Djerejian advises students to understand their enemies

By Sarah Rutledge     8/21/08 7:00pm

Over 700 freshmen got their first taste of the academic life Monday when they crammed into the Stude Concert Hall for the Orientation Week faculty address. Director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Edward Djerejian spoke to the new students about better understanding international conflict, tying in global politics to this year's common reading, Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea.Djerejian began his speech by men-tioning the beginning of the common reading, in which Mortenson writes to the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan had close military ties to Al-Qaeda, a situation worsened by the Taliban taking over the Afghan government, Djerejian said. And while the U.S. primarily focused on Iraq in the War on Terror, it should instead have focused on Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said.

"People are searching for who is the next enemy," Djerejian said. "We justify our identity by having enemies."

Djerejian cited Huntington's Clash of Civilizations theory, which asserts that conflict arises with the Muslim world meeting the Western world. This theory assumed that with the fall of communism - as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin wall - wars would end, and free-market democracies would take over previously corrupt governments.

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Djerejian said this flawed theory was used as justification for the war in Iraq when the real motive behind the conflict was to enact an Iraqi regime change. The ideologues viewed the country's Muslims as the clash to take care of, he said.

"Yes, there are fanatics and ex-tremists in every culture, but by con-centrating on that narrow section of the truth, we can formulate policies based on confrontational policies," Djerejian said.

When dealing with conflict, Djerejian suggested countries craft policies on the basis of the other's culture. Currently, the United States lacks the confidence and resources to understand these cultures, he said. He suggested allocating resources to beefing up the country's language specialists and diplomats to provide a more sophisticated view of foreign cultures.

Because of the Iraq War, the United States's resources are mostly being siphoned off to that area of the world, Djerejian said.

"The war has absorbed the administration to the point where we're neglecting basic relationships [with other countries]," Djerejian said, citing Russia's recent invasion of neighboring country Georgia. "When you don't pay attention to ethno-political conflicts, they will blow up in our collective faces."

While Djerejian was a member of a bipartisan study group to President George W. Bush, his group warned Bush not to dismantle the Iraqi military. The administration went against the group's wishes and dismantled the army in what he deemed the critical moment in the war. The later Sunni insurgency against the U.S. army boasted many furious ex-Iraqi army members, Djerejian said.

Djerejian advised the audience to remember that people around the world have the same ideas, which he said is a problem the government has often faced in the Muslim world. He said the military should be the last option when dealing with cultural differences and Western leaders should understand the importance of religion in governmental policy in Muslim countries. He advised against labeling these enemies as evil empires because that keeps countries from discussing issues openly with the Muslim world.

He concluded his speech by in-viting the freshmen to take part in Baker Institute events.

Brown College junior Bill Doetsch said the speech was fantastic and the best O-Week faculty address of the three he has seen. Doetsch, an O-Week advisor, said the speech integrated the common reading into its message without dwelling on it too much.

"The speech addressed a fascinating subject and was very well put," Doetsch said. "It was something the students should hear.

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