Week 6: Diplomacy

Let’s start with an update from last week: On Tuesday morning the student who was missing did not show up to school like he was supposed to. This was very concerning and sent people scrambling to figure out what was going on. We eventually got a hold of him and he came to to school about noon. He had arrived back in the states earlier that morning from Mexico. The school administration has been very clear with the student that we are here to help but the only information the family has shared with us is that there was a family emergency. We still don’t know exactly what happened and probably never will. At this point we’re just glad to have him back.

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One of the pillars of my class is group work. I call it diplomacy. It’s had many names over the years but in the past few years I finally landed on diplomacy. I like the term because it has two purposes. First, It guides students on how I expect them to work with each other and secondly, it helps them understand international relations.   

Here’s what the Webster Dictionary says:

Definition of diplomacy

• 
  

  1:  the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations

• 
  

  2:  skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility

In my classroom the students are grouped in threes or fours which are named for regions of the world (see below). They collaborate so often in these group that I rarely call a student by name. I just call the region name and they figure out how to answer. They need to use diplomacy to complete all of their tasks within their regional groups and they need to use diplomacy to work with the other regions as well. I guess my role is kind of like the UN. I help solve regional disputes and make sure the whole world functions “without arousing hostility”. It’s safe to say that without diplomacy my classroom would be World War, literally.

    

   My Seating Chart: If you look closely it’s a world map.

This helps me remember where all the regions are.  

Speaking of World War, I would like to talk about the events of earlier this week. Early in the week Trump released a budget proposal. The plan had a lot of details but the big news was, what I am going to call “The 45 Billion Dollar Compromise.” Trump’s idea is that he is going to take 45 Billion dollars from certain other federal agencies and redistribute the money to the Department of Defence to build up the military. Under this plan some of the agencies that are going to take substantial hits are development agencies and the State Department. DIPLOMACY. Whenever there is a planned cut in federal funding someone is up-in-arms. This is not surprising. However, I think it is worth noting who was upset about potential cuts.

More than 120 retired generals and admirals signed

a letter Monday pushing back on the White House's

proposal to make major cuts to diplomacy and development.

"The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation,

Peace Corps and other development agencies

are critical to preventing conflict and

reducing the need to put our men and women

in uniform in harm's way," the generals wrote.

CNN Article

As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer I must say that I took great pride in what these 120 retired generals and admirals said. I never thought that my Peace Corps service kept my country safe or kept servicemen and women out of harm’s way. I never look at it like that but these 120 retired generals and admirals did. To them, that is exactly what I was doing. They understand diplomacy. Trump wants to build up our military because he thinks that’s what is going to keep our country safe. These 120 retired generals and admirals, whose job it was to keep this country safe, disagree.

Me with some kids from the village in Suriname,

South America during my Peace Corps Service. c. 2003.

The Peace Corps was founded by two World War II veterans. We forget that. John F. Kennedy and Sargent Shriver fought the Japanese in the Pacific. They were both wounded and received the Purple Heart. They saw first hand what happens to the world when diplomacy fails. How powerful is that message? They saw the power of the American military. They won the war! Yet, they developed an organization that does the complete opposite. Why? Because they wish they never fought the war, that’s why. Wars suck. Ask anyone that’s ever fought one. Trump has never fought one. JFK and Sargent Shriver did. The 120 retired general and admirals did.    

So, what do we do? We don’t get to vote on the budget. We aren’t going to be in those meetings. When the time comes we can call or write our representatives in Washington. We can protest in the streets if we have to. I have confidence that we will.

But what can we do now? Now, we need to double down on diplomacy in our own way. If the JFK, Sargent Shriver and the 120 retired generals and admirals think that organizations like the Peace Corps can help prevent conflict on a global scale then diplomacy in our life can help prevent conflict on a local scale. Every day on the news we hear about individuals and groups being targeted by hate crimes. Often the crimes are directly connected to the rhetoric from our president.

Link to Article

The people that are committing hate crimes live among us. We interact with them at the office, at school, at the gym, online, etc...  Hate crimes don’t happen overnight. The hate festers. It comes out in a comment here and a Facebook post there. We hear it or read it and we don’t know what to do. Often, we do nothing. We ignore the comment or pretend we didn’t hear it. We “unfriend” them on social media because we can’t take it anymore. In doing this we take the role of a BYSTANDER. Our collective silence allows the festering hate to come out in the form of hate crimes.

On the contrary, sometimes we lash out and we stand up for our neighbors. However, too often we are not diplomatic and our message is lost. We shout at people. We insult people online. Some people have even threatened or used violence to try to fight hate. As MLK Jr. said “hate cannot drive out hate.” We need to use DIPLOMACY. We need to use “skill in handling affairs without arising hostility.” No shouting. No insults. No threats. No violence. We must support the victims, also our neighbors, but we must do it diplomatically.    

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process,
gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers,
quietly building new structures.

-John F. Kennedy