Between one thing and another, globalization is a lot on my mind these days. The primary reason hits close to home—my 16-year-old daughter is going to be heading off on student cultural exchange in a few months—to Thailand. We are all very excited that she has this opportunity that will broaden her understanding of the world in a way that school can’t approach. I will admit that it has been difficult to reconcile this optimism with my day job working with the Department of International Affairs where I help students and faculty do research on such topics as nuclear deterrence, civil unrest, food insecurity and human trafficking among others. My daughter going to Thailand has forced me to face some of the biases in that international affairs/security lens—particularly as I consider “safe places,” Her initial choices for student exchange were in a European country and a developed Asian country, considered one of the safest in the world. Learning that she was selected to go to Thailand was unexpected to say the least and we have had to try to balance the fact that Thailand is Tier 1 on the State Department’s foreign travel list (“Exercise normal precautions in Thailand. Some areas have increased risk…due to civil unrest”) with the goal of cultural exchange and a once in a lifetime experience.
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