallows you to adequately lead,direct, and, in my case, hopefully,make governments more efficient,”Fellows remarked. “My internation-al relations degree laid the founda-tion for these skills. Wherever yougo in this nation, California, Illinois,Pennsylvania, or Oklahoma, thereare people from different interna-tional cultures. Understanding theirvalues, their beliefs, and their back-grounds allows you to be more

“I found thismultidisciplinaryeducationextremely help-ful in mycareer—veryfew things inthis field are notinterrelated.”

“My educationdeveloped myability to clearlycommunicate,analyze, andmaybe mostimportantly, toexpress my opin-ion in open dia-logue.”

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effective in establishing relation-ships that build successful consult-ing engagements.”

After leaving AMS almost threeyears ago, Fellows now lives inFolsom, California, and works for eainc. (http://www.ea-inc.com) as aprogram manager. “I feel very lucky,because I graduated with my mas-ter’s when there were plenty of jobsto choose from. As the economy soft-ened, I had developed the skillsneeded to survive in a niche of theeconomy that continues to grow,”Fellows reflected. “I’ve been fortu-nate enough to be invited to speakand participate in several nationaland regional conferences includingthe Government Finance OfficersAssociation and the InternationalCity/County ManagementAssociation’s (ICMA) annual confer-ences. Currently, I am one of only afew members of the private sectorthat has been asked to participate inICMA’s eGovernment Task Force.”

His advice to current students isthat if he had to go through the pro-gram again, “I would have partici-pated in Washington Seminar. Iattended the Jerusalem Center forNear Eastern Studies for a semesterin 1995. Even though the center iscurrently closed, I would search outother opportunities to study abroadduring your academic career.”

Fellows and his wife, Becky, havethree children: McCall (4), Parker (2),and Carson (two months). He said,“The greatest challenge I find is bal-ancing the demands of family,church, and work, and fulfilling yourduties to all of them.”

Sergio I. FloresA 1993 graduate in international

relations and native of Bolivia,Sergio I. Flores said, “One of the bestexperiences of my life was to studyat BYU and especially at theKennedy Center; I made a bunch ofinternational and local friends. I gotan education that has helped me toget new ideas from the different top-ics and classes and from the experi-ences of other international and USAstudents in order to help my countryfor its development.”

After graduation, Flores returnedto his country to work for theMinistry of Finance. “As advisor tothe undersecretary of budget, I hadthe opportunity to apply what I hadlearned about international publicpolicies, political science, and inter-national trade (business),” he said.“They gave me the responsibility tocoordinate an international economictrade agreement withMexico in the area ofgoods and services. Ialso worked in theelaboration for thepublic budget for1994 and1995.”

Two years later,he began work forthe undersecretary oftax policy. “I wasaddressing fiscalreforms relative tothe internal revenues, customs, andinternational agreements, in order toreduce the Bolivian deficit, increasethe national revenues, and the globaleconomy,” said Flores. “We were alsoworking with international develop-ment organizations such as IDB, theUN, and World Bank, to get somefinancing for the reforms.”

This experience led to an oppor-tunity with the United Nations in theDepartment of National Develop-ment, where he managed twelveprojects for the economic and publicfinance sector. “I learned all theinternational procedures of the UNand IDB,” said Flores.

In 1997, Flores left to attendTexas A&M University to pursue anMBA. “After the MBA, I came backto Bolivia and got a post graduatein public strategy. And inDecember 2002, I completed a sec-ond MBA at the Catholic Universityof Bolivia. They have an agreementwith Harvard University, therefore,I had access to the same materialHarvard students do. I decided onthis to exchange experience and toknow the national reality of apply-ing the USA education system,”Flores explained.

In the meantime, Flores had beenworking on a project of structuralreform in international commerce.

He faced the challenge of changingthe Bolivian customs structure, inter-national procedures, and interna-tional trades and agreements toincrease revenues on imports.

Now he is back at the Ministry ofFinance as a senior advisor and coor-dinator of international cooperativeprojects with the vice ministry of taxpolicy (formerly called the undersec-

retary). “We are now dealingwith a new tax reform inorder to have a better tax col-lection system. I am also coor-dinating negotiations with theIMF, in order to reduce thenational deficit, and haveexternal cooperation (financ-ing), so the government canwork in public investments,”said Flores. “Now my inten-tion is to get into politics witha new technical and interna-

tional vision. I want to help oureconomy from a higher position or atthe embassy.

“International relations helpedme to be a better professional with aglobal vision of how Bolivia can takeadvantage of other countries’ experi-ences, (i.e., reforms, both economicand social) and to have internationalexperience in business trade andinternational commerce. I alsolearned how to negotiate with inter-national organizations such as theUN, FMI, IDB, and WB.”

Eric T. JensenEric T. Jensen attended ROTC at

BYU and was commissioned as anofficer in the U.S. Army upon gradu-ation in 1989, with a BA in interna-tional relations. “My first assignmentwas to Fort Knox for basic officertraining, where I was taught basicofficership as well as basic militarytactics within the Armor branch,”said Jensen. “After nine months, Iwas assigned to a unit known as aDivisional Cavalry unit in Germany.When I arrived in Germany, my unitwas doing the last border patrolbetween what was then East andWest Germany. While in Germany, Iwas leader of a platoon of soldiers,including three tanks and fivearmored personnel carriers.”

“Internationalrelations helpedme to be a bet-ter professionalwith a globalvision of howBolivia can takeadvantage ofother countries’experiences . . .”

Jensen's education and upbring-ing, as the son of an Army officer,piqued his interest in internationalissues, particularly internationaland comparative law. “I was look-ing for a way to satisfy my compul-sion to give military service and also work inthe international lawarena,” he explained.“While in Germany, I dis-covered that the Armyhad a program to sendme to law school—fullyfunded. I would have tocommit to staying in theArmy as a JAG officer forsix years after that. Of course, that sounded like some-thing that would allow me to pur-sue both my professional interests,so I applied and was accepted.”

Thereafter, he attended lawschool at the University of NotreDame. Jensen noted that the “educa-tional highlight” was spending theentire second year at Notre Dame'sLondon campus, where he focusedon international issues, adding to thesolid foundation he gained at BYU.

Upon graduation and successfulpassing of the Indiana Bar, the Armytransferred Jensen to Alaska, wherehe got his first chance as prosecutorfor eighteen months. “Though Ienjoyed criminal law, I still longed todo international law. I received theopportunity to deploy with TaskForce Eagle to Bosnia, so I left Alaskaand spent the next four years inGermany, including two deploymentsto Bosnia and several trips to otherspots such as Kosovo, Macedonia,and Poland,” Jensen reported.

