Half the battle in the Middle East is for the hearts and minds of the Islamic world. A longer-term goal for the United States is to build relations of respect not only with nations but with people around the world - especially with students, scholars and intellectuals - the opinion makers of today and tomorrow. (Recently), a symptomatic event occurred - evidence of how the U.S. is putting itself in a position that makes it completely impossible to win that battle. The State Department suddenly revoked the visa already granted to Professor Tariq Ramadan, on the basis of undisclosed information supplied by the Department of Homeland Security. Professor Ramadan is not just one of the many individuals caught up in the machinations of the post-September 11 world. He is one of the most visible, if controversial, Muslim scholars in Europe. His work on Muslim-Christian relations and the role of Muslims in Western nations is at the cutting edge on a set of issues central to contemporary society. He is a professor in Geneva, Switzerland, and was invited by the University of Notre Dame to teach a course on Islamic ethics. He had already arranged for his children to attend schools in Indiana.

The Ramadan case is yet another example - widely reported in Europe and internationally - of how foreign individuals are treated by an American government fearful of people and perhaps ideas it does not completely understand. Notre Dame is in fact doing exactly the right thing. It is engaging controversial people and ideas in an effort to stimulate dialog and perhaps mutual understanding. The university is bringing to the U.S. a prominent intellectual to interact and perhaps to learn about American ideas. Notre Dame is not concerned that Professor Ramadan might not agree with American approaches to the Middle East.

For decades, the U.S. has benefited from the presence in its universities of students and scholars from abroad. Almost 600,000 students and 84,000 scholars from other countries are studying in the U.S. at present. Many foreigners from all over the world are teaching at American universities for varying periods of time. Indeed, many of our best professors and researchers, including Nobel Prize winners, are from other countries and have chosen to work at American universities. Foreign students and scholars constitute one of the few areas in which the U.S. has a highly favorable "balance of trade" - many foreigners are attracted to American higher education, producing more than $12 billion for the economy. Much more important are the ideas that they bring and the things that they learn and bring back to their home countries.

The Ramadan case is important because it exemplifies U.S. thinking and practice in the post-9/11 world. Foreigners are routinely mistreated when they apply for American visas, work permits, or permission to study. There is by now a vast array of anecdotal evidence from all over the world concerning the tribulations of dealing with American officialdom. Tales abound of uncivil consular officials in foreign posts, inordinate delays in processing visas and other documents and seemingly arbitrary and capricious treatment of applicants. The buzz in student dormitories and faculty offices from Mumbai to Montevideo is that America no longer welcomes foreigners.

So far, polls show that the U.S. remains a favored destination for foreigners wishing to study overseas. Foreigners like American universities and American culture, but they feel that access is no longer possible or worth the trouble of achieving. Flows of students and scholars worldwide remain strong, but the U.S. is being overtaken by such competitors as Britain and Australia. There is still a reservoir of support for American education and culture around the world, but it is quickly being drained by official policy and bureaucratic procedures.

Fear seems to be the motivating force behind how the U.S. is thinking about dealing with the rest of the world: fear of individuals and fear of ideas. Tariq Ramadan poses no threat to American security - he may communicate with people who are distasteful to some Americans, and he may hold ideas that can be questioned. But the worst outcome of this case, and of many other less-publicized ones, is to keep him out of the country. This robs Americans of the opportunity to hear opinions about religion, culture, or world events that are relevant to central issues of the day and to interact with key thinkers. And in the Ramadan case it sends a message around the world that the U.S. government is intolerant.

All of this is not merely an academic debate. It goes to the heart of how America deals with the rest of the world. If the U.S. is to successfully engage with ideas and people from abroad, it must restore its openness - of course, with appropriate safeguards for post-9/11 security. But security is one thing, and building walls against ideas and individuals who might hold unorthodox opinions is quite another. Tariq Ramadan should be welcomed to Notre Dame, and the thousands of students and scholars seeking to study and learn in the U.S. should be similarly welcomed. To do otherwise guarantees both ignorance and defeat in a world where knowledge and ideas mean a great deal.

Philip G. Altbach is Monan Professor of Higher Education and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. Information about the Center is available online at www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/index.htm.

Reprinted with permission from International Higher Education, Number 37, Fall 2004.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of CAUT.