Fall, 1979
Vol. 1 No. 4
F O R E I G N POLICY REVIEWED AT FOUNDATION CONFERENCE "The seminar most certainly changed my views. I discovered that America really did not play the *bad guy' in international affairs". This is how a junior political science major from Columbia University described the impact of Young America's Foundation's seminar on International Relations. The conference was held at American University in Washington, D . C . from August 12th-15th. Over fifty students from around the country participated in four days of lectures and discussions on United States foreign policy. The Academic Director of the program was Dr. Alan Ned Sabrosky of Catholic University, a noted authority in this field. Dr. Sabrosky deah with topics in most college international relations courses, but presented a viewpoint designed for responsible college students who believe in their country
and
have
pride
in it.
The International Relations Seminar was held at American University in Washington, D.C. from August 12-15, 1979.
The
seminar prepares college students in the study of subjects in such a way that they will be able to defend their beliefs in a classroom. The students are given alternative viewpoints to those they generally receive in college as well as alternative readings to those they will be assigned. The program —in short —arms them intellectually for what is at bottom a war of ideas over the direction America will take in the decades ahead. For while the virulent disruptions that characterized the sixties appear to have subsided, students know that instruction in the classroom remains essentially the same. This instruction is often hostile to free enterprise, American foreign interests, and the basic values that
The seminar was attended by 54 students from 34 schools in 19 different states.
have made our people strong, prosperous, and independent. In addition to the lectures presented by Dr. Sabrosky, discussion groups were held each day of the conference. In these sessions, the students were able to ask questions they had about lecture material, as well as relate the subject matter to their campus programs. Three faculty assistants served as discussion leaders. They were: Dr. Jeffrey Gayner of the Washington based think tank, the Heritage Foundation, who brought his expertise as a Capitol Hill observer to bear upon the foreign policy matters discussed at
the conference; Robert Schadler, of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute whose experience participating in campus programs greatly augmented the conference's line-up; and Paul Koch, a graduate teaching assistant in political science at Georgetown University who was particularly popular with the students. Two highlights of the conference were the guest lectures. The first guest speaker was Mr. Andre Visser of the South Africa Foundation. Mr. Visser discussed reform efforts in his country to end apartheid. South Africa can succeed in its attempts to bring racial justice, along with political and economic stability, he contended, only if Western nations, particularly the United States, do not obstruct peaceful reform efforts. The second guest lecture was presented by Dr. W. Scott Thompson of Tufts University, a well known academician and author of several works in the field of national defense. Dr. Thompson's remarks centered on the decline of U . S . military strength around the globe. The United States does not pay enough attention to the emerging Soviet advantage in nuclear arms, claimed the Tufts University professor. He also discussed issues surrounding the current SALT II treaty. The students who attended represented a good cross-section of the nation's colleges. Large and small schools from every corner of the country were represented, including Yale, Princeton, Tufts and Columbia Universities, as well as the U . S . Naval Academy. FOREIGN POLICY continued on page 5