This piece co-authored by Graduate School of Political Management adjunct professor Mary Crannell
According to a recent Gallup poll, 65 percent of Americans believe the government should use drones to target suspected terrorists abroad. Politicians tend to support things that the electorate supports, so the policy should continue unabated, end of story. Right? Not quite. The drone issue is yet another case where employing a 360-degree perspective to see all sides of the debate before making a decision is critical.
One of our international students at the Graduate School of Political Management recently made a presentation against the use of drones in one of our Principled Political Leadership classes. She discussed her mistrust of her government and noted that the Americans in this room -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- have a certain degree of trust that the government will not misuse its power. That is not the case for citizens in some other nations, she said.
She also noted that the nation's drone policy plays a role in forming America's image and how individual Americans are viewed abroad.
It was a powerful moment for our students, who perhaps were only seeing all sides of the domestic debate. During the student's introduction, our professor made sure to point out that we encourage a 360-degree view, and stress the importance of listening to all sides. This student's presentation was a moment when the class encountered a different perspective first hand. It was powerful because she knew most of the class was in favor of drone use, but she felt the need to show the side of the argument that they might not have seen. More importantly, in a classroom with only American students or focused strictly on American politics, that voice might have been left out of the discussion entirely.
Our students will remember that discussion because in addition to offering a different take on an issue, it upended one of the old saws of our discipline: all politics is local. In an increasingly interconnected world, failing to see the global impacts of policy can have consequences at home and abroad. In the end, it may be the right move, but it is essential to consider alternatives before acting.
We hope that this presentation will inform the discussion next week, when the class discusses drone policy inconsistencies and how the United States will respond once other nations start using drones for airstrikes. With their new 360-degree perspective on the issue, hopefully students will see that effective political management strategy is an equation that needs more than just polling numbers to solve.
Hon. Mark R. Kennedy leads George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and is Chairman of the Economic Club of Minnesota. He previously served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Federated Department Stores (now Macy's).
Mary Crannell is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and President of Idea Sciences, an Alexandria, Virginia based firm committed to improve the quality of decision-making