In the summer of 2000, hereturned to the U.S. to attend a ten-month course at the U.S. Army JAGSchool in Charlottesville,Virginia, on the grounds ofUniversity of Virginia(UVA). “During the course,I once again focused oninternational law andwrote a paper that wasrecently published in theStanford Journal ofInternational Law.” Aftercompleting the course,Jensen was assigned to

teach international and operationallaw at the school, where he began hissecond year this fall.

“There is no doubt that my edu-cation at BYU, particularly my asso-ciation with Dr. Eric Hyer, Dr.

Valerie Hudson, andothers, has had a signifi-cant impact on my pro-fessional qualificationsand ambitions,” Jensenattested. “While at BYU,I worked as a teachingassistant for Dr. Hyer,which involved teach-ing a Friday class. Thatwhetted my appetite forteaching and helped

guide me in my decision to teach atthe Army JAG school now. Also, thebackground in international rela-tions and national security studieshas been the foundation for mywork in the Army.

“More importantly, the ongoingmentoring from Dr. Hyer (even thismany years after graduation) has notonly been a great professional benefitbut also a wonderful example for meas I try to fill my role as a professor,”said Jensen. “I certainly would rec-ommend (and have done so manytimes) BYU's international relationsand political science departments toprospective university students, notonly for the intellectual expertisethey will gain there, but also for theleadership and overall educationalexperience they will receive.”

Stan Larson“For students wanting to enter

the business world, BYU's interna-tional relations program offers asolid and versatile education,”according to Stan Larson, vice presi-dent of sales at Del Costa Cheese. “A

broad understanding ofcultures, economies,and political environ-ments are absolutelynecessary to be success-ful in business or politi-cal endeavors whetherin Johannesburg, Paris,or Los Angeles.”

Having graduated in1988 in internationalrelations, Larson began

his career in business as an analystfor Nabisco Foods in the SanFrancisco Bay Area. By 1995, he wasserving as the national merchandis-ing manager for Nabisco located inWinston-Salem, North Carolina. Helater assumed a marketing role inEast Hanover, New Jersey, workingfor the Planters Nut Company. Hiscareer path then took him back intosales in the western U.S. Through amerger, Larson joined Kraft Foods asa national account executive. Duringthis time, he completed his master'sdegree in organizational manage-ment (University of Phoenix, 2001).He recently accepted the position atDel Costa Cheese, based inPleasanton, California.

“International relations was, forme, a lesson in global economics. Ilearned that everything, everyaction, every event in the worldinteracts with everything else forgood or for bad, depending on yourperspective. The broad IR curricu-lum allowed me to pull togethereverything from international eco-nomics to urban geography to busi-ness management to political scienceas I formed my impression of theworld that I would soon jump intowhen I left BYU,” said Larson.

A. Jamal QureshiA 1998 graduate in Near Eastern

studies, Jamal Qureshi was born toimmigrant parents in Englewood,Colorado, he said, “My father isfrom Pakistan, and my mother isfrom Norway. I lived in Dhahran,Saudi Arabia, until I was ten yearsold. After that I grew up inLittleton, Colorado.”

While at BYU, Qureshi attendedthe Jerusalem Center in the inten-sive Arabic program. “I was privi-leged to serve a mission to London,England, where I received my sec-ond education in world affairs—meeting people from over 140 dif-ferent countries and territories andgetting to work frequently on myArabic skills,” he explained.

“My Arabic language instructionand courses in both ancient andmodern history of the Middle Eaststand out as having set the thoughtpatterns that laid the ground for my

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“I was lookingfor a way to satisfy my com-pulsion to givemilitary serviceand also work inthe internationallaw arena.”

I learned thateverything, everyaction, everyevent in theworld interactswith everythingelse for good orfor bad . . .”

31BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

professional career,” said Qureshi.“Having lived in Saudi Arabia as achild, where my father worked as anexpatriate engineer for the state oilcompany, Saudi Aramco, I came inwith an interest in the Middle East,but I left BYU with a much deeperunderstanding of the social andpolitical dynamics driving events inthe region.”

He credits Professors MichaelRhodes (Ancient Near EasternHistory), James Toronto (Islam andthe Gospel), Dilworth Parkinson(Arabic), and teaching assistantNader Neiroukh (Arabic—JerusalemCenter) as the instructors who taughthim far more than “the subject mat-ter of their courses.”

In his final year at BYU, Qureshiwas admitted to two prestigious pro-grams: the MA program in interna-tional relations and economics atJohns Hopkins University's School ofAdvanced International Studies(SAIS) in Washington, D.C., and theCenter for Arabic Study Abroad(CASA) at the American Universityin Cairo.

“I deferred my admission to SAISfor one year, and having just gottenmarried, took my wife off on a one-year crash course in the Middle Eastin Cairo (she was able to spend theyear working at a local pre-school,where she loved teaching bothEgyptian and expatriate children),”Qureshi recounted. “I was fortunateto also have received funding for myintensive Arabic studies at CASAfrom the Fulbright foundation, whichprovided an opportunity to meetnumerous scholars in many fields ofresearch in Egypt. The CASA experi-ence was unforgettable and gave methe opportunity to make a major leapin my Arabic skills. I must say, how-ever, that without my time in BYU'sArabic program, and specifically theintensive Arabic program inJerusalem, it would have been hard toreach the level necessary to beaccepted into CASA. Indeed, therealways seems to be a significant num-ber of BYU students who make it intoCASA alongside people from farmore high-profile institutions.”

Following that intensive year-long experience, Qureshi did not opt

for relaxation. “After our year inEgypt, I did a summer internship atthe U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem in1999. Jerusalem is a small post, andat the time had no Arabic-speakingForeign Service Officers (FSOs)assigned to it, so I was fortunate toimmediately participate in a mean-ingful way” attested Qureshi. “Ilearned a great deal about the prosand cons of life as an FSO, as well asthe manner in which Washington uti-lizes its diplomats around theworld—sometimes commendably,sometimes quite poorly. In additionto writing several cables, I andanother intern wrote the first-everState Department Religious FreedomReport for the Palestinian Territories.To this day, our report is the bench-mark from which subsequent FSOshave based their reports.”

That summer did allow forreunions with former classmates andchurch service. “We revisited friendsI had made while a student at theBYU Jerusalem Center. I also tried tomake myself useful to the Church bywriting a report that I gave to churchofficials summarizing the status ofPalestinian church membersthroughout the Occupied Territoriesat the time,” said Qureshi.

