Students from Northwestern and the Institute of Quranic Studies in Jakarta, Indonesia, participated in a live videoconference dialogue Tuesday in an effort to promote global understanding between the United States and the Muslim world.
Sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy --a new nonpartisan student organization dedicated to strengthening international relations and awareness -- the hour-long videoconference was part of a series of events designed to facilitate video dialogues among universities in the United States, Europe and predominantly Muslim countries throughout Asia and the Middle East.
About 25 NU students attended the dialogue, "American Power and Global Security," held in the Forum Room at the University Library at 8 p.m.
During the videoconference, American and Indonesian students often disagreed with each other, especially regarding ways to combat terrorism and unilateral actions taken by the United States.
Many Indonesian students attacked the U.S. for being an international aggressor and for imposing its own practices and principles on other countries.
"America as a world superpower acts as a police force," said one student from the Institute of Quranic Studies, an all-women's university. "They do anything they want."
When addressing the 35-member student audience in Jakarta, Weinberg senior Becky Brandman agreed that there is an imbalance of power in the world, but also noted that actions by the United States were reflective of the country trying to defend itself in response to being attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
"George W. Bush is trying to fight a good war, which is certainly a manifestation of American power," Brandman said. "I hope in the future America can be powerful not only by itself, but with the rest of the world."
The Indonesian students also criticized the United States for allowing troops to remain in Iraq, for having no concrete evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction present in Iraq and for presenting a "distorting image of Muslims" that leads to the widespread assumption that all Muslims are terrorists.
The Indonesian students also made suggestions for how they thought the United States could improve.
"We strongly suggest to the U.S. government to not enforce democracy on other countries," one student from the Institute said. "Bringing democracy overseas will not (help) international relations. The U.S. should not interfere with other countries' affairs."
After the session Brandman said she thought the event was a success because NU students were able to speak face-to-face with women from a very different culture. But she added that students from both sides still disagreed on some points.
"I felt they didn't understand the need for American to defend itself in the face of violent threats," Brandman said.
The dialogue began with four short presentations by students from each university. One student from the Institute discussed America's poor international reputation and U.S. misconceptions about Islam.
"There is no reason for a Muslim to do harm," the student from the Institute said. "But we were attacked first. And we will defend our dignity. Let us make world peace by not making war."
Meegan Maczek, a Weinberg senior, agreed that awareness of other cultures is necessary to improve U.S. foreign relations.
"It's really important that Americans be educated about the Muslim culture," said Maczek, who discussed global security during the videoconference.
NU students communicated with students in Indonesia through cameras and microphones that allowed them to hear and see each other on video screens.
After the initial presentations, audience members from both sides asked questions about terrorism, democracy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Technical difficulties delayed the start of the event and continued to hamper the exchange of views during the videoconference. But students said they were pleased with the experience of the dialogue as a whole.
"It's really nice to be able to do it directly despite the technical frustrations," said Sarah Bush, a Weinberg senior and campus coordinator of Americans for Informed Democracy. "We didn't always reach consensus, but I felt we reached some common ground."
Joseph Kanter, who attended the event after receiving an invitation through the history department's listserv, said during the question-and-answer portion of the dialogue that not all Americans are supportive of the U.S. government.
"Dialogue between the American and Islamic nations is one of the ways the situation is going to get better," said Kanter, a Weinberg senior. "And students and younger people are going to be the ones who are going to effect change in the future."
Reach Andrea Chang at andreachang@northwestern.edu.