All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage students in the process of solving the world's most...

I agree that it would serve the interests of all nations to establish a global university for the
purpose of solving the world's most persistent social problems. Nevertheless, such a university
poses certain risks which all participating nations must be careful to minimize--or risk defeating
the university's purpose.

One compelling argument in favor of a global university has to do with the fact that its faculty
and students would bring diverse cultural and educational perspectives to the problems they
seek to solve. It seems to me that nations can only benefit from a global university where
students learn ways in which other nations address certain soda] problems-successfully or not.
It might be tempting to think that an overly diversified academic community would impede
communication among students and faculty. However, in my view any such concerns are
unwarranted, especially considering the growing awareness of other peoples and cultures
which the mass media, and especially the Internet, have created. Moreover, many basic
principles used to solve enduring social problems know no national boundaries; thus a useful
insight or discovery can come from a researcher or student from any nation.

Another compelling argument for a global university involves the increasingly global nature
of certain problems. Consider, for instance, the depletion of atmospheric ozone, which has
wanned the Earth to the point that it threatens the very survival of the human species. Also, we
are now learning that dear-cutting the world's rainforests can set into motion a chain of animal

extinction that threatens the delicate balance upon which all animals--including
humans--depend. Also consider that a financial crisis---or a political crisis or natural disaster
in one country can spell trouble for foreign companies, many of which are now multinational in
that they rely on the labor forces, equipment, and raw materials of other nations.
Environmental, economic, and political problems such as these all carry grave social
consequences--increased crime, unemployment, insurrection, hunger, and so forth. Solving
these problems requires global cooperation--which a global university can facilitate.

Notwithstanding the foregoing reasons why a global university would help solve many of our
most pressing social problems, the establishment of such a university poses certain problems
of its own which must be addressed in order that the university can achieve its objectives. First,
participant nations would need to overcome a myriad of administrative and political
impediments. All nations would need to agree on which problems demand the university's
attention and resources, which areas of academic research are worthwhile, as well as
agreeing on policies and procedures for making, enforcing, and amending these decisions.
Query whether a functional global university is politically feasible, given that sovereign nations
naturally wish to advance their own agendas.


"All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage students in the process of solving the world's most persistent social problems."