He and his wife, Chanthavone,returned to the States, where Qureshibegan school at SAIS. “I chose a con-centration in the energy, environ-ment, science, and technology program, as I felt that I already had asolid regional back-ground in MiddleEastern issues andneeded to gain somemore practical skills.Along those lines, I also did an econom-ics sub-concentrationin internationalfinance, and cross-enrolled in marketingand accountingcourses at the University ofMaryland's MBA program,” he said.“SAIS provided an immensely satis-fying intellectual atmosphere fromboth top-notch instructors (manyinternationally-recognized experts intheir fields) and an incrediblydiverse and international student

body. My experiences as a missionarymeshed nicely with others who hadbeen in fields as diverse as the peacecorps, venture capitalism in SoutheastAsia, the Latin American power sec-tor, international journalism, and WallStreet to name just a few.”

With little actual work experi-ence, Qureshi took advantage of aconnection and employed much per-sistence to undertake several intern-ships during his time at SAIS. “In thesummer of 2000, I interned at theU.S. Treasury Department's Office ofthe Assistant Secretary for Interna-tional Affairs (OASIA). A friend inmy local ward is a high-levelemployee of the department andpointed me to where I should applyafter he heard I was looking for aninternship. I was in the Russia,Eastern Europe, and Central Asiaoffice, and, despite being a relativenovice at economics and knowingnext to nothing about the region, Isuddenly found myself assigned asthe temporary Treasury Departmentdesk officer for Latvia and Lithuania!In practical terms, that meantreviewing all IMF documents con-cerning the countries and makingany comments on the proposed plansfrom a U.S. government perspec-tive,” he said. “I also worked onother projects such as writing areport on the Russian electric powerindustry restructuring, and wouldoccasionally represent the TreasuryDepartment at the inter-agency task

force on the proposed Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

“For my second internshipI wanted to work in the pri-vate sector, so after sending inresumes and talking to formeremployees I got on withTaylor-DeJongh, a firm thatperforms advisory services tostructure financing packagesfor large infrastructure proj-ects worldwide. The firm has

a particular focus on the Middle Eastand Latin America, with my ownwork there largely involving per-forming due diligence research onmarkets in those and other regions,”said Qureshi. “Perhaps one of themost obscure but interesting taskswas research on wireless phone mar-

“I left BYU witha much deeperunderstanding ofthe social andpolitical dynam-ics driving eventsin the MiddleEast.”

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kets in Africa. It was pretty interest-ing to see tiny countries, sometimeswracked by civil war or famine, withwireless phone networks whosetechnology far exceeded Americannetworks (my Internet communica-tion with a Sudanese operator atSudatel became a prime example).After completing a course on mod-eling power projects at SAIS, I cor-rected the financial model for a pro-posed Brazilian power plant, too.

“My third internship, also in theprivate sector, was in the firm withwhich I am now employed, PFCEnergy. After meeting several of thesenior analysts at the firm during on-campus presentations at SAIS, andafter one prior failed attempt to getan internship with them, I contacteda SAIS alumni who worked at thefirm who thought highly of me andset up interviews at the firm for me.The result was a brief two-monthinternship during my last semesterat SAIS. In fact, this was more of atrial period for possible full-timeemployment than an internship, andI was essentially asked to show myabilities through my work at thetime,” Qureshi divulged.“Thankfully the internship wentwell, and, after some further conver-sations during the summer, I didreceive a full-time job offer.”

During the summer of 2001, afterhis graduation from SAIS, Qureshiinterned with the Upstream PublicAffairs Division of ExxonMobil inHouston, Texas. “I specificallyrequested to intern with theupstream division in Houston. Thatsummer with a very large privatesector firm was a nice complement tomy previous internships with thegovernment and small private sectorfirms. I was exposed to an entirelydifferent type of organization, whereI conducted a study of social andpolitical trends in Tamaulipas,Mexico, for the first half of the sum-mer, and then was transferred to theMiddle East and Central Asia officewhere I participated in the budgetprocess for the region and conductedanalysis on political trends in thePersian Gulf and elsewhere,” hesaid. “Coincidentally, at the end ofthe summer I also helped negotiate a

consulting agreement betweenExxonMobil and PFC Energy thatinvolved past (and future) colleaguesfrom the latter.”

With his varied experience anddegree in hand, Qureshi did notlack for job offers. “I credit my timeat BYU with having given me thefoundation of knowledge that guid-ed me into my interest into geopo-litical affairs, which in turn led meto explore the range of opportuni-ties available. It was that explo-ration of opportunities that showedme that international affairs encom-passes a vast array of fields, withenergy issues being one that I havefound a great deal of interestin—thanks to its direct connectionsto politics, economics, and U.S. for-eign policy,” he offered.

Eventually deciding on the offerfrom PFC Energy, he accepted a posi-tion as a Global Oil Market andMiddle East analyst. “Though anoffer from the Foreign Serviceremains open through the end of thisyear, I started this job the week after9/11 and quickly found the firmembroiled in analyzing what theattacks would mean to the interna-tional system. Our clients includeenergy companies of all sizes, gov-ernments, and financial institutions.All of them had a dire need to under-stand the impact 9/11 would have ontheir operations and bottom line,”explained Qureshi. “Since joiningPFC Energy, I have been trained tounderstand and analyze global andregional oil market supply, demand,and inventory fundamentals.While there are many consult-ing firms out there whounderstand the quantitativeaspect of oil markets, what Ilike about us is that we areone of the few firms that hasa strong grasp of both thenumbers and the geopoliticalissues that are crucial tounderstanding them. For me,that means opportunities tocontinue to utilize and expand myknowledge of Middle Eastern affairsand Washington politics to informour analysis, as well as building newknowledge of other regions of theworld and energy markets.”

On the home front, life is just asbusy. “My wife is blessed to be afull-time homemaker. Our eldestdaughter Jamilah Sengdao is twoyears old and keeps us very busywith her hyper fun streak. Our twinsons Tor Anouvong and RaadAnourak (our “Sons of Thunder”—both mean thunder, Tor inNorwegian and Raad in Arabic)were born in October 2002 and arekeeping life both hectic and fun,” hesaid. Qureshi recently had his com-puter-designed Arabic calligraphypiece of the Psalm of Nephi acceptedfor exhibition in the Sixth AnnualInternational Art Competition at theChurch's Art and History Museumin Salt Lake.

And as if that were not enough tokeep him completely engaged,Qureshi is launching a nonprofit-sec-tor initiative. “I am working withtwo fellow BYU alumni who studiedArabic (James Phipps in Washington,D.C., and Marvin Schroeder inHouston, Texas) to form a nonprofitorganization called the Middle EastTranslation and Analysis Project(METAP) that will publish MiddleEastern press translations and analy-sis for distribution to key opinionshapers in Washington and beyond.”

