People may get upset at what idea I'm about to propose, but I think it would develop us into a much more understanding and open minded people and nation.
I believe all Americans should be made to travel internationally. There should be an act passed that required all US citizens at 18 (after high school) to participate in one year of overseas social/community work (the only exception being the infirmed or the ones that opt for military service). Further, they should especially (but not necessarily) need to work in 3rd world countries.
Something akin to the peace corps but without the long term commitment. If they were to insist on doing domestic work and not traveling, the time spent should increase to 2 years, and it should be in the poorest places in the USA.
I was reminded today about how ignorant so many Americans are to what happens in the rest of the world. A lady was interacting with a guy in my workplace from Africa, and proceeded to ask him if he wore clothes over there and lived with Lions. I am serious folks. Also, I recently had an employee of mine ask me if I saw any Kangaroos when I got back from Europe. I can only hope he got Austria and Australia mixed up, but even that is unforgivable.
This citizen improvement aside, I think if America were to start this, the way people view us as a nation would change dramatically. They would see us taking the responsibility of being the world's superpower seriously, setting the example and (finally) being an act to follow and something to look up to in the world at large.
As a nation, most of the people never leave the borders. Most don't know another language or are even exposed to it (unless you count Spanish, but we wont start THAT discussion). Our promotion of social responsibility and helping to forge relationships with a countries citizens would empower our people to care more about what happens in the world, and would give them a real world exposure to cultures. At least something other than the television culture they currently associate with. Hopefully, this would plant the seed of experience and perhaps carrying it with them the rest of their lives.
This is already similar to something Germany does and its a great model to follow for an American version.
I know that this is simply a thought experiment and a wee bit "pie-in-the-sky", but I seriously think we should be looking at this or something like it. We've isolated ourselves so much on the whole, I think its beginning to strain our ability to function and remain in touch with the real world around us.
All many Americans know about other cultures is what the news tells them when we attack, or they start verbally attacking us. We consider ourselves a fair and loving nation, at least in the media. It's time we prove that statement to the world. Prove that we can have a firm hand yet also a helping one as well.
Thoughts?
