Carnegie Forum on Iraq Explores the Costs of War

	(Left to Right) Rajan Menon, Eric Davis, Yitzhak Nakash, Vartan Gregorian, Caroline Kennedy, John Shattuck and Helena Cobban
h

In October 2007, the Corporation and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, in conjunction with the Boston Review, co-hosted a Carnegie Forum on Iraq at Corporation headquarters. The first ever Kennedy Library Foundation event to take place in New York, it was the second in a two-part series on “The Challenges in Iraq,” and featured presentations by four recognized experts in the field: Rajan Menon, Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University, a 2002 Carnegie Scholar; Eric Davis, professor of political science at Rutgers University and the author of Memories of State: Politics, History and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq, a 2007 Carnegie Scholar; Yitzhak Nakash, author of Reaching for Power: The Shia in the Modern Arab World and Shias in Iraq, a 2006 Carnegie Scholar and Helena Cobban, Middle East specialist and columnist for the Christian Science Monitor.

In his introduction, John Shattuck, chief executive officer of the Foundation offered a quote from John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech before Congress: “Experience has taught us that no one nation has the power or the wisdom to solve all the problems of the world or manage its revolutionary tides; that extending our commitments does not always increase our security; that any initiative carries with it the risk of defeat and that no people can be made free without a will and energy of their own.” The purpose of the forum was to explore the costs and challenges of four and a half years of war in Iraq, trying to understand the real forces propelling the conflict and reviewing the debate over withdrawal. The discussion also aimed to uncover the meaning of sectarianism in Iraq, to address the basic question of whether there is or can be an Iraqi state, and how the interests of other countries in the area influence what the real policy choices might be regarding changing the situation on the ground.

Carol Bellamy, president, World Learning

Carol Bellamy Speaks on Global Education’s Benefits

In October 2007, Carol Bellamy, president of World Learning and former executive director of UNICEF, addressed the Women’s Forum at a well-attended breakfast hosted by Carnegie Corporation. Bellamy, who in 1993 was the first former volunteer to become director of the Peace Corps, spoke passionately about the value of a truly global education for students in the 21st century. She believes learning to live as a responsible citizen of a globalizing world is one of the key challenges facing today’s young people, and that studying outside of the United States as part of their formal education is the best way to meet this challenge. Not simply a matter of sightseeing and acquiring language skills, study abroad programs give students the power to internalize a different cultural viewpoint—the true hallmark of a global citizen, according to Bellamy. Pointing out that only about one percent of U.S. students currently study abroad, and that most tend to come from elite schools, she urges the higher education community to make it possible for many more young people to become global citizens by increasing the number of high quality programs, providing more funding and including less-traveled destinations.

	Ernest Wilson, Dean, Annenberg School for Communications, USC and Paula Kerger, president, PBS
h

Public Television Takes on the Digital Future

Forty years after the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television helped to shape the philosophical and structural foundations for the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, a meeting was held at the Corporation in November 2007 to take stock of public TV today. Some serious issues face this trusted medium of education, information, democracy and journalism as it prepares to go completely digital in early 2009. Many in the industry believe public television has the potential to do and to be much more—increasing its outreach, creativity and effectiveness—by capitalizing on the promise of digital technologies.

Alberto Ibarguen and Vartan Gregorian

To explore this theme, the Corporation held a half-day meeting organized and moderated by Susan King, Corporation Vice President, External Affairs and Program Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy. Attendees included national public broadcasting leaders such as Paula Kerger, President of Public Broadcasting System and Patricia Harrison, Chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and others with a deep interest in the issues such as Alberto Ibarguen, President of the Knight Foundation and partner in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education as well as Ernest Wilson, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communications, University of Southern California. Local station managers also took part in the conversation, focusing on the way digital opportunities open the door to innovation, inviting communities to become more involved with local resources such as universities and museums while revitalizing local media. According to Kerger, public television’s future, its reach, its programming and its funding potential all depend on finding the financial model to sustain the system and harnessing digital technology to its needs and purposes; it also means being willing to take risks and to occasionally fail.