Denny C. RoyDenny C. Roy used his interna-

tional relations degree from theKennedy Center as a springboardinto academia. “The Kennedy Centerprogram can be an excellent bridgebetween the bachelor's and doctorate

degrees for a studentpreparing for an aca-demic career,” saidRoy. Graduatingfrom BYU in 1987,Roy credited thepreparation for hiscareer to the excellentinstruction hereceived in IR andhelpful mentoringfrom professors like

Ladd Hollist and Ray C. Hillam. Hisbachelor's degree from the KennedyCenter earned him credit for an MAthesis and one full year of coursework, and, after graduating, Roywent on to the University of

“The KennedyCenter programcan be an excel-lent bridgebetween thebachelor's anddoctorate degreesfor a studentpreparing for anacademic career.”

Chicago, earning a PhD in politicalscience in 1991.

While earning his doctorate, Royserved as an assistant political sci-ence professor at BYU. From1992–95, he lectured in political sci-ence at the National University ofSingapore. Following a three-yearresearch fellowship at the Strategicand Defense Studies Center at theAustralian National University from1995–98, Roy became a visiting pro-fessor at National Security Affairs atthe Naval Postgraduate School inMonterey, California. Currently, Royserves as the senior research fellowat the Asia–Pacific Center forSecurity Studies in Honolulu, aDepartment of Defense institution.He specializes in China-related inter-national security issues. “The analyt-ical skills I use in my job today arethe ones I gained at the KennedyCenter,” said Roy.

Mahonry J. SanchezAfter returning from a mission to

Belgium, Mahonry J. Sanchez knewthat “international” would be part ofhis education and career. “I had agreat experience at BYU. After hav-ing returned from a mission, I knewI loved languages, and I knew Iwanted to be involved in the inter-national arena for a career,” saidSanchez. “The Kennedy Center pro-vided a lot of experiences whichhelped me prepare and be anxiousto work abroad and deal with differ-ent peoples and cultures.”

Sanchez worked to enhance hisopportunities through one of the cen-ter’s award winning programs. “Thehighlight while at the center, waspreparing for the Model UnitedNations program. Even though at theend I was not able to go, I learnedabout working with different coun-tries, interests, and cultures, and howto be effective in getting thingsaccomplished in such a complexstructure of procedures,” Sanchezprofessed. “The time I spent at thecenter definitely helped me to deter-mine that I wanted to work in theinternational arena.”

Following graduation, Sanchezwas hired to manage the corporate

accounts in Mexico for Icon Health& Fitness, the leading manufacturerin home fitness equipment. “As timewent by, my responsibilitiesincreased. Currently, I am responsi-ble for our interna-tional operations,with the exceptionof the countriesbelonging to theEuropean Union,”Sanchez reported.“Outside of thatregion, I supervisepeople who managesmaller regions andcountries. Withincountries, we work with distributorsand retailers who distribute and sellour products.”

His work offers Sanchez theopportunity travel frequently, too. “Ithas been a blessing to be able towork with all types of cultures, peo-ples, and religions, as I travel to oversixty countries in a continual effort togrow our business,” said Sanchez.“One day I could be in Moscow,Russia, and the next day in SaudiArabia, then the next day in Chile orKorea. It has been a unique growingexperience for me. And I am gratefulfor the preparation BYU and theKennedy Center provided me to beable to contribute to other societies inthe smallest of ways.”

33BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

“It has been a blessingto be able to workwith all types of cul-tures, peoples, andreligions, as I travel toover sixty countries ina continual effort togrow our business.”

34

As the U.S.-led war on terror-ism gains momentum, threeBYU students quietly work

on the flank to counter terrorism in avery unique way. For the past twoyears Jason Monson, David Farmer,and I, Blaine Johnson, have beendeveloping what is referred to as“substantive responses” to condi-tions that give rise to terrorism. Latelast year, we established theParamita Group, a nonprofit organi-zation dedicated to promoting peaceand human development in poten-tially-violent communities.

All three of Paramita Group’sfounders have participated in anInternational Study Program (ISP)Field Study during their time atBYU. In fact, that is how we met.Between the three of us, we havebeen to Asia six times in just fouryears. Co-founderDavid Farmer noted,“ISP has provided uswith experiences thatare unavailable to stu-dents at most universi-ties. Without havingseen the reality oflife outsideAmerica, it wouldhave been veryeasy for us to notconcern ourselves

too deeply with the suffering of oth-ers. Now we feel it our responsibilityto do something.”

The Foundation is Set

In 1998, I spent four months withtwo other BYU students at theGrameen Bank in Dhaka, the capitalcity of Bangladesh. While there, Iresearched how Islamic values andBangladeshi culture interact with theincreasingly-pervasive Western eco-nomic system. In particular, Iresearched how trust, kinship, andmorals positively influence themicrofinance process.

Shortly thereafter, I joined upwith the India Field Study program.During my first week in India, I trav-eled to Dharamsala, home of theTibetan Government-in-Exile.

Kundun or Seven Years in Tibet aretwo movies that chronicle the 1950sChinese army invasion of Tibet,which resulted in it being annexed asa Chinese province. The resultantpolitical oppression of the Tibetanpeople pushed waves of asylumseekers into the HimalayanMountains and into south Asia,where they now live as refugees.Very few of us, myself included,understand what I learned from vis-itng the settlements. I was disturbedto learn that Tibetans are still beingtortured in China, that monks arestill being killed for practicing theirreligion, and that nuns are still beingraped. I was shocked to hear thatover one million Tibetans, one-fifthof the entire population, have beenkilled since the Chinese seized con-trol of Tibet. As distressing as it wasto learn about the atrocities that theTibetan people continue to suffer,perhaps the most difficult to under-

stand was that nobodyhas had the courage

to come to theassistance

of the

Promoting Peace ThroughHuman Development

in Exiled Tibet by Blaine J. Johnson

Global Report

35BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

Tibetan people. I wanted to do some-thing, but I had no skills, no school-ing, and, most importantly, nomoney to return.

After returning home from India,I began working with ISP as theIndia Field Study facilitator. As such,I returned to India three more times.This gave me the chance to continuemy research into the relationshipbetween culture and development. Inparticular, I studied the relationshipbetween Buddhism and humandevelopment. In the field, I realizedthat the world was unfolding at arate much faster than academia’sability to devise solutions. The class-room was lagging behind the realworld. Through ISP, I arrangedinternships with various organiza-tions in Asia. I worked with severalNGOs in India, including theGrameen Bank in Bangladesh.

In early 2001, I returned toDharamsala with the field studygroup for one month, during which I completed an internship with theTibetan Government-in-Exile. I worked with staff members in theDepartment of Home to draft a sim-ple, savings-led microfinance modelthat responded to Buddhist philo-sophical assumptions as opposed toWestern assumptions and Buddhistsocio-economic objectives asopposed to capitalist objectives. As we worked on the model, I rec-ognized that microfinance mightserve as the perfect foundation forhuman development in Tibetanrefugee settlements.

