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Winter 2008 Vol. VI, No. 2
Inside the Gate
Views from Campus
Founders Day Student Essay Contest
Political vs. Institutional Values: AUB as a Beacon of Hope
Do aub’s politically active students share the institution's
values or do they share the values of their political mentors off campus?
Is there a difference?
Randa Adra (BS ’08)
As usual, at the start of the session,
my professor began the mundane
process of taking attendance while
his students, each in their own mental
fantasyland, would consistently fail
to respond to the proclamation of
their names. “I don’t care what you
say, just, please, respond loudly and
clearly when I call your name,” said
the disgruntled professor. Thus, at the
sound of his name, one of my fellow
classmates replied, “I love life!” Appropriately
enough, the next student’s
response to his name was, “With
dignity!” And so goes the story of our
lives as Lebanese residents, and, to a
great extent, as AUB students.
The American University of Beirut
(AUB) embodies a multitude of the
facets of Lebanese, as well as international,
society. The political circumstances
of today entail that an American
university located in the “Paris
of the Middle East” be fraught with
contradictions, and so it is. Every year
AUB endows its several thousand
students with the values of freedom
of thought and expression, tolerance,
and respect for diversity and dialogue.
On the other hand, these principles
are frustrated by the bipolarity and
considerable political extremism that
exists in the nation it belongs to. The
faculty, staff, and particularly the students
are caught between two worlds:
that which they are exposed to on
campus, and that which encompasses
the anticipated seven thirty or eight
o-clock news, depending, of course,
on which side they support. Throughout
its history, AUB has made it its
purpose to reconcile these opposing
realities by means of promoting its
revered values to students, especially
with respect to the Lebanese political
upheaval. The end result is, for better
or worse, a politicized AUB.
In contrast to the admirable ideals
that AUB endorses are the actual
political values and affairs of its warridden
nation. Lebanon, as a state, is
considered the poster-child for confessionalism
and sectarianism. Furthermore,
this system is sustained by
blatant and prevalent nepotism and, to
a great degree, corruption. It is a fact
that Lebanese political leaders do aid
their less fortunate supporters, devote
their time and money to direct the
country down the path they believe it
should follow, and risk their lives in the
process. However, when Machiavelli
stated his realist political theory “the
end justifies the means,” Lebanese
politicians were clearly listening carefully.
Their commendable feats are
often trumped by their manipulation
of the flawed political system to their
benefit, thereby depicting the basis of
their value system: self-interest and
power. The entrenched sectarianism
joined with this lust for power and the
curse of corruption all inevitably lead
to their regrettable support of faction
before nation.
The past two years have exposed
the citizens of this country to the
façade of dialogue and pending
peace that is endlessly disappointing
as would-be brothers battle against
each other. Thus, it seems more
than natural that we, the youth of
the nation, so continually placed in
the context of this conflict and everinfluenced
by our fathers and forefathers,
take a side and become politically
active. The values of our political
mentors, the virtuous and the vicious,
have been ceaselessly embedded in
our minds as we listen to their passionate
and provocative speeches.
We choose to hold their flags and
chant their songs, and we begin to
blind ourselves from the reality of the
dilemma in our nation as we carry
their ideals with us eternally. They
are selling us a product and we the
consumers have succumbed to their
advertising strategy and begin to sell
the merchandise ourselves.
The question arises: what role can the youth, still in the nascent stages
of their lives, play in such an industry? The answer lies in two words:
the future. We represent the future of Lebanon, and its potential political
stability, economic growth, and sustainability all greatly rely on us.
Fittingly, our opportunity to educate and exercise
The values that the institution of AUB promotes and those that the students proclaim in defense of their political mentors during elections are clearly poles apart. The University endorses freedom of expression and thought, and respect for dialogue. On the other hand, the politicians find means to silence their adversaries and dupe their followers so that they may prevail. We as students of this institution are not simply products of one of these value systems, but a profoundly complex combination of the two. We are indeed political animals, as depicted by our actions in those aforementioned two weeks saturated with commotion and disarray. Yet, it has been years since AUB has seen severe aggression, violence, or extremism on its grounds as a result of this voting period. As a university that has embraced diversity and boasts students holding flags of every color, it has also succeeded in implementing a system of mutual respect and understanding. Whether it is through strict disciplinary measures, unyielding security, or simply building reverence for the integrity of the institution, even the most politically charged students remain composed. They are indisputably influenced by their political mentors’ ideals, and have yet to embrace true tolerance for their political rivals. However, they choose the path of diplomacy and compromise rather than that of hostility because they are equally swayed by certain values of AUB.
Though Ernest Benn described politics as “the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy,” it is an inevitability that permeates our daily life in Lebanon. Many have asked why AUB must also be plagued by this overabundance of politics, which reaches the extent of livening up tedious classroom attendance taking. The answer is simple. AUB is an integral part of the district surrounding it, as well as the society it is composed of. It has admirably chosen to be representative of its environment despite the incongruity of being an American university in such an atmosphere. However, its mission must not end here, but, instead, be two-fold. AUB must first understand that avoiding politics in a nation like Lebanon is an unattainable ambition. Subsequently, and regardless of this, our beloved institution must continue its duty of endowing its students with its values and fighting against the sectarian divisions that the politics of our country seem to define more clearly everyday. Though AUB has not yet succeeded in this undertaking in full, it could and does provide a beacon of hope for the future of Lebanon: the youth. We can only aspire that it will remain up to the task.
