By Christina Smith
The Educate ’08 Event Series welcomed Dr. Shashi Tharoor, author and former undersecretary-general of the United Nations, to campus Wednesday for an informational lecture on public diplomacy.
The approximately 100-person audience was greeted in the Monroe Lecture Hall by the University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Herman A. Berliner, who opened the floor by concluding that there was “no better speaker to address the diplomatic challenge” than Tharoor.
Although he admitted lecturing about the American image to a large crowd of Americans made him feel “like a marine biologist talking about whales to Jonah,” Tharoor addressed the difficult challenge of restoring the American image, the history of American public diplomacy, how to restore this diplomacy and the impact the November election will have on the world.
“The fascination with the new election is that Americans are choosing their future for themselves,” Tharoor said.
According to Tharoor, the world’s image of the United States would change should Barack Obama be elected to the presidency and that this event’s “symbolic value will be incalculable.”
However, even with a new president, Tharoor said America still needs to know what a proper public image consists of.
“A country isn’t a soft drink or a cigarette,” he explained. “Public diplomacy is not based on brands or jeans or music.”
Tharoor also said many countries look at the U.S. as a land of exploitation, a center for globalization and a socially corrupting infrastructure.
He said an openness to the rest of the world is truly essential for progress. To truly fix diplomacy problems, Tharoor said the U.S. must make adjustments, redefine our purpose in the word and then tailor conditions appropriately.
Attendees ranged from students to professors to community members. Despite the varied audience, Tharoor used quotes, anecdotes and jokes to ensure attendees understood the opportunity and abundance of debate surrounding the issues.
“It was really captivating in the sense that he knew his audience,” said freshman Emily Cummins. “He appealed to college-age students by bringing his point of view to light in a funny way.”
At the end of the lecture, Tharoor held a five-minute question-and-answer session. Questions for the former undersecretary-general covered a range of subject matter; including the effectiveness of the United Nations, the U.S. position on human rights, how the new administration can use hard power and how the country can tackle the obstacles on its way to change.
“It was very interesting to be a part of the debate activities. It’s wonderful that the [presidential] debate is here at Hofstra and that the community and students are being sensitized to the issues beforehand,” Tharoor said. “I’m privileged to be a part of it.”