	Farooq Kathwari and Salam Al-Marayati
h

A Closer Look at Muslim Civic Engagement

In December 2007, in partnership with the Open Society Institute and the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Corporation hosted a panel discussion with members of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Task Force on Muslim American Civic Engagement. The discussion followed the publication of the Task Force’s report on integration and featured comments by Task Force co chair Farooq Kathwari, CEO of Ethan Allen; Chicago Council President, Marshall Bouton and Salam Al-Marayati leader of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. The panelists discussed a range of subjects including the importance of accelerating Muslim American engagement in civic affairs and U.S. political life; U.S. security and better relations with the Muslim world. According to the report, although Muslim Americans are a well-educated, diverse group that can make even greater contributions to the nation, they lack strong institutions and sufficient public or political voices needed to gain regular access to government and media circles.

	Hillary Wiesner, Program Director, Carnegie Corporation Islam Initiative and Marshall Bouton, president, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
h

Summit on Journalism in the Service of Democracy Draws Hundreds

Prominent editors and practitioners of both traditional and new forms of journalism sat down with more than 150 professors, journalism students and deans from a dozen journalism schools at the Summit on Journalism in the Service of Democracy hosted by Carnegie Corporation and The Paley Center for Media in New York City in January 2008. They discussed challenges confronting both newspapers and the broadcast television networks as they lose readers, viewers and advertisers, but also heard some refreshingly upbeat views on the talents, skill and enthusiasm the new generation of journalists is bringing to the profession, plus applause for what is taught in the nation’s leading journalism schools.

(left to right) David Doss, Anderson Cooper 360; John Alpert, DCTV; Pat Mitchell, the Paley Center; Paul Steiger, Pro Publica; Steve Grove, YouTube; Susan King, Carnegie Corporation; Christof Putzel, Current TV
h

In his welcoming remarks, Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian praised the students as well as the faculty and deans “for being in the truth business, for being in the democracy business, for being in the citizen business—not just the business of making money.” Bill Keller, editor of The New York Times, admitted to being “a convert to the cause of journalism schools,” as a place where aspiring reporters can get the preparation they need, noting that more than half of those the Times hires have journalism degrees as well as experience at other newspapers. Asked by Geoffrey Sands, a McKinsey & Co. director, if there are any signs of the talent pool drying up, Jim Willse, editor of the Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, spoke of the amazing talents of the students applying for internships. “Their resumes are astounding,” he said.

	Ian V. Rowe, MTV
	Vartan Gregorian, Carnegie Corporation
h

International Education Report Raises Tough Questions

In January 2008, Carnegie Corporation’s Education Program hosted a presentation by Andreas Schleicher, head of education research for the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the latest report of their Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This in-depth report, presented at the request of Michele Cahill,
vice-president, national program coordination and director of urban education, compares the reading, mathematical and scientific progress of 400,000 15-year-olds in the 30 OECD countries and 27 others, covering 87 percent of the world economy. After investigating reading and math achievement in 2000 and 2003, the 2006 survey looked at science scores.

In general, Schleicher reported, average student achievement was flat, with Finland showing the highest rankings in overall excellence, then South Korea (highest in reading) followed by Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan, Australia and Japan, down to lowest performing Mexico. Poland showed the greatest improvements due to increased investment as well as eliminating their dual (vocational versus university prep) tracking system. Average performance in the United States was poor by world standards

	Andreas Schleicher reports on international education data
h

The study revealed that about 25 percent of U.S. 15-year-olds do not reach basic scientific competence (against a world average of 20 percent). Looking for common factors among the top performing countries, PISA research showed high national standards coupled with school autonomy — simply put, letting principals control budgets, pay scales and hiring of teachers— along with publicizing of school results make a difference.