When the Torch is Passed: Will Wabash Men be Prepared to Lead the Messy World?
America’s future is now inextricably intertwined with the future of the Middle East. That was the first sobering message prominent Islamic expert Vali Nasr brought to the Wabash campus this past February. As much as we would like to wash our hands of that region, withdraw our troops, and deem it “hopeless,” we cannot escape its importance to our nation’s future, prestige, and freedom. The second sobering message Mr. Nasr brought to our campus was that America’s current leadership shows little to no knowledge of the Middle East’s people and politics. The terrorist attacks of September 11th sucked an entire generation of Americans, for whom the Middle East had been little more than a particularly oil-rich square on the chess board of the Cold War, into a culture they had long ignored and little understood. Even after five and a half years of war, most American leaders, let alone most American citizens, can still not satisfactorily explain the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Even Democratic Representative Silvestre Reyes, the new Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, recently displayed startling ignorance of the issue, proclaiming al-Qaeda to be a “predominantly–probably– Shiite” organization (Al-Qaeda is a Sunni organization which views Shiites as heretics).
It would seem, given such stunning incompetence at high levels of government, and given such incredible importance to the war we’re currently fighting, that there would be particular interest in the lectures of Mr. Nasr, who has written five books on the Middle East and has even briefed President Bush on the subject of Iraq’s sectarian violence. And both of his talks were indeed delivered to full audiences. Those audiences seemed to consist primarily, however, of professors and aged residents of Crawfordsville. While it is certainly encouraging to see any citizen attempting to learn about the problems which confront our country, it is the younger generation, our generation, which will inherit those problems, and our generation should have been represented more heavily at those lectures.
The War on Terror has posed a particular problem in gaining the awareness of students. There has perhaps never been, in all of the history of our college, a major American war from which Wabash men have had the luxury of remaining so detached. Those few who have relatives in the armed services or have themselves enlisted aside, the War on Terror has played out for most students like a television drama, in which bad news is brought to us by the venues of CNN and the Fox News Channel as opposed to a soldier with a solemn telegram. The televised and disconnected nature of this war has given us the false impression that it is an optional part of our lives: that we can literally turn it off if we so wish. But that is not the true nature of any war. And this war, more than most, has the potential, indeed even the probability, of spilling over onto American soil. The haunting image another September 11th-style attack on the United States is not, as some would have you believe, simply a fabricated scenario concocted by the sinister Dick Cheney in order to scare people into voting Republican and throwing away their civil liberties. It is a real possibility, a frightening reality of the new century we’ve entered. Such an attack, if and when it takes place, would immediately shatter the illusory notion that this is a war we can watch pass as bystanders. Hopefully that day will not come, but we cannot go on as if that illusory notion is real. In order to prepare ourselves for the great challenges ahead, we must educate ourselves about the Middle East.
“This all sounds a bit lofty,” you may be thinking. “Why does everyone have to learn about this?” Perhaps you’re a math or biology major. You want to be a doctor, a chemist, a real scientist. You’re not at all interested this topic, which ventures into the realm of political science. What reason do you have to dabble into this complicated area if it will not affect the career of your choice? If you are not drawn to learn about the Middle East through your own intellectual curiosity (that is to say, your desire to think critically), then there are plenty of other reasons to do so. Even if you desire to be nothing more in life than a voting citizen, it is important that you learn of these issues in order to choose the best leaders to manage them (i.e. to act responsibly as a citizen). If, on the other hand, you are one of the many Wabash men who dreams of being a leader of some kind, then it is obviously important to learn about the region in order to avoid the mistakes the current generation of leaders have made (in other words, in order to lead effectively), and ultimately work toward a world that is free of the awful bane of war (the best way, it could be argued, to live humanely). For democracy to function at its best, the entirety of the voting public must be well-informed. This current struggle is an experience that we are going through collectively, as a nation. The best way to succeed is to do so collectively, as a nation. Wabash College has the capacity to prepare you for these tasks, but only if you let it.
So how does Wabash College prepare you to confront the challenges that face our country? Well, to begin with, it brings speakers like Vali Nasr to campus. He was almost certainly one of the most important speakers to come to campus all year, but as such, he is in good company. Wabash delivers no shortage of important speakers. John Ashcroft’s speech in the chapel earlier this month represented the opposite side of the coin Nasr presented: national security. He delivered a similar call for our generation, telling us that we would inherit the world’s complicated problems and ultimately devise our own solutions (developing a formula from which we can preserve our freedom and remain protected in this dangerous new world). Ashcroft’s speech certainly had better attendance than Nasr’s, yet there were still those who didn’t show up. Though it was certainly their right to do so, it was odd to see students, few as they may be, boycotting an event of such importance. They embodied an attitude which is particularly harmful to efforts to educate citizens.
In order to learn about the Middle East, or any other part of the world for that matter, you will have to listen to views which don’t line up with yours. Discerning the truth in such a complex mess of cultures and opinions that is the world is a difficult matter. Claiming that you will not listen to another point of view because that view is somehow “biased” is not a valid excuse because every point of view, in some way or another, is biased. Vali Nasr was not an untainted god, who graced this campus with his infallible truths, and neither was John Ashcroft. But there were things to be learned from both speakers. There were arguments to be made for and against both speakers. There were discussions to be had. This same principle applies to classes at Wabash, another way the college can help you prepare to confront our nation’s challenges. Too often, students will boycott classes, both literally and intellectually, because the professors are perceived to have a certain political bias. Only through taking those classes, listening to biases of all sides and understanding them, however, can you get to the truth.
Finally, if you don’t want go to important lectures or take classes pertinent to the problems our country faces, then Wabash offers two more indispensable tools for understanding the Middle East: free newspapers and high-speed broadband Internet access. Two of the simplest of Wabash’s gifts are two of your most valuable sources of information. The New York Times (again don’t be afraid of liberal bias) provides in depth reporting, analysis, and commentary from the Middle East and all around the world. As far as the Internet goes, the more biased you get, the better. Websites like al-Jazeera English and the Fars News Agency, while they may at first seem outrageous to the American viewer, provide insightful glimpses into the thinking of the people of the Middle East. The Internet offers an incredible wealth of information. It is a great irony that students are so disengaged from the world at a time when so much of it is available at their fingertips.
In September of this school year, Wabash welcomed back to its halls members of its World War II generation. Much has been said and written about that “greatest generation” of Americans: about their spirit, their patriotism, their unity as a nation in confronting the menaces of their time. Today, we look back on those warriors as the men who saved civilization. They were placed by Providence at the forefront of a great and challenging moment in history, and they were equal to the tasks of their time. Any one of them would no doubt tell you that they were doing nothing extraordinary, just confronting the challenges placed before them. But we can see now just how great the challenges of the Second World War were, and how heroic their generation was in confronting them. Future generations will look back on our time with a similar sense of wonder. We too have been placed at one of history’s great crucibles, and we too have the potential to rise to the challenge. But potential is not always used, and the course of history is not inevitable. If we are to have future generations look back on us as a great generation, then we must follow the example of the “greatest generation.” The circumstances of our two generations are, to be sure, very different. The blessings of America’s overwhelmingly superior military technology do not require that every Wabash man enlist in the armed services and serve in battle, but every Wabash man must still serve. To win the War on Terror, we must build a generation of educated citizens, prepared to guide America into a new era of American leadership. It is our patriotic duty to do so.
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