Leaders Speak Out About the
Value of International Educational Exchange

Colin Powell, Secretary of State

“We suffer when I don’t have students such as you wanting to study in the United States because we’ve made it too difficult.  We suffer when Indonesians are reluctant to come and go to Disneyland or Disney World or use our hospitals or just to go see Grand Canyon or visit Washington, D.C. as tourists. We suffer.” 
—At an interview with exchange students, July 6, 2004

Joseph Nye, Harvard University

"It is also important to establish more policy coherence among the various dimensions of public diplomacy, and to relate them to other issues. The Association of International Educators reports that, despite a declining share of the market for international students, "the U.S. government seems to lack overall strategic sense of why exchange is important. ... In this strategic vacuum, it is difficult to counter the day-to-day obstacles that students encounter in trying to come here." There is, for example, little coordination of exchange policies and visa policies. As the educator Victor Johnson noted, "while greater vigilance is certainly needed, this broad net is catching all kinds of people who are no danger whatsoever." By needlessly discouraging people from coming to the United States, such policies undercut American soft power."
—In an article in Foreign Affairs, June 2004

Robert M. Gates, President, Texas A&M University

"I take a back seat to no one in concern about our security at home in an age of terrorism. I am now the president of Texas A&M, but I spent nearly 30 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, ultimately serving as director under President George H. W. Bush. I learned during that time that protecting our security requires more than defensive measures; we have to win the war of ideas, too. For this reason, we simply cannot tolerate a visa process that fails to differentiate quickly and accurately between legitimate scholars and students -- and individuals who may pose genuine security risks."
—In an opinion piece in New York Times, March 31, 2004

Colin Powell

“The more we know about each other, the more we learn about each other, the more we engage on differences that we have between our societies and between our social systems and between our political points of view, the better off we are.  The more dialogue we have at every level, and especially at the academic level, where opinion-makers are located…the better off we are.”
—March 18, 2004

"We cannot be so afraid that we don’t let anybody into our country. It’s costing now.  We don’t let students come to our universities because we’re concerned, or they don’t want to come to our universities because they are afraid of the difficulty of getting a visa…or the harassment they sometimes feel at our airports. So we have to secure the homeland, but we also have to remain an open nation, or the terrorists win.”
—March 2004

Lamar Alexander, U.S. Senator

“In my travels around the world, whatever country I’m in, it’s typical to see a minister of agriculture who was at Texas A&M and a minister of this who was at the University of Tennessee. So in many ways, since World War II, our most effective diplomacy has been students from other parts of the world who’ve gone to our colleges and universities for a whole variety of reasons.  So anything we can do to rationalize this conflict between security and admission of qualified foreign students…is in our interest.” 
—February 26, 2004

“After 9/11 the United States, reeling from that hard attack, started exporting something that is not typically American, we started exporting our fear and our anger instead of our optimism and our hope and our sort of welcoming nature. We are working…to do the best we can to protect our nation, but also to return to the kind of welcoming feelings that we used to exhibit to the world.”
—January 30, 2004 

“Students and scholars who come here from other countries and Americans who travel abroad greatly enrich their fields of study, helping to spark the dynamism that fuels the remarkable growth in the global economy. They also bring to the communities where they study and stay an invaluable knowledge of the world. Our openness to this sort of exchange has long been a great source of strength for this country and so the presence of Iraqi students at our universities will contribute to a better future for our people, too.”
— October 21, 2003

Rod Paige, Secretary of Education

Today, more than ever, we must educate ourselves about world affairs. Americans have experienced and endured many challenges since September 2001. The fight against terrorism, the necessity to protect our homeland, and our efforts to bring democracy to many who deserve to live richer and fuller lives, all need to be based on a solid foundation of understanding of the world beyond our borders.
— August 2003

Edward Kennedy, U.S. Senator

"One of the most effective ways to engage the Islamic world is through educational exchange programs, which promote people-to-people contacts between Americans and other peoples. Exchange programs help to build strong personal relationships and combat the misperceptions about the United States that threaten our security."
— July 30, 2003

Lee Hamilton, Vice Chair, 9/11 Commission 

“International education exchanges are an important national interest of the United States.  These exchanges, I believe, are one of the most effective tools in the American foreign policy arsenal as we confront the challenges around the world for several reasons…. Welcoming foreign students enables us to replace the walls of misunderstanding with reservoirs of goodwill.”

“I look upon these international exchanges as an enormously good opportunity for the US to take a lead in educating the leaders of tomorrow . . . in spreading our fundamental values of democracy and rule of law, human rights, and all of the things this country stands for.”
—At the National Press Club, July 14, 2003

Doris Meissner, Former Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service

“We should be taking the admission of foreign students as a national project.  It ought to be a positive attribute and element of a comprehensive, long-term foreign policy to combat terrorism.”           

“I would say that foreign student programs are a key element of the soft power strategies that we all know are central to our long-term foreign policy interests around the world.”
— At the National Press Club, July 14, 2003

Judith Kipper, Council on Foreign Relations

“The need for exchange in both directions, in my view, is a crucial, critical, vital interest of the United States of America . . . Today, culture, language, education, understanding, accepting the notion – not better, not worse, we’re simply different.  That other cultures are as good as ours, but they’re different….” 