One simple lesson came fromDevelopment as Freedom, written byAmartya Sen, a Nobel prize-winningeconomist. Sen argues that properdevelopment must promote capabili-ties of the people to choose and livethe kind of lives that they value. Froma Latter-day Saint perspective, thatmade so much sense, and I saw thatSen's theories, once integrated intodevelopment strategies, would workbeautifully in Tibetan settlements.

Creating the Model

I believe that there are a numberof communities throughout theworld that, despite terrible oppres-

sion and suffering, have not takenup terrorism. What we see in manyplaces around the world are peoplewho have every reason to use forceto defend their families and theirfreedoms, but yet they refuse to doit. We want to round up support andamplify their voices before theybecome so desperate that they haveto resort to terrorism to get atten-tion. We believe that a “war on ter-rorism” will be ultimately ineffectiveso long as we don’t learn to respondto those who refuse to use violenceas a political tool.

While conducting an interviewfor one of my courses, I spoke with aTibetan scholar who was living inexile in India. Together we ran downa list of well publicized militantmovements that have successfullyadvanced their causes in the pasthalf century: Bangladesh, East Timor,PLO, Aceh, and Sri Lanka. But, try aswe might, we could not think of anynonviolent political movements out-side the United States that had beenequally successful. At that point, Irealized that, in a sense, we were allresponsible for the rise in terrorism.Because we have not given enoughsupport to nonviolent movements,we have made terrorism the onlyvalid option for the oppressed. Soonafter that experience, I looked for dif-ferent ways to support nonviolentstruggles for freedom.

I began to entertain the idea ofstarting a nonprofit organizationdedicated to training refugees ascommunity social workers whowould work within the settlementscreating savings groups, teaching lit-eracy classes, providing basic healthcare services, and promoting humandevelopment in general. With thehelp of Monson and Farmer, theParamita Group began to take shapeand Tibet was the perfect place tostart. Since Tibet’s forceful annexa-tion, exiled-Tibetan leadership underthe Dalai Lama has remained firmlycommitted to nonviolence.

The Tibetan situation reminds meof the account of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies in the Book of Mormon whotook a vow of nonviolence. In Tibet,there are six million people that have

thrown down their weapons on theinsistence that violence is ungodly.Since fleeing Tibet, Tibetan refugeeshave protested and rallied for auton-omy, but their protests have beenlargely ignored. In the Book ofMormon the Nephites supported theAnti-Nephi-Lehies in their vow, butnobody has come forward in the caseof Tibet. Not even America has beenvery anxious to assist the Tibetans. Ifwe want to fight terrorism we mustbegin to support and help thosegroups thatdon’t use it.

Monson,co-founderand student inthe MPA pro-gram, is alsocommitted tosupportingnonviolentpoliticalmovements asa means tocurb the rise of terrorism. “Becausewe’ve ignored them, many Tibetansare growing impatient with nonvio-lence and are pushing for the gov-ernment to use more forceful tech-niques.” Monson pointed out that arecent study shows that over 60 per-cent of Tibetan youth favor the use of violence to regain Tibetan sover-eignty. “In this instance we havegiven the Tibetans no choice but tocreate a stir in the world throughviolent protest. I hope before thathappens we can create some options.”

Becoming Agents for Change

To be of assistance to theTibetans and other nonviolent move-ments has been my goal since thatfirst trip to a Tibetan settlement fouryears ago. Farmer, Monson, and Ihope that we can find support inUtah Valley and the Latter-day Saintcommunity at large for our project.“Whenever I sit and talk with aTibetan refugee, I can’t help butthink that they are now goingthrough what my ancestors did 150years ago. Because Tibetans are notpermitted to freely practice theirreligion in China, thousands of themare forced to walk hundreds and

Johnson with Tibetan children.

36

hundreds of miles through danger-ous mountain passes to find a placewhere they can worship God freely.Thousands have died making thejourney. Sometimes I feel useless sit-ting in church talking about thehardships the Mormon pioneersfaced, when I know that at the sametime thousands of people are goingthrough the same thing today. Givenmy heritage, I feel a special obliga-tion to prevent such suffering.

Despite our ambitions, we threestudents understand the challengeswe face in realizing our goals. WhenI tell people what it is that we do, Iget a lot of mixed reactions. Mostpeople are very supportive, but Ithink many people who hear aboutour ideas think we are too idealisticor perhaps even a little naïve. Youknow, they are probably right. Butgiven the present state of the econo-my, our chances of promoting peacein Tibet are much greater than find-ing a job in Utah. And maybe peaceisn’t as unrealistic as it seems. Thingsare coming together well for us.

Since the formation of theParamita Group, I moved toBangkok to pursue a master’s degreein Buddhist studies. The school Iattend is full of Buddhist monks andprovides me with a wonderfulopportunity to explore the compati-bility of religion and human devel-opment. Many of the monks that Iattend class with are part of a socialmovement within Thailand called“Engaged Buddhism.” Over the lastfew decades, many Buddhists inThailand have become proactive intheir communities. They are activelyengaged in rural development proj-ects, volunteerism, AIDS preventionprograms, and education. I havefound it quite fascinating to see howreligion can serve as a catalyst forgood in a community.

The engaged Buddhist monksthat we work with aren't your stereo-typical monks who sit in themonastery meditating on emptinessall day. They are students of econom-ics, agriculture, poverty alleviation,and conflict resolution. They arelearning how they can go out intothe world and help eliminate the suf-

fering of the poor and the sick.Because they are monks, the commu-nity provides for their materialneeds, leaving them free to focus onsocial and spiritual development ofthe community. This makes them theperfect social workers.

Our vision for the ParamitaGroup is to recreate that same sort offervor within the Tibetan settlementsamong the monastic and lay popula-tions. To do this, we are presentlyworking with a number of Buddhistmonks to develop training manualsthat can be used to train volunteer-Tibetan social workers in variousdevelopment strategies such asmicrofinance and literacy. Monksand community leaders from all overAsia come to a training camp outsideBangkok to learn what they can doin their communities to promotehuman development and alleviatehuman suffering. The ParamitaGroup will work with this trainingcamp to put together a number oftraining manuals that we can use totrain Tibetan monks how to managesavings groups, organize literacyclasses, and provide simple healthcare to their constituents.

The first manual will be a simplecrash course in microfinance—basedon a model devised and used by aBuddhist monk on the Thai borderwith Cambodia. For almost ten yearshe has been supervising 110 savingsgroups in villages serviced by hismonastery. Participants in his pro-gram are not only encouraged tosave money, but they are alsoencouraged to invest it wisely and touse it to help others in need. In otherwords, it is a microfinance programthat encourages not only economicgrowth and self-reliance, but it alsopromotes trust and compassion forothers, or social and spiritual capital.

