By Tom Fowdy
The nation we know as the United States has been in the modern era, a scientific and technological giant. Its size, resources and immensely competitive culture have made it the home of brilliant minds who have changed the world as we know it, whether it be Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg in the present day, or immense historical triumphs such as landing on the Moon, America has often made its brand synonymous with achievement. Thus, it is the setting of some of the world's most influential academic institutions, such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The admiration of America's scientific and educational prowess has been felt the world over, even in nations of course who, politically, increasingly dislike US hegemony. Nowhere is this more true for the People's Republic of China, where, even as it sees the United States as a rival, it is the dream and longing of so many Chinese students to be able to study somewhere such as the United States. Now that's not to say China hasn't dramatically increased its own educational and scientific achievements, because it has done so rapidly, yet America is still a "prestige" status not just for Chinese, but for most of the world. For myself, having attended the best British institutions and also educated in Hong Kong, less so, but that is beside the point.
However, the Trump administration is now doing its very best to systematically dismantle the United States as a place to study in, and that isn't an exaggeration. The White House is actively abusing its immigration powers to try and blockade the influx of international students into the United States, while even violating the rights of existing ones, all as part of its domestic crusade of crushing opposition to Israel on University Campuses as part of a longstanding culture war vendetta against "left wing" academia writ large.
Hence, in the past few weeks, we've had the administration attempt to embargo Harvard from accepting international students, actively detaining those critical of Israel and now the State Department is rolling out a comprehensive "social media vetting" process on those who come to study in America, requiring embassies to stop all scheduling appointments. This is on top of his attempts to punish universities by cutting funding. In general, as it was with the last Trump Presidency, immigration policies are actively utilised as a political weapon to punish those who challenge their agenda, thus, politically motivated denials were rampant under Mike Pompeo's reign of terror at the Department of State.
I remember in 2019 that those who had visited North Korea previously were not only banned from the visa waiver program, but also even denied visas or entry outright. Predicting that the Trump administration would return to office and subsequently weaponize visas in such a political manner again, I snapped up my 10 year tourist visa to the US in the dying months of the Biden years, knowing that I may be subject to a "Politically motivated denial" at the US embassy Seoul in other circumstances. After all, regardless of who is in power, US consular workers and visa processes are normatively strict, and Trump will only increase the pressure on them to deny.
However, by comprehensively weaponizing this matter against students in particular, the White House is systematically damaging the allure of studying in the United States. Trump and his administration claim they are stamping out antisemitism, but this is nothing other than comprehensive vandalism to American soft power through a shortsighted misrepresentation of the reality that America's education system is one of its most formidable strengths; it is a vacuum of talent and brilliance from the rest of the planet. After all, this is the same America that wants to be able to outcompete and outinnovate China in a protracted technology war. If America can take and retain Chinese talent, as well as talent from other places, that is how America ultimately wins. However, Trump's very ethos seems to undermine the appeal of the United States across the board.
The President repeatedly takes America's strengths and advantages for granted, believing by denying other countries access to them he can extract concessions, but the world is changing, and such politically motivated vandalism to the open flow of education, with freedom of speech and academia being fundamental American values, he only serves to empower its competitors by tarnishing what the country once represented even in the eyes of their populations. Why study in America, where the President can effectively be deported and have your own reputation ruined because you hold a point of view you don't like? Is there not a lingering irony in this concerning what the US says about its critics?
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Tom Fowdy:
Opinion | What is the 'Golden Dome' and how does it change the strategic landscape
Opinion | Why Nvidia is blasting US export controls as a failure
Opinion | How I spotted the US 'Anti-China strings' in the deal with the UK
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