 This is Stink Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. Ah, we're back. We're live. We're here on Global Connections. You remember that name. It's synonymous with Carlos Suarez, who has been a host on our shows for years and years. We're all getting to be old since the time he started hosting. And we have him now in his latest adventure, which is in Mexico, where he is teaching in Mexico and he is living in Mexico, although he's still associated with Hawaii Pacific University. Welcome back to your show, Carlos. Well, thank you, Jay. I'm really delighted, excited to reconnect and, well, reconnect the Global Connections. As you said, I can remember years and years ago, before you had so many programs, just the sparkle in your eye of this idea that one day we're going to produce so much content. And now, look at what you've done. You've created this amazing, well, a set of programs that goes on and on. And I'm excited to be able to connect you now. Obviously, I have my heart there in Hawaii, but my body and my other part is here in Mexico. And look forward to sharing with you and our viewers. Oh, same here, Carlos. It's wonderful to see you and have you back. So tell us about your situation. And we got a couple of photographs that can help elucidate that. So where are you? What are you doing these days? Well, thank you so much, Jay. In a minute, I'm going to ask maybe we could look at the very first of the pictures. I have a map here of Puebla, Mexico. And you may know a couple of years ago, I moved from Hawaii and basically settling in Mexico City area, where I still have kind of one of my legs and arms and family, also in Texas and San Antonio. But now home is here in Puebla. Puebla, Mexico is a city about 60 miles east of Mexico City, very important historic city for Mexico. Many of you will recall our viewer Cinco de Mayo, which is not the day of Mexico's independence. It's a famous battle that was fought here in the city of Puebla by the French versus Mexico. Let's leave that aside for now. But maybe the next picture is the city of Cholula, which is a small today. It's really a suburb of Puebla. And Cholula is the home of my university, a university of the Americas. An interesting story itself. It was founded in 1940 by a group of Americans from the U.S. And it's today a very dynamic global university, a lot of connections itself to the world. And the third picture, if we can turn to that. What is what is that mountain behind the picture? It seems to be smoking that mountain. That's right. This is a volcano, a famous volcano called Papua Catepital. And it is occasionally, it does spew some ash. It's not quite as active as Chilauea, but it is most certainly. And it's got a very also important historic symbolism for Mexico. Mexico City is on the other side of that volcano. It's about probably 30 miles from here. And so this is a picturesque view of the town of Cholula, where this university is. So if we're looking at the third picture, it's a picture, I think, of the university itself. And again, it brings people from all over the world, many students from throughout Mexico, different parts of Mexico are studying here. And today about 30, 40% of the courses are offered in English, which is quite exciting. So I'm fluent in Spanish, I certainly can do that. But they actually like my native English speaking skills because it helps them improve their language. So it's an exciting place. And what are you teaching campus? What are you teaching? Well, various courses in international relations, I do one on US foreign policy, never a dull moment these days, comparative politics, where we look at different political systems. And another course on European Union, which is another area of my interest. So a wide range. But especially given my own professional development in the US, mostly Hawaii and California, I bring them a perspective and form from that. And my many travels as you know, all over. Yeah. So what's it like living in Mexico? What's it like living in Mexico? You know, you're you're you lived in Hawaii, you enjoyed whatever Hawaii had to offer. Well, how do you compare it Mexico, the weather, you know, the food, the people, the whole enchilada, may I say? Absolutely. And you know, like everything, every place you are in the planet. And I love traveling and seeing it. You always have different aspects of the good and the bad. Mexico is truly a land of paradox. I mean, it's an old culture and society, but it's also new and dynamic and very globally connected today. More as a young child, I lived here several years as well. I finished my high school here. But today it's a different world. NAFTA will say a few words about that later really has connected the US to the North America to to I'm sorry, Mexico. And, you know, it is also a place where the culture is so vibrant and dynamic and colorful. The cuisine and even the city of Puebla here is known for its gastronomy. On the other hand, again, and we'll say a few words about Indian a while, this paradox also means you have, you know, some very difficult challenges. Mexico does have some, you know, socioeconomic challenges of violence and security, real challenges. Now, I want to make clear, you know, most people's lives are very much, you know, comfortable and even happy in the midst of all these issues. It's a good quality of life overall. And, you know, you just have to adjust and make those adjustments. I am bilingual, bicultural. I've always been connected to Mexico. It's quite easy for me. But I'll tell you, there are over a million Americans living here in Mexico. So it's been a place that has always attracted many retirees, many other young Americans who see the opportunity here to be a