Although we are in a very forma-tive stage, we are being coachedthrough the process of nonprofitmanagement by a number of peopleand organizations. In particular, theTibetan Government-in-Exile grantedpermission for us to work undertheir auspices to run a pilot projectin a refugee settlement in India.

When our manuals are completed,we will use them in the field.

“We don’t have the resources yetto do all the things we have permis-sion to do, but we are beginning totransfer our ideas into action,” saidFarmer. “We actually have a numberof projects that we believe will bevery useful in the settlements. Forexample, we have begun workingwith Mel Bartholomew, author ofSquare Foot Gardening, America'sbest-selling gardening book, to createa manual that will train Tibetansocial workers and monks how toproduce vegetable crops more effi-ciently. By using Bartholomew'smethod, the Tibetans will be able togrow more of the herbs that arerequired to produce the traditionalmedicines that have long been usedin Tibetan communities.”

Monson added that “specialattention” is given to make sure thatTibetan culture and wisdom is pre-served in the application of theseprojects. “We want to be sure thatthe Tibetans don’t lose their uniqueidentity as they develop,” he said.Monson suggested that this was inkeeping with the Dalai Lama’srequest that all projects providingassistance to the Tibetan people besensitive to the fragile nature ofTibetan culture. “The Tibetans havea completely different set of motives;they value their religion and culturemore than they value commoditiesand wealth. Since the assumptionsand objectives of Western develop-ment models are directly opposed tothe aspirations of the Tibetan peo-ple, imbalanced economic growthwill only serve to break downTibetan identity.”

As these tense times of war inIraq continue, we remain resolved. Ibelieve that if we can give real sup-port to nonviolent movements today,and if we can promote human devel-opment in under-served areas today,we can prevent the same thing fromhappening elsewhere.

For more information on or to lendsupport to the Paramita Group, visittheir web site at http://www.paramitagroup.org.

Most peopleare very sup-portive, but Ithink manypeople whohear aboutour ideasthink we aretoo idealisticor perhapseven a littlenaïve.

�

37BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

A Much-Needed GiftEven after they return home, BYU

China Teachers continue to serve thepeople of China inremarkable ways.On behalf ofBYU’s School ofNursing, Caroland SterlingOttesen delivereda donation of text-books last sum-mer to ShandongUniversityNursing School inJinan Province.

As ChinaTeachers for twoyears—in Jinan and Beijing—theOttesens taught English toShandong University students andexperienced firsthand the needs ofthe nursing students there.“Theirtextbooks are so outdated that theyare relatively useless,” explainedCarol. She remembers the first timestudents looked through the cou-ple’s medical books. “They’d neverseen color overlays of the humanbody,” she said.

In June 2002, when they decidedto accompany their son on a businesstrip to China, the Ottesens contactedBYU School of Nursing. “They’reresponse was amazing,” saidOttesen. In Jinan, the Ottesens wereembarrassed by the attention theyreceived. “We wanted the focus to beon BYU and the Church,” Ottesenremarked. In gratitude for the dona-tion, the school prepared a dinner, aspecial ceremony, and a huge signreading “Welcome China Teachersand BYU School of Nursing.”

Because the donated books are rel-atively current—none more than twoyears old—Shandong now has a sig-nificant advantage over other Chinesenursing schools. “You wouldn’tbelieve the prestige it gives them tohave books in English,” said Ottesen.“This is a more significant contribu-tion than we can realize here.”

Fenglan Lou, dean at Shandong,wrote, “Our school was in desperateneed of English nursing books. . . .Your far-sighted behavior will beremembered by everyone in our

school and thus encourage us tomake our school one of the bestnursing schools in China.” In 2000,Shandong Medical College digni-

taries were hosted by BYU’s Schoolof Nursing during a trip to Provo.

Ottesen noted the gratitude ofShandong students and faculty.“They’re just so hungry to be up-to-date,” she said. “They are such abright, sensitive people. We continueto be impressed with them.”

The China Teachers program is spon-sored by the David M. KennedyCenter for International Studies andBYU to help build relationships oftrust with the People’s Republic ofChina. For more information, seetheir web site at http://kennedy.byu.edu/chinateachers.html.

Re-examining LiteraryHistory Outside aHistorical Context

Without fanfare, a group of sixscholars met the first week of Marchon BYU’s campus for a three-dayplanning conference. No pressrelease; no posters to advertise. Butthe purpose of theirmeeting will in years tocome change the courseof literary history. “Howcan we avoid doing vio-lence to literature byplacing them in theproper context,” is onequestion StevenSondrup, ScandinavianResearch Program coor-dinator at the Kennedy Center andcomparative literature professor, andhis five fellow scholars will addressover the next seven to eight years.

They have been charged by theInternational Comparative LiteratureAssociation to compile, edit, andpublish a three-volume set ofresearch on Scandinavian literaturecomparable to a work by Mario J.Valdés, Literary Culture of LatinAmerica. That three-volume set, inSpanish and Portuguese, is set forpublication by Oxford University inSeptember 2003.

“Valdés looked at regional liter-ary histories instead of period ornational histories,” said Sondrup,who will be the principle editor ofthis project. “His methodologyproved so intriguing it attractedattention and caused scholars to re-think their notions of literary his-tory.” And that re-thinking led to thecurrent project.

In addition to Sondrup, the firstmeeting included leading NorthAmerican scholars in Scandinavianstudy from the University ofWisconsin, Berkeley, and UCLA, whowill guide the project. “Our confer-ence was most exciting. The chem-istry was terrific, and people workedtogether very well,” said Sondrup.The team will expand to include sixadditional scholars from the Nordicregion and four from continentalEurope. Ultimately, they expect overone hundred specialists to partici-pate in this ground-breaking project.

All material will be sent toSondrup at BYU for editing andtranslation. “We will be reachingwidely to the scholarly community toask a number of questions: Whatimpact did geography have on liter-ary culture with Scandinavia on thefringe of Europe? What have the

islands, ocean barriers, or ter-rain too rugged to breachmeant in the course of literaryhistory? What places do peo-ple go to when they leave?Why in Finland do the forestsplay such a large role?”Sondrup explained. He saidlanguage would be anotherway the group will explore lit-erary contributions. No less

than thirteen languages have beenused in the area: Medieval, Norse,Latin, modern Estonian, Finnish,Swedish, Danish, two Norwegian

Because thedonated booksare relatively cur-rent—none morethan two yearsold—Shandongnow has a signifi-cant advantageover otherChinese nursingschools.

�

“We will bereachingwidely to thescholarly community toask a numberof questions.”

38

languages (one similar to Danish andone constructed by Ivar Aasen—Nynorsk—exist side-by-side),Faeroese, Norn (there is an effort torevive this one spoken on the Orkneyand Shetland Islands off the coast ofScotland), Icelandic, and Inuit.

