Scholars of social movements offer important advice for those
who would attempt to catapult international education onto the
nation’s policy agenda: “There is no such thing as a social
problem, until enough people, with enough power in the society,
agree that there is. Social problems are produced by public
opinion, not by particular social conditions, undesirable or
otherwise.”  Taken in this light, the fact that student
knowledge of the world is demonstrably inadequate or that fewer
than 40,000 American students study Chinese is unlikely to
result in a widespread call for education reform. And, despite
the fact that policy leaders in government and business have
publicly expressed their concern about “educational
isolationism,” elite opinion in itself is insufficient to propel
the changes that are necessary to transform the curriculum. That
will depend on the reactions of constituents and of influential
individuals who must weigh international education against other
priorities. The challenge for those who