connection to this part of the world. Yeah. Well, I want to cover two other things with you. So let's let's let's only identify what I have in mind. One is I want to catch up in your experiences in India. Last time you and I spoke, you were in Goa, was it? And that's right in Goa. And that was really very interesting. And I want to catch up from that point. I know you have some photos to show us. And after that, I would like to talk about foreign policy and international relations, what you teach. I want to be a student. Okay. And I want to know your thoughts on the thoughts of your students about how things are going in this country and in the world on international relations, which, which used to be, I think, a kinder, gentler kind of experience than it is these days. Yes, we are in a different time and chaos and uncertainty, of course, particularly with Mexico in the US, a very tense moment. So let's come back to that. Maybe we can turn to one last slide I have up here of Mexico. It's a little picture of folkloric Puebla City, this place I am. And it's a very good mixture of the old, very colorful, but also very modern and new. I mean, you don't see it, perhaps in that picture of this folkloric part. But that's what's exciting about this place. You can have this very modern dynamic, you know, 21st century, and then you turn the corner and you're in the 18th century. And they side by side. It's quite exciting. But let me say a few words now and turn our attention to India. Last fall semester, I was able to spend a little over five months there. And it was on a Fulbright grant as a visiting Fulbright professor, based in Goa. Goa is an interesting place in the West Arabian Sea coast. But it allowed me as a good base to travel and extensively get some lectures. India is a paradox as well. I mean, it's an exciting emerging, you know, economy emerging, emerging dynamic system. It's a land of tremendous, tremendous, you know, natural historical, you know, beauty, religious diversity, et cetera. It's not for everybody in terms of a place to go and visit it. I mean, it is a shock to the system. The extreme poverty, the chaos and inefficiency, you know, just every day you get inside a taxi or a little rickshaw and your life is being negotiated right there. And yet it is such a paradox. I've got a few pictures will turn maybe to number five, which is a, you know, the classic picture of an ox cart here, you know, being pulled by some oxen. And you'll see this just about anywhere throughout the typically the rural areas. We turn to the next picture, number six, and we have a typical picture of a street market again, you know, very colorful, you know, very, you know, poor people, but people who have a lot of dignity and pride. And I think what's fascinating to me is that even the most humble and poor people, they have beautiful, you know, clothing colorful, they wear it with pride. And a lot of times clothing in many cultures, special cultures tells you a lot about who they are, where they're from, what their religion is. But very fascinating to see, you know, the people, you know, with just very simple life, but very colorful. And you can contrast that we have this other part of India like Mexico, a land of contrast and paradox. The number seven picture is an example of a very wealthy Indian woman. And you know, here's a country that within a few years, we're told is going to be passing China in population. It's got about 1.2 billion, but it's growing faster than China. And you have a pretty sizable population that is very wealthy, very well connected, well educated, basically globetrotting, you know, back and forth to different parts of the world. And the elite, the wealthy, I mean, they have had, you know, for millennia, we obviously many, many years of, I guess, you know, a rich heritage as well. Do you think we'll have a movie coming soon called Crazy Rich Indians? Well, many of them already exist. And we know the story of Bollywood. They produce more films in Hollywood. And frankly, there are already many of those there. Some of them have made it into the US market. Even Hawaii, many years celebrating the annual Bollywood Film Festival. It's remarkable how India has this tremendous sort of, you know, soft power, this cultural appeal that is remarkable. And again, I go back to what I said earlier that it's not for everybody. It's a difficult place to get around. It's not easy. And it's a shock to the system, you know, the smell, the horn beeping, the, you know, the danger and insecurity. And yet, obviously, you know, if you can adjust and adapt, it's also exciting. You'll turn the corner and see the most beautiful temple that is just sitting there. Or the people can be very friendly, very warm. But it is, it was hard. It was not as easy as going to, let's say, Austria or, you know, even Mexico, frankly, coming back to Mexico, it was like, ah, almost the first world here. But I had a great experience. I really got to, you know, in that short time. And very much what the Fulbright program, which is a government, US government and India government program of exchange, it allowed me to really be connected to many people there. It opened doors. And if I turn to the next slide, there's a picture I have number eight, a picture at Benades, Hindu University. Benades is also known as Varanasi, a famous city on the Ganges River, very the spiritual center of Hinduism. And this university I'm there meeting with a man who himself, he was a Fulbright scholar to Connecticut. And so Fulbright, again, this exchange program that's been around many decades, it helps to connect you with others who have had opportunities in this state to study and work in the US. And that opens up