Globalization and Academia

In the late 60's the Beatles wrote a song named land of milk and honey, it is not a song of my time, i am not so old, but probably my parents hear it when they were dataing, however, the lyrics reminds me of this country.


This is the land of Milk and Honey
This is the land of sun and song and
This is the world of good and plenty
Humble and proud and young and strong and
This is the place where the hopes of the homeless
and the dreams of the lost combine
This is the land that heaven blessed and
This lovely land is mine

Well this might be the Beatles land, I don't think they were talking about my land (Mexico) but it express an admiration for the blessed land. As a temporary visitor in this American land I am everyday more surprised about the greatness of this country, this land of honey and milk, is also called the country of the efficiency, everything works here, energy, transportation, industry, financial systems, you name it. United States is the first economy in the world and although China is getting close , I believe the leadership of American companies in business and industry still have a lot to give to the rest of the world. However, there is something I have seen while living and studying here, some Americans never have been exposed to international experiences, specially in the Academic aspect. Although higher education has become rampantly global, countries like Saudi Arabia and China are using federal funds to educate abroad their youths, I don't see the same encouragement in America. Brookings Institution Press published an article named "Academic globalization should be welcomed, not feared" . Ben Wildavsky. January 15,2010

http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2010/0115_globalization_wildavsky.aspx that talks about this global speeding in education. This article shows some interesting statistics, i.e. 3 million people currently study outside their country, the student mobility has increased a 57% in the last decade and United States is the promised land for international studies. Thousands of students are moving to United States every year to acquire Masters Degrees and PhD to return home and work in local industry and universities. But what happen with American students, why American students do not show interest for studying business or sciences outside United States borders? Wouldn't be interesting to know how the world functions outside American borders? wouldn’t' this international experience collaborate to the understanding of the new globalization? I invite my American classmates to express your comments about this new era of academic globalization.