Foreign policy must not be foreign

Often when we (the public) think about foreign policy it is closed off to us as a subset of gov that we are incapable of grasping, whether it be because we think it is too complex, or we think "why should we get involved in other people's business?" or that we don't understand/care how it affects us. But then we wonder why people in other parts of the world think we are ignorant to these issues. Is it that we don't care? don't know? i don't think so, b/c we automatically pay attention to issues that directly affect us. So the problem isn't failure to understand other people/countries, etc. But its the, ok not failure. relative incompetence lets say, to acknowledge how these issues affect us. If we want to keep up in a world that is undeniably globalizing, and just for the sake of proper citizenship, we (the people) have to make better progress in understanding our countries foreign policy, and make better use of our rights to voice opinions and discuss. We don't elect leaders to make decisions for us, or at least that isn't  what we should be thinking when we go to the polls, we elect them b/c representative government is more efficient. But if we want change or better understanding of something it has got to start with us. Im not going to make this a thread about Barack Obama, and i request that you respect that, but im just going to use him as an example for something.

This whole transparency thing that he's doing, transparency in government is a great idea. Not only does it look good for him b/c he looks more engaged in affairs and not behind the scenes and all that. But for us, the public. Makes issues more current, more relavent in our day. So thats good eh? we seem to be becoming more attentive to this. even in about the 10 days he's been president, ok great, transparency, big deal. But think about it, a few more months of this and we are creating a more globally literate public instead of making all of these foundations and programs that very little people would go to, etc, you know what i mean, this is more efficient, b/c we're using the news as a good medium cuz obviously thers a wider audiance.

Im in highschool, and im lucky that i go away every summer to visit turkey, i'm exposed to a different culture, yea thats cool i guess. But what about kids/people who dont have the chance to do that. Stuff like Model UN is great. I'm not trying to sound like your guidance counselor or anything trying to get you to do this stuff, but im just trying to convey that this kind of stuff is important if we are to achieve what was said in the 1st paragraph.

I went to a dinner of the American Committee on Foreign Relations tonight, a guy named Kenton Keith, former U.S ambassador to Qatar was talking about how to better use diplomacy as a tool, and it kind of led to this in my mind when i was thinking about it.

Isn't it true that if you understand/care about cultures you will begin to make connections with them, and perhaps more importantly acknowledge the differences and learn interesting things? won't understanding lead to respect? won't this lead to solving problems? this doesn't/shouldn't seem to be a revolutionary idea, i mean we can all kind of realize how understanding leads to respect and all that fluff. So why don't we do it? i mean come on someone needs to reach out. maybe politicians don't know that we are able to do this. so what the hell lets do something i mean we aren't incapable. There  are people like you, for those of you thinking that you're just one person, you can't do it on your own, etc. do research my friends! ask around!   I mean when you dont know what is going on, policies are going to be made on out behalf whether we like it or not, thats how our government is set up. But obviously the more say we have in it the better. and certainly the more the policies reflect the beleifs of the people the better the true ideals of this country is conveyed to another. This brings about change in the people, which is more important than change in the government. It is more important to know about the people of another country than about their government. and vice versa, b/c government (should) reflect the views of the people. So when another country has some bad policy towards us, we say oh ______ians are a bunch of jerks. No they're not, b/c first of all naturally without any stimulus no human wishes bad on another random person/people across the ocean. Our views of others are unfortunately clouded by misinterpretations of their governments. and so the same goes for us. I am not bashing gov. by any means, im not anti-establishment, or anarchist or anything. In fact im saying/trying to say that we should have a greater understanding of others, more participation in these kinds of activities programs. i mean there's a ton of them. I as a citizen would rather have a more understanding, cultured, and willing to solve problemness country than have the best political philosophers/plan out every scenario of foreign affairs possible. cuz obviously it doesn't make sense to come up with a policy on something that is always changing/hasen't even happened yet. Plus naturally we want to stick with that to look strong/firm etc, which can lead to ignorance in policy making which doesn't really set the mood if we want countries to look over/reform their policies as well. So i mean it has to start with the people, the gov would say no we wont change that, or, no we wont do that. But if we the public think, hey that's not a bad idea, or hey i wouldnt mind that if it got this issue solved, then it can happen. Honestly im confident that we as a people, or those who take what i've written the right way, can make a difference, and make it happen.