doors. I visit this guy, he shows me around, I get a deeper understanding that the more people to people exchange. And so this gentleman that there is a professor at this university. Other than that, I want to say, you know, you know, Carlos, we have a correspondent. We have a correspondent in Varanasi. His name is Cardiqi Mishra. And he lives, he's a college student. I'm not, it might even be that that school. And he reports to us every month or so and tells us how things are doing on the Ganges. And he's very Akamai, he's very Akamai, he understands, he's a business student, he understands global business. It's really interesting that you were near him if you were near the Ganges and all that. I wish I had known. And this university, this is their premier university at that place, BNU it's called. It's a very important university. And, you know, the Indian Higher Education System, I was there in many ways studying about that too, and how it is that they are preparing their future leaders, like the young person you talked about. And it is quite remarkable, they really are developing a human capital, a capacity for people who can walk in India, of course, big population, has a very large population of people who have good English language skills. That's why we have call centers set up there, but also their ability to manage multiple languages. Even a taxi driver will typically speak three, four or five languages like nothing. And they learn them on their own. They're not even taking classes. They just figure out how to get by. That's a remarkable skill that again helps them function. I want to share with you maybe two more pictures from India. In the number nine picture, I was then traveling in the south of India, Kerala, a beautiful state in the southern southwestern portion. And here is a place that for many decades has had a very powerful, strong communist party. And yet, as a result, it's had very progressive and very successful sort of healthcare initiatives and poverty alleviation. Compared to other parts of India, this place, you don't see the stark poverty. It's much more developed. And what I found fascinating here is a picture of a campaign ad for the Communist Party. And it has pictures of Lenin and Stalin, which are beyond heard of anywhere else in the world in today and 2018, 2017, during the last election. So the Communist Party still connected to the forefathers founding it from Russia. They took pictures of Lenin and Stalin on their campaign. And I just found that to be quite interesting. The final one I have, it underscores, again, India's connection to the world. There's an interesting billboard that I found, which gives you an advertisement to study, to work, and to migrate essentially wherever you want to go. Germany, you know, UK, Canada, the US, there are places they're ready to help connect you there, find work opportunities, study opportunities. And there's a growing number of Indians today. It's newly emerging middle class that are very mobile and they have the education, the skills, they find opportunities to go out, but also very important to return. And some years ago, you know, one of your, I think David Pina that published his book on the sort of return capital flight, you see it today, a lot of entrepreneurs and leaders who they lived in the UK or in the US for 10, 20, 30 years. Now they're back in India with, you know, the home cooking and the, you know, the local life and yet still very connected to this outside world. It's a fascinating story of this sort of ability to move back and stay connected. So you're full bright there in India. What did you work on? Well, I did a combination of some teaching. I taught a course there at an engineering and science school in Goa. And that was fascinating. These students of, you know, technology, but they're interested in social and political issues. They have a passion for it. So I taught one course, but I also then get a project looking at studying the higher education system and how it is just they are training leaders. So visiting a lot of universities, learning about what they're doing to promote global learning, giving some lectures at some of these other universities in the South and Varanasi in different places. And mainly that focused on what is the higher education system doing there to prepare future leaders. And it's pretty clear there's a national policy, but then India is a federal system. So at the very, you know, state level, there are a lot of places doing, you know, their own initiatives. And that that was just a bit of mixture of teaching and research. So the research allowed me to travel quite a bit to visit many parts of India. Yeah. And that was a good ramp up for coming back to Mexico and being a professor of international relations. So we're gonna take a short break, Carlos, we'll come back and I want to hear your thoughts about international relations these days. Teach me, professor. Be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Foundation for a Better Life. Okay, we're back, we're live with Carlos Juarez, who is the host of Global Connections, Global Connections remounted as it were. Okay. And we were talking during the break about how this is going to work because, you know, he's going to be in Mexico. We use Zoom to connect with him. And then we'll use Zoom to connect with someone else, wherever it may be in Mexico or Goa or anywhere in the world, even Hawaii. Okay. And he'll be able to talk to any number of people that way, but hosting the show from Mexico, Puebla. So we're in great shape here. This is going to be terrific. Let your mind fly. Only appropriate, you know, for a professor of international relations, it all fits Carlos. Absolutely. So, you