~mbassador in the Classroom Diplomat brings experience :- foreign policy to PSU 1 :larenee Heir I tudents, faculty and the community at large are 'galntng valuable wights this about US. loretgn poltcy In the e East from a man who has ucE4, directly Involved In ~ t s ImDiementation over the past two year Mlddl decades George Lane, most recently U S. Ambassador to the Yemen Arab Republac. 1s spendtng thfs academlc vear as Dlolomat In Residence at PSU h s f rst asstgnmenl n Ine Un tcd Slates s nce 1860, except lor a lo~r-yearstrelcn n VLasn~nqlon. D C PSJ s one of on v f ve ln$itut~onsn t h e natioi paritc~pat~ng in the "d~plomal-in-residence" Lane has been on campus since mld-Septemberand already he has addressed groups In Oregon. Washtngton, Cal~lorniaand Idaho. d~scussingU.S foretgnpollcy Issues. W~nterterm, he taught a course on the h~storyof U.S. lorelgn poltcy tn the M~ddleEast slnce World War II. He 1s Impressed,he says, with the level of interest and knowledge of forelgn affalrs he has found in h~s stay here. He slngles out the Great Decisions Program, run In conjunction w~ththe World Affairs 3uncll. lor particular pratse. HIS own course. he says. "1s about 11polltlcal science and half plomatlc h~story:' He suggests that the strong lerest In forelgn affairs 8s reflected Dress coverage and comment SU, maktnu publlc aooearanc6s ?forevanois community and relgn poilcy study groups. and ~unseltnow~th~nterestedstudents )out carGers In the forelan service Ambassador George Lane Amer~canpress Many ol lhem dont Lnderaand !ha! an tndrlddal rnemoer of Conoress wno rs rr isa of them 1s slat1r6a Dersonai ool%of vlew and not thai of'the neie. "We probiblv have a more open socrety In terms of forelgn affalrs than almost any country in the world." Lane savs "Even on other Western countrjks wlthi Ion; - tradttion of free press there is a tendency not to talk or crittctze too -uch In forelgn affairs becauseof a ellng that, after all. there IS a ttlonal interest wh~chtranscends .4,, .. '). . Lane believes that Ihe wide public cussi ion of fore~gnaffalrs 1s !althy. However, he says. 11can lffe more dtfftculttor members of the forelgn servlce who must work wtth forelgn leaders on a dally bas~s. "It 1s amazlng how sensitive forelg?, leaders are lo the press In general. he says. "and particularly to the admin~strat~on." Lane bellevesthe growing interest in foreign affalrs In the U.S. 1s reflected In a more mature outlook on the role of this country in the world. "The question now is not how to achieve dom~nanceover someone, but how we can manage Our relat~onshipswith other COUntrles." he savs "We need to manage these reiatlonshipsas best we can to advance the mterests of the people of the United States in both the short and the long run." What 1s golng to help us,' he adds, is peace and prowess In other countnes:' We have to understandthat the exerclse 01 foretgn affairs 1s a lono-term orooosit~on and that there are-no "a"ick'flx' answers t o - - long-staridlngproblems, Lane says. However, he does see some basic commonai~tiesamong people. "I thlnk, for example, of Ihe basic desire of every mother and father to get a better lifefor themselves and their children. That's really what afmost everybody wants to do. It's true of the Yemeni farmer and the people of Portland, the people of Massachusettsand the people of France." "Thars pretty simplista." Lane says. "and you don't use that feeling as a negotiating tactic. but it 6s always there, an underlyrng feeling. The whole reason you have negottatlonsis this bas~cfeeling that we re all In thls together. Unfortunately,we haven't progressed to the point where d~strusthas disappeared. ll's st~lai very complex world wtth a lot of competing ~nterests:' The former ambassador says he has enjoyed his relationship w~th Portland State "Th~s a," he says. "tn many ways the model of a modern urban unlverslty.And I lhke worklng Wlth students. I've certainly learned somethtng from them and I hope lhey have learned from me.'' One dark spot in the experi has been the University's bud- problems. "Obviously, there 1s a ence oet Untversrtv. It affects the whole lone of wha~sqoinqon." he says Lane also ~ssaddenedby the budget cuts made In the Mlddle East Studies Center "As a man who's Soent a lot of tame In the Mlddle East and who belteves 11 IS tmportant to In sotte of that. howe;er. Lane 1s enjoying hls assignment at the Untversity."Academ~a1s a career that a lot of lore~gnservice offlcers 00 lnto when thev retlre and I Gertalnlv would not exclude that from my ow6 future." he says
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