The world in which today's students will graduate is fundamentally different from the world in which we grew up. The quickening pace of globalization over the past 20 years—driven by profound technological changes, the rise of China and India, and the accelerating pace of scientific discovery—has produced a whole new world. Companies manufacture goods around the clock and around the world; ideas and events traverse the Internet in seconds; a financial crisis in the United States affects farmers in Africa; and pollution in China influences the air in Los Angeles.

As never before, education in the United States must prepare students for a world where the opportunities for success require the ability to compete and cooperate on a global scale. But we have not emphasized global knowledge and skills in our schools. Indeed, compared to their peers in other countries, U.S. students are woefully ignorant of other world cultures, international issues, and foreign languages. A 2007 report from the National Academy of Sciences warns, "The pervasive lack of knowledge of foreign cultures and languages threatens the security of the United States as well its ability to compete in the global marketplace and produce an informed citizenry" (Committee to Review the Title VI and Fulbright-Hays International Education Programs, 2007, p. 1).