The Middle East is a central area of focus to people across the US and the new generation has realized it will remain a “serious concern” for their country for a long time, hence the need for Middle Eastern studies’ programs, said former US Ambassador to Kuwait Edward Gnehm.
In an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Gnehm, now a lecturer on US policy in the Gulf at George Washington University (GWU), said, “This generation (of students) wants to understand what is happening in this part of the world.” The ambassador, in Kuwait with dean of GWU’s Elliott School of International Affairs, explained the purpose of his visit was to “expand and develop ties with Kuwait University (KU)”, noting the honorary GWU doctorate of law that was received in June 2005 by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, then prime minister.
There is a good relationship between the schools of law at GWU and KU, and we hope the Elliott School can also become “a centerpiece”, he said.
GWU is interested in finding or developing a good Arabic-teaching program here for its students, having exchanges between GWU and KU faculty to lecture or teach for short periods of time, and holding joint seminars, he said.
The permanent chair held by Gnehm, Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, is part of the university’s program on Middle Eastern studies; the graduate degree program will kick off in September.
Asked how his years of diplomatic service in Kuwait, Jordan, and Syria reflected in the classroom, he responded, “It has reflected very importantly, because I very much draw on my first-hand experiences ... I was ambassador to Kuwait during a very important time and I can make these things come to life for my students ... I help them broaden their comprehension of the experience.” Gnehm was US Ambassador to Kuwait between 1991 and 1994 and witnessed events leading up to the liberation of the Gulf state from the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein in February 1991.
The former ambassador explained that as a “professor of practice” he was able to bring knowledge and skills of his previous profession to the classroom and provide students with “practical understanding” alongside theoretical studies. “I share my life with these young people.” As to how the younger American generation felt about the role played by the US in librating Kuwait in 1991, he said that since they had not experienced the situation, they were “distant”. However, those who came to Kuwait on Arabic language programs “come back bonding because they now understand what it meant.” Gnehm explained, however, that the American public was “very engaged” in the war of 1991 and “the turning point” for the American public in their support for their president in deployment of forces to liberate Kuwait “was over atrocities they had read about ... this made the American public adamantly for a war to liberate Kuwait.” Asked how he viewed Kuwait 16 years after liberation, he said he was in Kuwait just a few days after its liberation and “it was not a very pleasant time.” The ambassador said the “positive consequence of a very bad ordeal” was the “spirit of determination” to move forward that was born in the first years after the liberation, but said this spirit had “faded” with the passing of time and had to be recaptured in order to bring Kuwait back to the forefront of Gulf states where it belonged, especially as it had the required wealth and well-educated population.
“I believe the invasion was a catalyst that spurred the move forward ... If Kuwaitis could recapture that determination, then much could be accomplished,” he said.
There are 20,000 students enrolled in GWU; just over 1,000 are Arabs and some 30 are Kuwaitis.
Gnehm joined the faculty of the Elliott School of International Affairs in August 2004 after a 36-year career in the US Foreign Service. He was appointed to his present position as Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs in August 2006.
The ambassador arrived here Friday night and will be leaving later today to Bahrain on a visit aimed at building ties with educational institutions in the Gulf state.
