The Ugly American: Then and now

Earlier this month the New York Times Book Review published a retro review of "The Ugly American,'' the 1958 novel by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick that depicted the struggle between Communist insurgents in a thinly disguised Southeast Asian country that sounded a lot like Vietnam.

The story centers around the poorly trained and arrogant members of the U.S. diplomatic mission, including the politically appointed ambassador, whose lack of cultural awareness and understanding of the people lead the diplomats to make mistakes that give the local Communist insurgents the advantage over the well-intended U.S. delegation.

Sound familiar? The irony of the plot is that an American engineer and his wife, who volunteered their services, get to know the local leaders and understand the culture and are somewhat successful at doing what the U.S. government representatives had failed to do.

Largely due to the book and the movie, the phrase "Ugly American'' has become shorthand to describe ignorance, arrogance and incompetence of American society when dealing with the rest of the world.

The authors intended to deliver a story centered on the need for a well-meaning people to learn the kind of information that shows other cultures that we have respect for what other people are about.

During this Cold War period, the lack of knowing caused the United States to be constantly outmaneuvered by the Soviet Union. That led to over confidence on the part of the Soviet leadership regarding what the United States would do in the subsequent Cuban missile crisis.

The Times reviewer concludes his remarks by pointing out that the lessons learned by the bumbling ambassador had some real value and became the foundation that helped to establish the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy. But other than this single act of brilliance, the lessons have faded away.

Under the recent Bush administration, the past decade has seen a major return to the role of the U.S. government as a world leader not much interested in what the rest of the world thinks of us and expressing an attitude of indifference and even contempt for foreign governments.

Unfortunately, today the "Ugly American'' phrase still applies to almost every part of American society, including, the federal government and the business community. Despite making major inroads into the global economy, there are many companies that still think it unnecessary to include as part of their business preparations the culture and customs of their potential partners and customers.

U.S. best interests

As the world becomes more integrated and the competition becomes more intense, it will become more important than ever for U.S. businesses to take the time and provide the training to understand the cultures of the people who are becoming more our neighbors and competitors than ever before.

Today, once again, the United States has a president who understands that if we want to lead the world through the 21st century, we must do so by showing respect and appreciation for the larger world community.

The future strength of the U.S. economy will come, in part, from the continued entrepreneurial spirit this country has promoted and the innovation that will make this country the ongoing creator of new industries for new products and the jobs they will help create.

But future innovation will come from a mix of people, including many professionally trained guest workers from places like India, China and Israel, to name just a few. The United States must do all it can to encourage these innovators to continue to choose America as the place for them to exercise their talents and hard work.

The more the United States can become a welcoming and tolerant society, with the knowledge and understanding of the highly skilled and educated people who are coming, the more it will be able to attract the high-powered talent of the future.

In a recent article he wrote for the Financial Times, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, emphasized the need for the U.S. economy to take the lead in innovation, much of which he recognized would come from new immigrants as well as guest professional workers.

But even now the H-1B visa program is under attack, making it more difficult for future scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to stay in this country long enough to make their potential contributions.

The real lesson of the story is that all of us, regardless of our station in life, can contribute to the conditions that foster understanding and respect for people and help them choose one society over another.