Last modified: Monday, April 29, 2013
Remarks by Vice President Biden on inauguration of School of Global and International Studies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2013
The following is a transcript of remarks given by video by Vice President Joe Biden on April 29, on the occasion of the inauguration of Indiana University's new School of Global and International Studies and the groundbreaking of a building that will become its home.
"I wish I could be there in person to help you inaugurate the new School of Global and International Studies. It's an important mission that you are starting today, and it's important because international studies is becoming more and more consequential every single day.
"As you all know, right now we live in a fundamentally different world than we did even 20 years ago. Today there are stateless actors wielding incredible power, even with very few resources. Technology is transforming security and international relations. And new challenges emerge every single day, from the Middle East to Africa, from South America to Asia.
"You know there's a line from one of my favorite poets, William Butler Yeats, in a poem titled 'Easter Sunday 1916.' In the line, he's describing his Ireland in 1916, but quite frankly, it better describes the state of the world today in my view. The line goes like this, he says, 'All's changed, changed utterly, a terrible beauty has been born. All has changed, and it's still changing.'
"And schools like the one you're inaugurating today are going to be needed in order for us to be able to keep up.
"If you excuse what we call in the United States Senate 'appointed personal privilege,' I am really happy, I'm happy for you all that you have my friends Lee Hamilton and Dick Lugar, who are going to be part of this new school.
"You know, I suspect there's no other school in America that will be able to boast the presence of a former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who I've said -- not just on this occasion but on many occasions over the last 20 years -- is the single-most knowledgeable American on foreign policy. And he has something in common with Lee Hamilton: genuine wisdom.
"Lee chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee for years and was the president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center.
"Look, these men have been consequential voices in the most compelling foreign policy debates in the last generation and this generation -- dealing with the crises of the Cold War, the demise of the Soviet Union, the emergence of China, the rise of stateless actors, European unification, NATO expansion.
"These are all consequential issues and consequential moments that have shaped our era. And as Sen. Dan Coats can tell you, this is a truly bipartisan consensus I'm expressing.
"I worked with both of these incredible men for over 30 years and I learned from them. And had we heeded more of their counsel, I truly believe we'd be better off today.
"And I can assure you, the students at Indiana University will now be better off for having an opportunity to learn from them.
"So I want to thank you for allowing me to be part of this dedication ceremony and I truly regret not being there. President McRobbie, I want to thank you for your foresight and courage to start an entire new entity like the School of Global and International Studies. It's not a mean undertaking.
"Dick and Lee, I hope you'll have the courage one day to invite me to address one of your classes. I'd love to see you both again in that environment.
"So let me close by saying good luck to Indiana University in your new venture. I'm sure you'll be a great success."