know, I can think back when I was when I was a student years ago, just the idea that we're going to be in this connected world. Well, it's here now. It's not the future. We are in it now. We are living that, that world. Quite, quite a great. And then we have to look forward to the next world too, every, every day. So let's talk about the next world or at least the world that's changing so dynamically all around us from a point of view of international relations. I mean, it's, it's different than it was in the 50s or the 60s or the 70s. But what's different about it? How do you describe the dynamic of international relations, relations between countries these days? Well, it can take many forms. And, and, you know, as someone who's been now in the education world for, gosh, the last 40 years, from a student to now an educator directly, the technologies, of course, are one effort. Look, our ability to do this. But even more to that would be the average student that I have even here now. These are people who are more mobile. They have been to Europe, to the Mexican, to the U.S., to, you know, South America, to Asia. And so for them, studying about the world is not abstract. It's not just the textbook, but they were there, they've been there and they are raising different questions, different issues. And of course, the, you know, just like this process of globalization that we often associate with economics with, you know, technology, it's also happening in education. We were thinking differently. We're educating differently. What are the skills we need? Of course, languages is indispensable if you're crossing the world. But let's say for a student in Mexico, it's not an option whether you want to know English. You need to know it. And so I teach courses here in English. They actually very much benefit from that. It prepares them. Beyond that, I guess, the reality of the technology so that today is supposed to challenge, but an opportunity because sometimes students just assume everything's online. And yes, it is, but not always. Sometimes you actually have to open a book and read it. And I have to remind them, you know, here, let's look at this book, for example. But of course, digital information, it has changed the way we do everything. Even I teach a course on diplomacy, diplomacy is now impacted in ways so that if you're a government official, a diplomat negotiating, you have got to use social media in ways that, guess what, they didn't prepare you for that in your studies to be a diplomat. But suddenly you need to know, you know, the importance of that. And that allows you a bridge to civil society directly. So instead of just people, the people, or no, no, I'm sorry, instead of government to government, diplomacy is now happening in different ways, you know, going directly to society. And, you know, some of my former students from HPU, who are young diplomats now are involved in this and they're having to do that, both explaining and maybe building support for foreign policy through social media, very different world. Beyond that, I think it is, again, this global education that anywhere I go now, my classroom here or in Austria or in India, maybe a little bit less India. But in general, we have so much mobility of students now are like at HPU in Hawaii, people come from everywhere. Look how many Swedish and Norwegian students we have there. Here I have students in my class from France and Italy and from Ecuador, from Switzerland from Canada. And that dynamic changes everything when once you have several international students, they both contribute to the dialogue and they bring a different energy, a different perspective. And so I'm teaching about political systems and I have a Swiss student and they have a fascinating, you know, consideration, a very, you know, plural executive. They don't have a single leader. And then I can not just explain that, but ask him, well, how is this, you know, how does this reflected in your day to day life? I mean, what's different living in Lausanne versus Zurich or whatever it might be, but this both practicality and a real world perspective. And back to the idea that the students today, particularly at a more elite university, this is not the case maybe at a, you know, different type, but at a school where the students have had opportunities to travel growing up, they have seen the world. And now they're reflecting on it in a different way, like, ah, that explains why, you know, they do this differently there. So we bring, I think I always like to think of the classroom, it has to be a dynamic environment, not just me top down telling them, but instead, I like to learn what do they know, what do they bring to the table. And those experiences, they can help connect them more and personalize it more. And I think I like to tell the students they often learn more from their own peers than just from, you know, Mr. Professor here. It's really more helping them teach each other and raise questions to have curiosity about the world. I'm remembering your time in Austria. You spent a lot of time, another Fulbright as I recall, yeah, you were three years ago. HPU's man in Austria, it was really amazing. We talked to you a number of times when you were in Austria. But all this suggests, all this, you know, change in international relations and the art, if you will, of diplomacy, you know, it all suggests that the students that you have, or who would be going to school and some other school, another country could be anywhere, would like to be involved in diplomacy, would like to be involved in making international relations, would like to be involved in connecting countries with the kind of, you know, connection, the kind of