Americans' Ignorance Of Foreign News Appalling

By Pius Kamau

For me, meeting new acquaintances often becomes a geography lesson: "Is Kenya in South Africa? Or near Nigeria?" After awhile, I learned to provide the whole geographic description: " Kenya is on the east coast of Africa, on the Indian Ocean. South of Somalia."

Many who ask this are well-educated and should know better. Americans' knowledge of world geography and history is woefully lacking. They have the means to learn so much, but these victims of a staggering national incuriosity prefer not to know.

Since colonialism ended, Africa's geography has changed radically: New countries have been created, dictators' names have changed and capitals have been renamed, excusing Americans' ignorance of things African. Sadly, the knowledge deficit in geography, history and international politics encompasses other regions of the world.

Jay Leno often randomly quizzes people on the street, asking questions like, "Who's Dick Cheney? Ken Lay? Abe Lincoln? Where's Iraq?" Their answers are usually wrong, or are merely "I don't know."

A knowledge differential exists between the better-educated and less-educated Americans. Yet, according to a recent Stanford University study comparing Americans to folks from eight other nations of the same academic level, Americans demonstrate a significant knowledge gap between domestic and international news.

Educated Americans had a good grasp of American politics, sports and entertainment, but performed poorly in foreign affairs, world geography and history. The domestic and international knowledge gap is real.

Can American education - diverse, fragmented and increasingly diluted - be impugned for the deficit? E.D. Hirsch in "Cultural Literacy" and Allan Bloom in "The Closing of the American Mind" emphasized the need for a core curriculum. Each stressed studying Latin and Greek, certain classics and a core set of knowledge for a good education. So it's likely the present knowledge-deficit gap wouldn't change if their lessons were followed.

The deficit was no better during the Cold War era, when our media were full of foreign and world news. Then, too, Americans showed a superficial awareness of overseas events and foreign affairs. In a 1994 survey, 37 percent of American respondents could not answer a single question on foreign affairs compared to 19 percent of respondents from Italy, France, Britain, Germany and Canada.

The reason for the knowledge gap could partially be blamed on an inadequate supply and uneven content of news. No more is our media interested in covering foreign news. Most news outlets have been scaling back on their international bureaus and staff, shifting to "soft news."

Many Americans get their news from talk shows, which too often broadcast fluffy content, or the superficial cable programs like "The O'Reilly Factor," which frequently tilt to some bias.

Since they have no direct impact on their daily lives, the events in Kenya and Djibouti are not very important to the ordinary American, so it's not critical to know where they are. Yet it's important to know about the Somali political upheaval, not the least because of al-Qaeda's presence there.

Even after being shown there were no WMDs in Iraq, it's shameful that 60 percent of us still believe Saddam Hussein had them and that he had something to do with al-Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A veil lies across the public's consciousness, causing a pathological indifference to both national and foreign politics and the running of our nation. But as we fight wars in faraway places, we should understand why we are there, whether we should be there at all, and where's there.

As I talk to new friends about their international blind spots, I wonder: If they were better informed about international affairs, would America's foreign policy preferences be different? Does our ignorance of foreign affairs allow our leaders to manipulate public opinion?

I also know that if Americans knew more about Africa, they would have empathized with its people more. They wouldn't have allowed 30 million Africans to die from HIV/AIDS. To know someone is to empathize with them even if they are of another color.

Pius Kamau of Aurora is a thoracic and general surgeon. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the U.S. in 1971.

Source: The Denver Post

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