International disaster : Obama’s under-the-radar plan to eviscerate the Fulbright program

[ashling]

The storied program is in the State Department's sights, and its gutting could have serious long-term consequences

http://www.salon.com/2014/05/11/international_disaster_in_the_making_inside_obamas_under_the_radar_plan_to_eviscerate_the_fulbright_program/



International disaster in the making: Inside Obama’s under-the-radar plan to eviscerate the Fulbright program
The storied program is in the State Department's sights, and its gutting could have serious long-term consequences
ANN JONES, TOMDISPATCH.COM
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TOPICS: TOMDISPATCH.COM, FULBRIGHT, BUDGET, BARACK OBAMA, MILITARY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT, WORKING AHEAD NEWS, NEWS, POLITICS NEWS

International disaster in the making: Inside Obama's under-the-radar plan to eviscerate the Fulbright program

This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch.

Often it’s the little things coming out of Washington, obscured by the big, scary headlines, that matter most in the long run. Items that scarcely make the news, or fail to attract your attention, or once noticed seem trivial, may carry consequences that endure long after the latest front-page crisis has passed. They may, in fact, signal fundamental changes in Washington’s priorities and policies that could even face opposition, if only we paid attention.

Take the current case of an unprecedented, unkind, under-the-radar cut in the State Department’s budget for the Fulbright Program, the venerable 68-year-old operation that annually arranges for thousands of educators, students, and researchers to be exchanged between the United States and at least 155 other countries. As Washington increasingly comes to rely on the “forward projection” of military force to maintain its global position, the Fulbright Program may be the last vestige of an earlier, more democratic, equitable, and generous America that enjoyed a certain moral and intellectual standing in the world. Yet, long advertised by the U.S. government as “the flagship international educational exchange program” of American cultural diplomacy, it is now in the path of the State Department’s torpedoes.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/fulbright-culture-exchange-diplomacy-state-department-funding-cuts
The Fulbright Program Is the Flagship of American Cultural Diplomacy. So Why Are We Cutting It?
After almost 70 years, the US State Department is implementing unprecedented cuts to the program's budget.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. My father taught for a year in the Netherlands under this program

And I went to kindergarten there.

[truedelphi]

2. It is easy to see why this program is getting scrapped, isn't it?

Does it benefit the Big Corporations at all?

And besides, now that our main goal is to blow things and people and places up, why should we encourage our citizens to become familiar with the things, people and places we might need to blow up?

A decent understanding of the world is so Twentieth Century.

[frazzled]

3. Not good, but to be fair, the money is being reallocated to other programs

The $30.5 million in suggested cuts represents 13.5 percent of the Fulbright’s total annual budget of $235 million. This money is proposed to be reallocated to resources focusing on Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Department of State’s budget report, including $10 million for “Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative” and $20 million for the “Young African Leaders Initiative.”

http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/04/29/proposed-fulbright-cuts-garner-opposition/

Or, from the Save Fulbright page itself, in which you can see all the cuts and increases, most of the latter going to cultural exchange programs in Africa and Asia:

Key programmatic details of the President’s FY15 request include:

A $30.5 million cut to the Fulbright Program, described as follows: “The FY 2015 Fulbright program request focuses resources on South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.”
$17.2 million for Educational Advising and Student Services, an increase of $5 million.
$5 million for alumni engagement, an increase of $2.7 million
A $13.5 million cut to Professional/Cultural/Youth citizen exchanges
$5 million for a new Special Professional and Cultural Exchange line item, the “J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange,” which will “expand outreach to high-priority youth populations in both the United States and Middle Eastern and North African countries”
$2.5 million for a new line item, “Fulbright University – Vietnam, ” which “supports academic freedom and autonomy in developing new curricula”
$10 million for a new line item, the “Young South-East Asian Leaders Initiative,” which “increases outreach to emerging regional actors in Asia”
$20 million for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), which “will invest in a new generation of Young African leaders, shaping the continent’s future and reinforcing the Department’s commitment to an enduring partnership between the United States and Africa,” an increase of $19 million
$12.1 million (flat-funding) for the Gilman Program
$89.7 million for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), an increase of $293,000
American Overseas Research Centers moved from Special Academic Exchanges to Global Academic Exchanges, flat-funded at $4 million
Funding eliminated for the George Mitchell Fellowship Program

http://www.fulbright.org/news/163591/President-Obama-budget-request-includes-30.5-million-cut-to-Fulbright.htm

I don't know enough about the rationale for the cuts or the potential benefits, if any, to the new or increased programs. But it's not, as a poster above describes it, a "scrapping" of Fulbright. It also is not likely to be effected, is it? None of Obama's budgets have gone through the Congress. So let's not get too hysterical yet.

[spanone]

5. 13.5% reduction...is that evisceration?

i don't know much about this program, but according to the fullbright website, it's a 13.5% reduction in funding.

http://www.fulbright.org/news/163591/President-Obama-budget-request-includes-30.5-million-cut-to-Fulbright.htm

[freshwest]

6. If it's not dramatic it won't sell. Wonder why the shift to other nations isn't being applauded? And

Sequeestration is not over with by any means.

Toss out the GOP and the money will flow. Otherwise, all the finger pointing is only helping to keep the GOP in, by attacking the people charged with trying to make things work.

JMHO.