More than two years following his first visit to Duke, renowned journalist and author Fareed Zakaria will return to encourage Duke’s graduating seniors in an interconnected world.
As a fellow of the Yale Corporation, the governing board and policymaking body for the university, Zakaria came to Duke in September 2009 for one of Yale Corp.’s five annual meetings at a peer institution. Zakaria said that he found the visit energizing and exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking as Yale Corp. discovered it could learn a lot from Duke’s dynamic initiatives.
Zakaria, host of CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria’s GPS,” editor-at-large at Time magazine and columnist at The Washington Post, was announced as this year’s commencement speaker Nov. 11.
“Upon the [Yale Corp.] visit, there was a feeling that Duke was willing to experiment more and do thing in ways that were perhaps a little bit less traditional, especially with its international efforts,” Zakaria said.
Duke’s strategy in Singapore, with the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, was particularly striking to the Yale group, Zakaria said. Yale officially launched its own partnership with the National University of Singapore—Yale-NUS College—in April 2011.
“Duke realizes that the world we are entering into is profoundly different and is committing time and resources and energy in that way,” Zakaria said.
It is this global sentiment that Zakaria said he hopes to communicate to the Class of 2012 during Duke’s commencement ceremony in May.
“What I think I would like to do is to convey [and] to sketch out just what this new world is going to look like as best as I can,” he said.
Although Zakaria wants to give students a sense of the challenges of an increasingly globalized world, he moreover will emphasize the vast opportunities now available given the world’s shrinking size and rise of other nations.
America is not a sole superpower in a time where other nations are rising politically and economically—something to which society must adjust, Zakaria said.
“Americans are right now going through a phase of being very apprehensive about this new world, as some think it is fundamentally un-American [to think of America as one of many powerful nations],” he said. “I think we should be excited. You cannot stop China from growing. You can’t stop India from growing. What we can do is ask how do we stop and take fullest advantage of this new world.”
Zakaria said the rise of technology, new media and ease of travel are just a few of the factors working simultaneously to grow this new world, acting as “global accelerators.”
“You’re in this strange time when things are moving at such warp speed, and in many senses... expanding the world but connecting it at the same time,” he added.
This message is particularly relevant to graduating seniors, given that globalization will characterize the workforce and the society that students will enter upon graduation.
“A huge percentage of graduating seniors have studied abroad and participated in DukeEngage, and many have plans to pursue their interests abroad after graduation, so I think that Dr. Zakaria’s remarks on engaging in an increasingly globalized world will be very applicable,” senior Christina Lieu, a member of the student advisory group that helps choose the commencement speaker wrote in an email Sunday. “Dr. Zakaria’s expertise in international issues was certainly something that captured our interest in the selection committee.”
Acknowledging that he is speaking to students during a difficult time, Zakaria described his charge as commencement speaker as providing some guidance and outlining a map for young people entering the society.
“There is not only the anxiety of leaving a very happy four years and entering this wider and wider world, but also doing so at a time when the economy is in bad shape, when the world is changing [and] when there are many apprehensions about America’s place in the world and whether we will be able to sustain the kind of standing we’ve had,” Zakaria said.
When Zakaria spoke at Duke in November 2009, the journalist discussed the world’s changing political and economic landscape. Two years later, the rise of other nations joining America at the top is undeniable. Zakaria noted that after enduring the financial crisis, people have a clearer sense of the reality of this new world.
Despite the challenges of a new world hierarchy, students should approach the future with optimism, Zakaria said.
“Optimism is a kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “If you see things from an entirely negative perspective, you will only see the problems. If you look at the world asking what can be done... ultimately that’s what produces solutions.... As a result, those problems don’t end up being as bad as they seemed.”
In the past, Zakaria has delivered the commencement remarks at Brown, Johns Hopkins and Yale universities, though he noted that this type of speech is one of the hardest to give.
“You’re all that stands between students and their degrees—that makes it quite challenging,” he said. “You have to be smart, profound and you have to be a little bit funny all in 15 minutes.”
Among the University’s desire to be on the cutting edge and its willingness to try new things, Zakaria noted the energy and intellectual curiosity of Duke students. Zakaria said he considers the opportunity to deliver Duke’s commencement remarks this year a “huge honor” and an “enormous pleasure,” calling Duke students “first class.”
President Richard Brodhead said Zakaria’s outlook on international relations, and his experiences as a foreign relations correspondent and adviser, makes him a timely speaker.
The correspondent will also speak at Harvard University’s graduation ceremony May 24. Zakaria told The Crimson Oct. 14 that he also plans to “sketch the new world” for its graduates.
Fareed said the speeches will be different, though noted that there could be overlap given their similar themes.
“I am very excited,” Zakaria said. “I’ve really had wonderful experiences at Duke and to be able to do this for such an important time is very exciting and is really an honor.”
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