Not Able to Speak Japanese

How can someone be considered an expert of any culture without the capacity to speak the language? Language is the revelation of thoughts and cultural norms-and in order to comprehend a people, you must first comprehend their language.

I am an African-American who is a Middle East Political Scientist. 8 have M.A.'s in Middle East Studies and Political Science. The few Middle East programs available in the States have a very low requirement for Arabic language comprehension. In fact, even after completing those requirements, one would still be quite distant from possessing any capability towards engaging in the most basic conversation: (a) no one uses the formal Arabic and (:) you only have a vocabulary which entails 1500 words.

I've spent a considerable amount of time traveling in the region, and lived in Egypt for several years. Conversely, around 9 of 10 American Middle East "experts" whom I have encountered have merely visited the region, i.e. for conferences/lectures and could not even get themselves from the airport to their hotel using Arabic.

During the build-up to the Iraq invasion, it's no coincidence that a dichotomy existed regarding the view of the Iraqi citizens's reaction to an US invasion. Those of us with Arabic language skills agreed the US war and occupation will be viewed as an act of aggression, the campaign will be prolonged, etc.

Concomitantly, the other camp advocated that the Americans would be greeted with flowers and kisses-which was the desirable reply sought by the Bush Administration.

According to US census data, less than 2% of natural Americans without immigrant ties can be considered bilingual, and less than 1% are trilingual. This is astonishingly low-for any nation. Those states bordering Texas should have a bilingual demographic of approximately 25-30%. Instead, it's 3%-slightly above the national average.

Globally, Americans have a reputation for being internationally "uncultured" and "uncouth." Very few Americans are aware of the names of the Prime Minister and President for Mexico and Canada. Or, which nations have a President or Prime Minister.

Our nation has been consistently devolving in international indexes. In my estimation, this may be correlated to the lack of Americans traveling abroad. I always advocate to my family and friends to travel internationally. In many instances, it is cheaper than flying cross-country and you are bound to experience a more unique adventure. Our dearth of international travel only benefits the politicians, as our ignorance prevent us from understanding how government should serve its people.