“In the past, literary histories

have been associated with the nationto which they correspond,” saidSondrup. “Voices that were not partof the national agenda were notincluded, whether that meant NewEngland Puritans or the Federalistapproach where women were notrepresented and no other regionswere studied, or the fact thatAmerican literature missed lan-guages other than English.”Scandinavia, which includesDenmark, Norway, Sweden,Finland, and Iceland, have only hadtheir current borders since 1905 saidSondrup, so to look at literatureusing those national boundariesresults in a cultural faux pas.

For example, the cultural land-scape would naturally associate

Malmö, Sweden, with Copenhagen,Denmark, due to their visibility toone another across a narrow strip ofwater. Stockholm, on the otherhand, is cut off from Malmö by amountain range.

“Those denied access to institu-tions of higher learning were alsodenied access to literature,”Sondrup attested. “Poverty, lack ofeducation, minority or immigrantpopulations, and indigenous peo-ple” are also among the voices leftunaccounted for using a nationalschema according to Sondrup, citingthe nomadic Sami (Lapplander) andthe Inuit as two examples.

Sondrup related a bit of historyfrom the late ninth/early tenth cen-tury to illustrate the rich, literarymine his group will be exploring. “A vibrant European culture fledpolitical repression in Norway tolive in Greenland. These people hadsubsistence farming and tendedsheep. The climate was milder,” hesaid. “They had a bishop fromRome and contact betweenGreenland and North America fromthe tenth to the middle of the four-teenth century. And Columbus isknown to have visited Iceland.”

However, climatic changesoccurred and the people inGreenland lost touch with the out-side world from the middle of thefourteenth century until the eigh-teenth century.

“The Europeans could not adaptor possibly plague killed off themajority, and the others were assim-ilated by the Inuit. A Protestant mis-sionary group remembered themand went in search. They arrived tofind only the Inuit, but stayed onand translated the New Testamentto Inuit in the middle of the eigh-teenth century,” Sondrup recounted.“They set up a press. Folktales werecollected, printed, and distributed.Using the art of engraving, the mis-sionaries created illustrations.”Greenland remains part of Denmarkto this day.

For more information, or to supportthe fund-raising efforts for thisextensive project, contactSteven_Sondrup@byu.edu orErlend_Peterson@byu.edu.

Theodore Okawa:Serving Abroad

Early October 2001, at a timewhen the nation still reeled in shockfrom the events of 11 September,Theodore Okawa of BYU’sInternational Office was called up toserve his country in the fledglingwar on terrorism. On 28 October,Okawa received his official ordersand a week later was in FortBenning, Georgia, learning the ropes.“The folks that initially talked to meon the phone couldn’t tell me any-thing. So I had one week—finallywith orders in hand—to get a lot ofthings done,” said Okawa.

With so much to get done,Okawa wasn’t able to pack his bag;that task he left to his kids whom hewouldn’t be seeing for a year. “Ithought it was quite remarkablebecause as I opened the bag, thethings I needed came out in theorder that I needed them,” saidOkawa. “I arrived, and I neededcopies of my orders—there were myorders sitting right on top; I neededto put on my uniform and that wasthe next thing that was there.”

After two weeks in processing atFort Benning, Okawa was shippedto Camp Zamba, Japan, near Tokyo.Only then did he learn aboutOperation Freedom Eagle in whichhe would participate: a counter-terrorism operation in support ofthe Philippines.

The southern islands of thePhilippines, unlike the rest of thepredominantly Christian country,are eighty percent Muslim and lieclose to the world’s largest Muslim-populated country—Indonesia. Theislands of Mindanao, Basilan, andJolo are plagued by two terroristgroups: the Moro Islamic LiberationFront (MILF) and Abu Sayef—abreak-off group with links to OsamaBin Laden. Both of these groupsoriginally stem from the MoroNationalist Liberation Front, agroup started in 1969 that laterreformed and became a politicalparty in the Philippines.

Although Abu Sayef is signifi-cantly smaller than the MILF—approximately six hundred memberscompared to MILF’s fourteen thou-

“Voices that were

not part of the

national agenda

were not included,

whether that meant

New England

Puritans or the

Federalist approach

where women were

not represented and

no other regions

were studied, or the

fact that American

literature missed

languages other

than English.”

�

´

39BRIDGES • WINTER 2003

sand armed soldiers—it is by farmore active and more dangerous.Okawa described this group as pro-moting “an uncompromising adher-ence to the radical Islamic doctrineand hav[ing] this penchant fordomestic violence, which has mani-fested itself primarily in kidnapingand ransoms for money.” This is thesame group who kidnaped Americanmissionaries Martin and GraciaBurnham. Following 9/11, thePhilippines asked for U.S. aid to con-trol these groups. “And after 9/11,we were more than happy to helpthem,” said Okawa.

With foreign military bases con-stitutionally outlawed in thePhilippines since 1991, however, this was more easily said than done.“The situation is sensitive becausePhilippine nationalists do not wantforeign forces on their soil,” saidOkawa. “They’ve gone throughoccupation with Spain, with theUnited States, and during the warswith Japan. So they don’t even wantfriendly forces on their soil.” Withno direct access to the Philippines,Okawa said the U.S. was very limitedin their mission “to provide an inte-grated plan to strengthen thePhilippine Security Forces’ capacityto combat terrorism and to protectPhilippine sovereignty.”

U.S. Army Pacific established anintermediate base in Okinawa, Japan,to mobilize troops going to BasilanIsland, the focal point of the AbuSayef activity. “We were essentiallyoperating out of Japan to supportthis project in the Philippines,” saidOkawa. His job was to organize per-sonnel. “Personnel in the army is likeHuman Resources in private indus-try,” he explained. His responsibili-ties included cutting orders, makingassignments, dealing with moraleissues, and coordinating services likefood, transportation, and mail.

“What we did primarily was givethem a lot of equipment—primarilyhelicopters—and taught them how touse and maintain the equipment,”said Okawa. “And we sent in SpecialForces, mostly Green Berets to trainthem.” The official operation kickedoff in February 2002. By politicalagreement with the Philippines, the

U.S. could maintain no more than630 troops in the Philippines at onetime. To anticipate potential logisticalproblems, the first battalion ofSpecial Forces was moved into thePhilippines in January and begantraining the Philippine armed forces.A few months later, the second spe-cial forces battalion was rotated in.All of this coordination went throughthe joint-reception center in Okinawa.

With a troop ceiling, Okawa hadto be creative in providing the neces-sary facilities for the troops. “We gotcivilian contracts to provide most ofthe logistical things down there—themess facilities. Normally we wouldhave soldiers cooking and preparingthe food,” said Okawa. “Everythingthat could be provided by civiliansunder a civilian contract was done.”

