Here is My Peace

By Emily Esfahani-Smith | Friday, October 31, 2008

If you have made it to my editorial, then presumably you have seen the cover of this issue and noticed that the theme of this Review is “war and peace.” “War and peace” is a weighty theme, certainly, and one perhaps too big for a modest college paper to address. Though the entire history of mankind can fall under its heading, in a narrower sense, questions of war and peace have, in the past few weeks, made a demonstrable mark on the minds of attentive Dartmouth students for at least two reasons.

The first is the Montgomery Fellowship program, which brings distinguished scholars and public figures to our campus. Thanks to that program, former CENTCOM Commander John Abizaid and former New York Times Baghdad Bureau Chief John Burns spoke to our campus about the most war-torn area in the world: the Middle-East.

Both mentioned the improving conditions in Iraq—qualified by deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan. General Abizaid went beyond the two wars, and cited more endemic, long-term issues in the Middle-East that could escalate into crises without proactive U.S. diplomatic measures.

The retired four star General appealed to the students in the audience. General Abizaid urged us to serve in some capacity—in the military, with an NGO, at a think tank, in the State Department. The mess in the Middle East created by our parents’ generations, he said, will be borne on our backs; we kids—labeled by Wikipedia as “Generation MTV”—need to rectify the situation in the Middle-East before “an all out clash between civilizations,” the West and Islam, produces devastating consequences, said the General.

The second reason is far more practical. The economic situation (a warfare of its own) has forced many Dartmouth seniors to rethink their graduation plans. This time last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading in the 14,000s. Today, it’s in the 8,000s. Dartmouth’s corporate culture has been seriously undermined, and many Dartmouth seniors, those would-be bankers, traders, and consultants, are reconsidering the (ephemeral) glitz and glamour of Wall Street. Some are turning to grad school, others to corporations. Still others are making use of their government majors (one of the most popular majors at Dartmouth), and pursuing careers in politics or public policy—foreign policy, in particular, has become an increasingly popular concentration in the Government department. Though this is purely anecdotal, the proportion of people I’ve met who are academically interested in foreign affairs, war and peace, and international studies has been dramatically increasing in the past year.

Along similar lines, General Abizaid, in conversation with The Review, noted that our generation seems more interested than prior generations in questions of war and peace:

Find out what is going on [in the Middle East] and be clear in the way that you logically try to understand the issues that are out there. Talk to other people, exchange views, read, study, and then think about how it might be that in the twenty-first century, you can help advance the values of our country and advance a planet that needs to globalize in a positive way. There are all sorts of things that you can do—internationally, nationally, locally—that add to society. My impression of your generation is that you guys want to do that, and I would encourage you to do that. I think the worst thing that can happen to us is that we all become a nation of spectators and critics. So, figure out how to get involved, get involved, make a difference, and it will change your life.

Though many students may be academically interested in the issues the General cites above, they either passively engage those issues, engage them not at all, or stand on the sidelines issuing heady criticism and declarations on very controversial matters without active engagement in the gist of the matter. Actual involvement in the military, defense and securities studies, foreign policy, of the Foreign Service seems like a surreality to many, an undefined career path that’s slightly menacing when compared to the neat deadlines, resume drops, and recruitment of the corporate world.

A young alum recently said that the tight job market in the financial sector is ultimately a good thing, especially for Dartmouth students who see the financial route as the default. “They think they can write their tickets with these high-power jobs, but many people end up miserable, and quit. Others mosey along, do the grind. Few are genuinely excited to be creating models, working with Excel, and slaving their youth away to make one dollar into four.”

“Finance isn’t the kind of thing you get passionate about,” she said. “A lot of liberal arts types do it because they don’t know what else to do.” She herself works at a top consulting firm in New York City, and admits that she pursued finance because she didn’t know what else to do. “Now that I look back on it, I realize how many cool jobs there are out there; jobs that can be filled by bright, young, liberal-arts educated Dartmouth students. I have one friend who works in intelligence, and another who works on [Capitol] Hill. Those jobs are exciting. Those jobs are relevant.”

Certainly there are those who will be passionate about finance and belong in those lucrative jobs—but it should not be the default career path for the Dartmouth student. With the economy the way it is now, chances are, in the next few years, finance will no longer be the default.

Investment banks come and go. But thanks to something in our human nature—the disposition to violence, conflict, unrest—wars are here to stay as a permanent fixture of our world. There will always be jobs in foreign policy since human beings (leaders, rulers) in their ingenuity and cruelty, think of ever-devastating and unjust ways to behave on an international scale. The option is not “finance” or “foreign policy” for everyone—but it is for those who are fascinated by foreign policy but pursue finance merely out of intellectual laziness.

At an event for seniors earlier this year, a Career Services staffer mocked the lack of creativity of 20-something year olds, particularly with respect to the job search. “You need to ask yourself what you’re passionate about and pursue that. You need to search for jobs that fit your interests. Despite what Dartmouth students think, there aren’t just five jobs out there...” then she enumerated them on her fingers, “Banker, Doctor, Lawyer, Consultant and….” the grab-all, “Teach for America!”

For the first time in its history, the United States is fighting in two wars. For students who have the vaguest interest in foreign affairs, a sea of opportunities exist to either serve this country directly, or somehow contribute to a broader peace in the Middle-East. It’s not as far-fetched as you think.

Here is My Peace

Article Tools

Related Articles