Focus on… IFI
The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) aims, says Director Rami Khouri, to create “innovative, exciting, and satisfying mechanisms to generate the best possible interaction between the policy-making world and the world of research and ideas. We see ourselves as pioneering a process not very well developed in the Arab world—to actually try to influence public policy through serious research and mutually satisfying interaction... Everyone benefits. It’s a win-win situation. We learn from them and they learn from us.” Khouri explained why the institute was set up at AUB: “We’ve discovered that the best absolute asset that we have—the competitive edge, the comparative advantage—is the research work of the professors.”
The institute was officially established at the opening ceremony held on December 14, 2004 in Issam Fares Hall. At the symbolic “ground breaking” at the site of the projected IFI building on the grounds of the Gulbenkian Infirmary on campus, no earth was turned, but a plaque was placed where the institute’s building will stand. AUB professors and interested members of the community took part in brainstorming meetings in 2004 and 2005. Exploring what such an institute should do, they decided it should highlight research interests of AUB professors and find ways to bring that research to the attention of policy makers.
Rami Khouri, former Harvard Nieman Journalism Fellow, currently editor-at-large at The Daily Star, senior fellow at Harvard University, and lecturer at the University of Chicago, Northeastern University, and AUB, took over as part-time director in late August 2006, aided by Research Assistant Sarine Karajerjian (BS ’04, MA ’08) and Researcher Josiane Bechara (BA ’07). Despite the limited temporary quarters in the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Building, and the small staff, excitement at the institute runs high, as possible projects are introduced and discussed. An Advisory Committee and a Steering Committee consisting of members from AUB and from the Fares Foundation provide direction and counseling for the institute.
Asked about the institute’s achievements thus far, Khouri said, “We’re attracting high-powered people and are asked to go and talk to people in high places. People are looking. They see us as a serious place. We provide an entry point into AUB. As we try to plan events of interest to both faculty and students, we attract people from outside the University as well… We launched the Bill and Sally Hambrecht Distinguished Peace Makers Lecture Series on October 22 with a lecture by Peruvian Alvaro de Soto, a diplomat with 25 years of experience as a senior United Nations official, envoy, and mediator.” The series will feature ten highly experienced international political mediators who will not only give public lectures, but also meet with faculty and students and hold workshops with various conflict resolution practitioners from all over the Arab world.
Another initiative, the Ambassador in the Academy series, will bring resident, and roving ambassadors to multinational institutions to AUB for a day. The ambassadors will give formal lectures and meet with students and members of faculty and staff. Current British ambassador to Lebanon, Her Excellency Frances Guy, gave the first lecture in the series on December 10, “More Fraternity than Friction: The Role of Values and Policies in Relations between the United Kingdom and the Arab and Islamic World.” IFI plans to host ambassadors on campus approximately every two months.
Khouri sees the current work of the institute in two distinct areas: routine activities such as lectures, panel discussions, and conferences, and broader programs ongoing for years, some of which might eventually “be spun off as separate institutes.” Khouri explained the importance of the word “forum” in the recently approved Arab Region Research and Policy Forum on Climate Change that was launched in mid-February. “We called it The Research and Policy Forum on Climate Change and Environment in the Arab World, because we want to draw on AUB and other high quality researchers to impact on policy as the end result of our work. We called it a forum because it brings together in a number of different ways, researchers, government officials, members of the private sector, NGOs, international donors—everybody who’s interested.”
The Steering Committee recently approved, in addition to the Climate Change Forum, the Research and Policy Forum for Arab Youth-Related Issues, and Policy and Governance Aspects of Palestinian Camps throughout the Middle East, a research-based integrated regional project which will look at camp-host community issues stemming from, in some cases, 60 years of the existence of the camps. The youth forum will examine behavioral problems of youth, along with “incredibly creative, innovative, and productive youth who are among the leading entrepreneurs in this region—creating jobs and linkages with the world economy.” Still being developed is a study looking at public policy-making and the role of think tanks throughout the region.
In 2009 Khouri hopes to frame a project dealing with the relationship between the Arab World and the whole of Asia. Khouri distinguishes between such ongoing programs based on research, on the one hand, and lectures and panel discussions designed to stimulate interest, raise issues, and contribute to public discussion, on the other.
Asked whether the institute has yet made any impact on the policy makers, Khouri replied, “It’s too early yet.” But he is planning “to provide a place where, for example, if a minister were to step down from government, we would invite him or her to become a fellow in our institute. We’re planning to do that . . . and we’re also looking into asking people who are actually serving in government to take a few days off, come to AUB as a fellow, and just talk to people informally and brainstorm.”
At the Issam Fares Institute, researchers and policy makers work hand in hand.
“We’ve discovered that the best absolute asset that we have— the competitive edge, the comparative advantage—is the research work of the professors."
Pulitizer Prize winner and Washington Post correspondent Anthony Shadid has been appointed as the IFI’s first resident fellow and writer-in-residence for the 2007-08 academic year. While at AUB, Shadid will participate in IFI activities and conduct research for an upcoming book. Anthony Shadid’s “journalism has consistently set very high standards of both professionalism and humanism. He combines sensitivity, insight, and accuracy in a manner that allows readers around the world to appreciate the complex realities, rather than the fleeting superficialities, of Middle Eastern societies. His presence at the Issam Fares Institute and AUB will be an asset to the entire university community,” said IFI director Rami Khouri.