guanxi that makes a better world, a safer world and all that. So when they come to you in Mexico, in Pueblo, do you Pueblo, excuse me, they they are they seeking positions in the diplomatic service? Are they seeking work in Mexico or the U.S. or some other, you know, State Department organization by which they can practice diplomacy? Well, yes, all of the above. Now, the reality is that the diplomatic service, whether here in Mexico in the U.S., it's a small elite there. There are very few diplomats every year in these days in the U.S. with the drastic cuts to the State Department even less. But what I like to make very clear to the students is you can do diplomacy, you can do international relations and not have to be a formal official diplomat, more likely they're going to have opportunities in NGOs or an international organization. They can even establish their own organization that obviously deals with government, deals with civil society. And I think it's fair to say that while diplomacy, the traditional view is that, you know, government to government, we really have, I mean, whether it's an issue like human rights or environmental issues, there are so many players now, international organizations, there could be a small NGO that's very localized and they are still able to engage in. And again, using the technologies, understanding how policy gets made. So these students are going to be able to engage in and again, using the technology, understanding how policy gets made. So these students are very few of them, whether here or in the U.S. are going to become diplomats, but some of them do, and we have, of course, a handful. The reality is that most of them will move on to different private organizations, different non-governmental type of, some of them even in the private sector, perhaps with companies that are doing business and you need somebody who understands obviously how culture, society, politics work. You need finance people, you need accountants, but you also need people who really understand negotiating across cultures. And that's fundamentally those are the kind of skills that I think a student of international relations is learning. But again, like everything, they have to be able to be resourceful in more areas. It's not just knowing a few facts. It's people-to-people knowledge, it's learning how to be creative, problem solvers. And so, yes, the students here, for example, many of them have opportunities to, during their studies, to spend a semester or a year abroad and then even to work. Some of them will have opportunities to find work outside or in other parts. And given Mexico, Mexico City is the center, the hub of particularly government and finance and all, but even provincial cities, like Puebla. This is a city of maybe about two or three million, so it has its own connection to the world. It has a large community of European immigrants, Germans. There's a huge factory here of Volkswagen and Audi and, you know, many of the managers are brought here from Germany directly. So they actually sometimes even will hire managers that they will send back to Germany to train and help them then come back and be more effective leaders here. So it is a little bit of everything and it's both exciting, but it's also daunting because the challenges are very big. You need language skills. You need adaptability skills. You need to know a lot about a lot of different things, sort of a general knowledge. You have to have a world view and you have to be able to get out there and travel and appreciate the relations. And so it's like going to law school prepares you to practice the business community and make deals in any capacity. It's the same thing here. But you know what we've been we've been seeing for the past 18 months the U.S. State Department degraded from Tillerson on and right now they say that you know there's nobody there anymore. There haven't been hiring to replace you know the attrition and the State Department is at very low levels both in numbers and in morale. And it's really a sad story for the United States. And I wonder you know what you're thinking is about that and I wonder what your thought is about how ideally a State Department should work. How ideally diplomatic relations should work and whether this is a compound question and whether this room in today's you know flat world multinational world for isolationism and tariff barriers is there room for that? How badly are we of course is what I'm asking. Well this is a tough time and a case in point Mexico there is no U.S. ambassador here 18 months of this administration there's not even a designated there's no candidate basically a country as important as Mexico one of the leading trade partners for the U.S. and there is not an official here who represents the president. Now we have a different president in the U.S. different in the sense of you know he doesn't he's diplomacy in the same way doesn't respect the you know elites and the professionals at the end of the day yeah there's you know there's a lot of concern right now that the U.S. is definitely veering off its tradition now you mention isolationism and the U.S. has a long history the whole history of the country is one of a struggle between isolationism and internationalism these are recurring themes you know at the end of World War 1 there's a huge in conflicts and yet we find ourselves spread all around so there's always a powerful force for that but sadly when it comes to these complex issues of diplomacy and trade and all that I mean they require experts they require people to negotiate and as we speak now there is an ongoing negotiation between Mexico the U.S. and Canada that was brought back today to the table