Which Path to Choose?

In the past several days, more than in the months since my official “retirement,” I have had the experience of reconnecting with American University.  The fact that I purchased an apartment within a few minutes walk or bike-ride from campus makes this easy. 

The late summer weather has made walks about AU’s beautifully landscaped campus enriching.  The faces of students are familiar, generically, though unfamiliar, specifically.  I can still exchange friendly greetings with faculty colleagues, staff members, dining staff, shuttle-bus drivers and groundskeepers who became friendly acquaintances over many years.  Last week a colleague, newly appointed to an academic leadership position and I conversed at length about the challenges she faces.  On Monday there was a similar conversation with a 30-year colleague and staff member in the teaching excellence and technology center I once lead, now fundamentally transformed through reorganization.  Today, I met with a student affairs (Campus Life) staff member for an engaging conversation about how AU could better assist undergraduates in finding faculty mentors.

AU’s multi-tribal culture of undergraduate students, graduate students, academic departments, the Provost’s Office, the several Vice Presidents’ offices and the President’s Office is one that I understand intimately.  Years of experience, complemented by the skills of an ethnographic field researcher, has produced this understanding.  In the past, when challenges arose or opportunities beckoned, I could contextualize nuanced courses of action within a richly textured tableau.  This afternoon, I was asking myself, why not return to this comforting, affirming field of endeavour?

My grasp of the cultural/managerial contexts that now most engage me, Singapore’s public policy domain, the National University of Singapore the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the National University of Singapore High School of Public Policy is still superficial.  Gaining the deep, nuanced understanding that is necessary for real effectiveness will take years of “field research” complemented by intense study. Will I have the time and energy to do it? Building credibility will require a string of successes in which my past achievements will count for little.  Why should they? Failure is a possibility that must be acknowledged, though not contemplated.   Functioning in this arena is further complicated by the fact that Singapore is half way around the world.  And there are other complications.

What I am undertaking is an agenda motivated by the as yet ill-defined vision that Singapore might, somehow, serve as a beacon light for an urbanizing human species that is unthinkingly, even rapaciously, overshooting the physical and ecological limits of its habitat. This is less because of Singapore’s past achievements than, because, I believe, of this unique society’s capacity for creative adaptation and resilience.   In the past, Singapore not only overcame daunting post independence challenges, but helped light the path of China’s transformation.  For global challenges of “overshoot and collapse” to be surmounted it is China that, once again, must be transformed.

A return to doing good work in the beautiful, secure and affirming environment that American University and Northwest Washington provides is so tempting and would be so easy.  But, somehow, that path seems less fulfilling.  To quote Robert Frost, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”  

Kishore Mahbubani’s The New Asian Hemisphere: A book that every AU student - and every American - should read.

I have just finished reading one of those special books that provides a new lens through which to view the world and crystalizes thoughts previously held, but not crisply structured. It is intended for general readers and refreshingly devoid of international-relations academic jargon. Its author, a long-serving Singapore diplomat is founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Regular Dormgrandpop readers will know that my recent international travels included a two week stay in Singapore and that Singapore will be my home for this coming Spring semester of my Sabbatical year.

The New Asian Hemisphere is subtitled, ‘The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East.‘ Chapters address the ‘rise’ of Asian nations (especially China, India and many ASEAN members), the relative decline of “Western” dominance and the the degree to which hypocritical, self-serving and ineffectual Western policies have alienated many of the 88 per-cent of the World’s population who do not identify themselves with ‘the West.‘ In a concluding chapter, Mahbubani calls for a new practice of global leadership, based on ‘principles, partnership and pragmatism.’

Perhaps I found The New Asian Hemisphere particularly engaging because the author’s no-punches pulled-critique of ‘The West” and “Western pundits” highlights observations I have reached independently and in some instances written about in my blog and elsewhere. He characterizes the invasion of Iraq as ‘a seismic error, one of the greatest acts of folly of our age.’ He scores the hypocrisy of agricultural subsidy programs, disadvantaging global south producers, that are ten times greater than often ineffectual foreign assistance programs intended to assist them. His critique of US opposition to regulatory regimes intended to mitigate global warming reminds us that when addressing problems arising in the ‘global commons,’ “it is natural to expect the wealthier members of the global community to take greater responsibility. Those of us who pioneered the field of “Global Modeling” have been arguing this position, often to deaf ears, for more than 30 years. He notes that widely documented hostility of many Muslims toward America should not be surprising, since America seems to have a double standard, vis a vis the Muslim world, when it comes to promoting democracy, controlling nuclear proliferation, human rights and the value of life itself.

Yet despite the critical tone of some chapters, I found the New Asia Hemisphere’s message to be empowering and hopeful, not only for people living in Asia but for those living in the West. The future world Mahbubani envisions is rich, diverse, multipolar and resilient. The development trajectory leading to that world is one that should be embraced, not feared by the West. He ‘writes, “The end result of the powerful processes of de-Westernization should, therefore, be the world moving toward a positive destination in which many rich ancient civilizations are reborn, adding to the cultural wealth of the world and unleashing new instincts of cultural tolerance and understanding. The unpeeling of the layers of Western influence from around the globe could well lead us to a happier universe where we will have, for the first time in human history, several different civilizations at the same time, with simultaneous explosions of knowledge and wisdom. All this could lift the human condition to a higher level than experienced in any previous century.”

This is an important book for Americans to read, and especially for students at American University. You should buy it (or take it from the library) read it, discuss it and ponder its message.

Viewing systems as a whole: an insight from the Dalai Llama about medicine, economics and morality

As I was posting the part of my sabbatical proposal dealing with systems analysis, a passage from a book I was reading earlier this morning came to mind.  The book is entitled, How to See Yourself as You Really Are (2006).  His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is the author.  Here is the passage (from pp. 52-53).

In the field of medicine, ...it is not sufficient to concentrate just on one speciality.  The whole body needs to be considered.  In Tibetan medicine, the diagnostic approach is more holistic, taking into consideration interactive systems.

Similarly, in economics, if you just go after profit you end up with corruption. Look at the increasing corruption in many countries.  By considering all commercial actions to be morally neutrai, we turn a blind eye to corruption.  When, as they say in China, “It doesn’t make any difference whether a cat is black or white,” the result is that a lot of black cats - a lot of morally bankrupt people - are creating a lot of problems.