Daniel Drezner points to a Chicago Tribune article, U.S. nice, but it’s not home, which describes an unusual example of America’s “soft” power:
Nazifa is one of 13 girls and 26 boys from Afghanistan who have studied in U.S. high schools this year. They are the first group of foreign-exchange students from Afghanistan to come to America in more than 30 years, and their year here is coming to an end.Nazifa’s serene expression changes as she considers describing her days as a sophomore at High Tech High International to the folks back home.
‘Even if I told them, they might think that is not school,’ Nazifa says, shaking her head and laughing. ‘They would think you would have gone somewhere else.’
Just as her new life begins to feel normal, Nazifa prepares for home. The students, here through a U.S. State Department program called Youth Exchange and Study, are to return to Afghanistan in late June. Excited to see their families once more, they are also apprehensive about blending in again. The recent turmoil and violence surrounding treatment of the Koran and the slaying of a liberal female TV host just a few years older than they are has put the students on edge.