As facilities for the troops werebeing established, however, U.S.Army Pacific discovered thatBasilan Island had little infrastruc-ture. “The Philippine governmentand armed forces came to an agree-ment with U.S. forces that theywould allow us to send engineersbeyond the limit. The engineersbuilt roads, put in sewage systems,and access to whatever water wasneeded,” said Okawa. When theengineers were firedupon, the Philippinesallowed Marines in toprotect them whilethey worked. “So wewere able to get acouple thousand U.S.forces down there,”said Okawa.

In April 2002,Okawa transferredfrom Camp Zama toOkinawa to head upthe joint-receptioncenter for a sick sub-ordinate. “That wasan interesting experi-ence for me. I saw the troops as I sent themdown, and I saw the troops as theyreturned; if we sent three peopledown, we had to bring three peopleback,” said Okawa. “If we sent ahundred people down, we had tobring a hundred people back.Typically, we had two flights every-

day.” The flights to the Philippinesgenerally contained supplies,including food and ammunition.

In June 2002, Filipino armedforces discovered where the AbuSayef group was holding Gracia andMartin Burnham. In the subsequentfire-fight to free the hostages, MartinBurnham and the Chinese nurse alsobeing held were killed. Okawa waspresent as Burnham’s body wasbrought through Okinawa on its wayback to the States.

A month later, the operation wasdeclared mission accomplished andofficially ended on 31 July. “Thatdoesn’t mean that they don’t stillhave terrorist problems from dissi-dent groups in the Philippines. Thefeeling, though, is that we strength-ened the armed forces of thePhilippines enough, we gave themenough equipment, enough trainingthat they should be able to handlewhatever else comes up on theirown, and we don’t need to be thereanymore,” said Okawa, “So we’veessentially pulled out of thePhilippines and have put an end tothat operation.” After a few monthsof tying up loose ends, Okawa wasreleased from duty and arrived homeon 31 October 2002.

During his duty time, Okawa hadtwo major concerns: the welfare ofhis family and his ability to do hisjob. To help his family, Okawa reliedon his Church leaders and his oldestson at home. “I was somewhatrelieved in my worries because I hadgood home teachers and my highpriest group leader stayed close to

The islands ofMindanao, Basilan,and Jolo areplagued by twoterrorist groups:the Moro IslamicLiberation Front(MILF) and AbuSayef—a break-offgroup with links toOsama Bin Laden.

40

make sure that everything was goingokay,” said Okawa. “My oldest sonliving at home stepped in to take myplace as man of the house to try andrelieve my wife of as much pressureas he could.”

Having served twelve years ofactive duty and fifteen in the reserve,Okawa had sufficient experience toqualify him for the job, but with onlya year of cumulative training in hisfifteen years in the reserve, he felt outof step with current military proce-dures. “I’ve got one year of experi-ence in fifteen years, and now I am alieutenant colonel and everyone islooking at me like I know everything,and I’ve got all the answers,” saidOkawa. With faith and a lot ofprayer, Okawa received the inspira-tion he needed to fulfill his assign-ment. “It was almost like the way mybags were packed by my children,”said Okawa. “I would get littlereminders of something I needed todeal with, and I got inspiration thatwould tell me ‘work on this first,’ sothe Spirit was helping me prioritize.Sometimes the inspiration would be‘don’t worry about it’—concerningthings that I wouldn’t have known Ididn’t need to worry about.”

On one occasion, Okawa had ahalf hour to locate a group of soldiersthat were out doing physical train-

ing; he drove to the gym in hopesthey were there. As he arrived, heprayed for direction. He felt the dis-tinct impression that they were not inthe gym, but that he should go toDui Park. As he got there, the groupwas running up to the park in forma-tion. “There were so many experi-ences like that,” said Okawa. “I feltlike I was inspired all the time.”

Also during his time in Japan,Okawa had the opportunity to servein the Church. He invited colleaguesto attend church meetings and alsotook time to seek out inactiveJapanese members. When henoticed Japanese temple workersstruggling to officiate in theEnglish-speaking session at theTokyo temple, he volunteered to bea temple worker. “It was just a greatexperience during that twelve-month period,” said Okawa.

Now back in the States, Okawahas resumed his post as an interna-tional student advisor at BYU andfeels he is fighting the War onTerrorism on a different front. Onentering the U.S., international stu-dents from a number of Arab coun-tries are required to register withNSEARS: National Security EntryExit Registration System. This systemmonitors students’ adherence to INSregulations while in the U.S. Recently,

a U of U student was arrested for notregistering for enough credit hours.To prevent this from happening toBYU students, Okawa personallyaccompanies them when they regis-ter. During World War II, JapaneseAmericans were required to engagein a similar registration process, soOkawa sympathizes with these stu-dents. “While I recognize that thisneeds to be done,” he said. “I want to help them get through it withouthaving a really negative experience.”

Okawa feels that “there is only somuch that we can do militarily” andthat lasting peace will come throughtolerance and increased understand-ing. “We can prevent things fromhappening. We can defend ourselves.We can be influential militarily, butwe can’t really establish lastingpeace militarily,”said Okawa. “In thelong run, that which will bring uspeace really is that we don’t have allthese people hating us. I feel like thework I do as an international studentadvisor is to help these students whoare Muslim have a good experiencehere,” he said.

Since this interview was completed,Abu Sayef have relocated and entrenchedthemselves on the island of Jolo in thePhilippines.

Invitations will be mailed out, however, addresses are missing for several members of the group. If you are one

of them, or you know the location of someone who was in that 1983 Study Abroad group, please help us contact

them. Please contact Trina (Bates) Boice at trina@boiceappraisals.com for more information.

QUE VIVA ESPAÑA! Study Abroad Spain 1983

20th Anniversary ReunionMembers of BYU’s

Study Abroad Spain

1983 group will cel-

ebrate with a twen-

tieth anniversary

reunion on

23 August, at

6:00 P.M., in 3223

Wilkinson Student

Center. Families are

invited, dinner will

be served, memo-

ries shared, and

tortillas eaten.

!

Second Place

“Agua de la Casa”

Angela Slauson

Guadalajara, Mexico

Kennedy Center Third Annual Photography Contest

Third Place

“Dancing with Hooks”

Megan S. Morris

Apiakrom, Ghana

Brigham Young UniversityDavid M. Kennedy Center forInternational Studies237 HRCBProvo, UT 84602

NonprofitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDProvo, UT

Permit No. 49

The major monolithic

religions, Judaism, Islam,

and Christianity, also

seem to build more than

ever before the physical

and spiritual walls of

intolerance, hate, and

distrust among them.

ADDRESS SERVICEREQUESTED