“We have to live in the world.  And one of the ways for us to live in the world is to have exchanges, to bring as many foreign students here as possible and to have as many students going abroad . . . How that would change us.  How that would enlighten us.  How that would get rid of our fear.”
— At the National Press Club, July 14, 2003

William Perry, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense

"Educational exchanges are part of what Harvard scholar Joseph Nye has called “soft power.”  They depend on an openness to the world that may seem at first glance to be incompatible with today’s security imperatives.  But in fact, openness to these students is as much of a necessity for our safety as is greater scrutiny to identify those few who harbor harmful intentions.  Welcoming international students to our nation constitutes a crucial long-term investment in American leadership and security. Such openness has long been a bulwark of U.S. foreign policy and is a proven means to fight against the uninformed stereotypes, fear, and ignorance that are at the heart of the crisis we face today." 
— February 2003

 Colin Powell

"As we work to end the scourge of terrorism, let us also work to increase peace, prosperity and democracy. We can do this through international programs that promote the exchange of ideas and the sharing of experiences. These programs give us insight into other languages and cultures and in the process build long lasting relationships among peoples based on mutual understanding, respect and trust.

People-to-people diplomacy, created through international education and exchanges, is critical to our national interests. Americans who study abroad expand their global perspective and become more internationally engaged. Foreign students and individuals who participate in citizen exchanges return home with a greater knowledge of our democratic institutions, and America's enduring values."
—August 2002

Rod Paige

 “International education not only promotes mutual understanding and cooperation among nations, it can also strengthen national security, foreign policy, and economic competitiveness.”
—August 2002

The New York Times

 "The fact that we educate many of the future leaders in countries around the globe is among our strongest diplomatic assets. Our efforts to spread our influence and understanding of our culture should be stepped up, not abandoned. Higher education is one of the best methods we have of spreading the word about who we are and of exposing our citizens to non-Americans. Bringing foreign students onto our campuses is among the best favors we can do ourselves."
—September 24, 2002

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

“Today…even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue…. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other countries; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.”
— Accepting the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, December 10, 2001

 “The Fulbright exchange programme is a model for the kind of dialogue among cultures and civilizations that the United Nations is promoting around the world.  Today, perhaps more than ever, international understanding is essential to world peace -- understanding between faiths, between nations, between cultures.  Today, we know that just as no nation is immune to conflict or suffering, no nation can defend itself alone.  We need each other –- as friend, as allies, as partners – in our struggle to uphold common values, and to fulfil common needs.” 
— Accepting the 2001 Fulbright Prize, December 3, 2001

Richard W. Riley, Former U.S. Secretary of Education

“Educational exchanges are not a luxury — reserved for the few or pushed aside when other challenges preoccupy us. They are a matter of the national interest. While our nation properly continues the fight against terrorism, we also must develop a policy of educational diplomacy. It can be a key catalyst for a more peaceful world.” 
— In a letter published in USA Today, November 14, 2001

Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Asst. Secretary of State, Educational and Cultural Affairs

“Exchange programs are founded on the belief that a more profound knowledge of other societies and cultures, and active cooperation in the search for solutions to common problems, help to build stronger relationships between countries, governments and peoples. The State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is therefore pleased that the number of foreign students choosing to further their education in the U.S. again increased in the 2000-2001 academic year. In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, and the ongoing challenges facing our nation, we reaffirm our commitment to the ideals of international exchange as a force for understanding.” 
— November 13, 2001

President George W. Bush

“The United States benefits greatly from international students who study in our country.  The United States Government shall continue to foster and support international students.”   
—Homeland Security Presidential Directive-2, October 29, 2001

Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University

“It will do us no good…to invest in our universities if we restrict their ability to be a beacon for democracy, inspiring under-served populations to embrace freedom and government by the people…. This is no time to lead with our fears. If we close our borders, we may be safe from foreign terror for a while, but we will surely sink into an isolationism that will ill prepare us for the next challenge and break the heart and soul of our democracy." 
— At the National Press Club, November 2001

Carlotte Beers, Undersecretary of State, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 

“In times of crisis, we see the benefits of public diplomacy…. Over fifty world leaders are alumnae of our exchange programs. These long-term relationships help us deal with international challenges at a time when the United States is seeking to build a coalition of nations against terrorism."  
— Testifying before the House International Relations Committee, October 10, 2001

Kit Bond, U.S. Senator

“The foreign students who come to this land are a vitally important part of our educational system. We are very proud in Missouri to have a number of schools with a significant number of foreign students who bring their culture, their experience, and their knowledge to this country. In my view, one of the best foreign relation tools we have is to share education with the future leaders of other countries.  I have traveled extensively in Asia. I have found that many of the governmental leaders, scientific leaders, and leaders in journalism have studied in my State. They come up to me and ask how the Missouri Tigers are doing. They know what we are about. We have a good basis to talk with them.”
— October 2001

Secretary of State Colin Powell

“I can think of no more valuable asset to our country than the friendship of future world leaders who have been educated here.” 
— International Education Week, August 2001 

Rod Paige

“If we expect students to navigate international waters, we need to give them an international education that meets the highest standards....” 
— International Education Week, August 2001

(Last updated: July 2004)