It seems to me that a fundamental lack of communication has been at the heart of many modern international conflicts. Two stark examples include Western Europe's decided ambiguity when confronted with a re-militarized Nazi Germany on the Polish border, as well as the U.S. envoy to Iraq whose unfamiliarity with Arab culture ill-equipped her to properly convey how seriously Washington opposed a potential invasion of Kuwait. As we well know, poor communication in these examples had devastating consequences that we would now do anything to have prevented.

As such, when political, professional and academic leaders fail to engage their international counterparts at the onset of bilateral tensions, they do their fellow citizens and esteemed credentials a grave disservice. As Columbia's willingness to host Ahmadinejad is an encouraging development in the current U.S.-Iranian rift. I think Bollinger was right to voice the university's opposition to the hateful populist rhetoric Ahmadinejad espouses, and although he unnecessarily insulted Ahmadinejad's intelligence (hardly the mark of a proper host), it was clearly his right to bow to pressure from the highly partisan media by sensationalizing the event. Moreover, it is also our obligation to live up to our own ideals of free speech and allow our international friends and enemies an audience should they wish to address one, complete with all the protests and demonstrations as warranted.

After watching Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia and hour-long interview on Charlie Rose I saw nothing new from a man who habitually dodges questions, twists topics, and blatantly lies about his nation's intimate relationship with Hezbollah and aid to Sunni militias in Iraq. His purpose may very well have been to communicate with the American people; however, his populist, egalitarian tone struck me as typically disingenuous, which leads me to believe his appearances were intended merely as a slap-in-the-face to the Bush administration. Regardless of intent or substance, communications with the many nations that lie far from our shores are precious opportunities to better understand our fellow man and, hopefully, to avoid future armed conflict. Any attempts to thwart that interaction should be questioned and resisted.