Well, I believe economic development is very important, and that the consequent modernization is the motor through which the requisite cultural changes can come, as traditional societies have to reform and adapt, interact with other countries and regions, and develop a stake in stable institutions. However, I think that social tension is inevitable as countries go through changes that Western Europe had centuries to endure in mere decades, and that regional tensions and ambitions, as between India and Pakistan, for example, cannot be easily set aside. We cannot do much to force the pace of resolution. What we can do is try to avoid big blow ups, or end them quickly.
I do think that American culture is an important agent for change, providing an example of a technologically advanced product, replete with values that are "modern" (like personal autonomy), the product of an inter- ethnic and inter- racial society, used to assimilating foreign elements, and attractive to a mass audience. Like Greek culture in the Hellenistic period, or Roman culture during the Empire, I think that American culture will be the basic element in any emerging world culture, and that it is just such a common framework that must be created before advances in cooperation are likely. Thus, I favor as much enrollment of foreign students as our universities can handle, and the dissemination of American movies, tv shows, books, music, and so on, as widely as possible......... |
