I met a very interesting team from Radio Netherlands Worldwide this week.  Hans Jaap Melissen is an International Correspondent and Sigrid Deters is a Producer.

They are in the U.S. doing research for a fascinating project.  Along with a group of colleagues who have spread out around the world, they are trying to develop a picture of China’s role in globalization.  This seems to be a pretty big deal for their organization.  Sigrid and Hans are spending a month over here talking with people on all sides of the issue.

Sigrid and Hans were kind enough to express an interest in understanding my positions and they asked a number of really insightful questions.  They are clearly developing a well-rounded perspective regarding China’s new role in the world.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they conclude.

I’m quite impressed with the depth of understanding that Sigrid and Hans demonstrated.  Perhaps this is just election year grumpiness, but I couldn’t help feeling that most of us are only thinking about the impacts of globalization at a very superficial level and many of us are establishing our positions based on sound bites from the campaigns.  In contrast, this news organization in the Netherlands is making a significant investment of time and resources to develop a deep and nuanced understanding of the issues…  Hmmm.

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