but you know even the teams that are leading the current U.S. administration are being very bullying a style of negotiation that might work in Queens or you know in reality TV show but unfortunately it has eroded a lot of the credibility and prestige of the U.S. increasingly the Europeans are now saying look we can't depend on the U.S. we can't even trust what they're saying and we've got a president currently under so much pressure and tension and you know if we try to think about understanding the Trump and such a thing as a Trump I don't know approach or philosophy or guiding principles it's hard to find it's chaos it's uncertainty unpredictability and that is not the way you either do business or that you can negotiate across borders you know solutions to problems so it's a tough time and Mexico a very important partner today is also going through a political transition they're about to inaugurate a new president in December and so you have negotiating this deal the new administration will come in are they going to want to you know fine-tune it themselves it's a tough time and like you said particularly for the U.S. the diplomatic corps the diplomatic services that's the lowest point of morale that we've seen in decades and how much damage is going to be done before it can be turned around we will have to wait and see but right now we're definitely at the bottom of a pretty tough hopefully the bottom but it's in U.S. foreign policy credibility image it's a tough time well Carlos there's one last question I can't resist asking you and that is you know when you have a bad administration like this bad in terms of so many things but bad in terms of foreign policy and that administration ends for one reason or another maybe somebody else being elected who is more progressive and international in his approach that follows how hard is it to put Humpty back together again if I destroy and undermine you know long-standing diplomatic relationships around the world including my own long-standing allies how hard is it to put those relationships right to mend those fences later yeah it is hard it's not easy and so there is obviously a sense that you know the damage is not going to change even whenever the administration does and I even tell my students look there will be a day believe it or not when Donald Trump will not be the president of the U.S. maybe it's in six months maybe it's in two and a half years maybe it's in six and a half years I don't know I mean looking pretty grim for him today but there will be a post-Trump world and you know the U.S. is having a lot of criticism that it has sort of abdicated its leadership role obviously it will take time to turn around it won't be overnight but I also think this that there is a growing awareness at least among many who do understand the U.S. that Trump is an anomaly he's not the norm and while he may you know reflect some of the frustration and maybe you know anxiety in certain sectors of American society there's also you know there's a long a good part of American you know government and business understand that the U.S. it's got to be engaged in the world and have to be a global you know positive contributor so my hope is that over time much like we say the institutions you know I think you had a discussion earlier about you know how you become an authoritarian or you know you know I have long taught in courses about transitions from authoritarian rule to democracy that's been the trend today in the U.S. and in parts of Europe we have an opposite we have democracy becoming authoritarian rules and let's just hope that the institutions of the U.S. I believe and hope hope that they are strong enough to withstand that and to sort of bounce back but it won't be soon it'll be you know the damage will be done the credibility will be hard to earn back I think it will happen and I think that at least among experts and elites there's an awareness that there's you know enough I don't know enough desire to want to see the U.S. back on a more positive footing obviously in a different world because the U.S. will no longer be you know calling the shots the way it did after World War War II or you know it's a different reality today but you know the U.S. has been a source of inspiration for many other places places and you know and providing leadership for the international system today that has eroded will it come back gradually yet but in the same way no it'll be a different reality I think we're going to have to be more humble and more well I think we I'm saying you maybe because I'm now here in Mexico but the U.S. I think in the future leadership it's going to have to be very work hard to try to regain the trust and but again I think that out in the international community whether here in Mexico and Europe people are aware that you know the U.S. is always going to be a global player and that this Trump experiment is a very strange aberration and anomaly and some day we will be in a post-Trump world let's just hope it's not totally broken maybe we can put it back together without taking too long from your lips to God's ears how do you say that in Spanish Carlos from your lips from your lips to God's ears well de tu boca las orejas del Dios something like that so Dios is the God and oreja would be the ears and from your lips de tus labios las orejas del Dios something like that let's hope the response to that I say hasta luego we got to go hasta luego, yeah and so two weeks from now you'll be back I can hardly wait to see your you know your whole international discussion flower internationally be great thank you so much Carlos very much thank you J. great to see you and aloha to all our listeners thank you so much ha ha ha