The Decline of International Studies - Foreign Affairs
In October 2013, the U. S. Department of State eliminated its funding program for advanced language and cultural training on Russia and the former Soviet Union. But as a State Department official told the Russian news service RIA Novosti at the time, “In this fiscal climate, it just didn’t make it. ” The program’s shuttering came just a month before the start of a now well-known chain of events: Ukraine’s... The end of the United States’ premier federal program for Russian studies saved taxpayers only $3. 3 million—the cost of two Tomahawk cruise missiles or about half a day’s sea time for an aircraft carrier strike group. “Now more than ever,” the academy’s report concluded, “the spirit of international cooperation, the promotion of trade and foreign investment, the requirements of international diplomacy, and even the enhancement of national security depend in... ” In response to lobbying by universities and scholarly associations, Title VIII was resuscitated earlier this year, but it came back at less than half its previous funding level and with future appropriations left uncertain. Source: www.foreignaffairs.com
