Media reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is recruiting business intelligence analysts have critics saying that local universities’ political science departments would be hard pressed to produce such talent. Their opinions are not unfounded, and it has led me to think about what is amiss in the nation’s political science education.
Based on my 14 years of observation, local political science departments are too focused on publishing papers and analyzing issues, instead of teaching students to think about counterstrategies.
The main goal of political science is to develop students into statespeople or strategists, but the local education system seems to be focused on training students to analyze situations, rather than providing solutions to “what should we do if we were in this situation?”
For example, in the case of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, professors would be offering various in-depth analyses of the issue in class, placing a lot of scope on the background information of the two countries.
However, situational analysis is merely the starting point. If training is only focused on this aspect, students would be conducting data collection, and spending invaluable time and effort on information that many have access to.
This is the reason why most Taiwanese do not think much of political science majors, with many considering politics a topic that even a taxi driver can offer their two cents on.
The most important trait of a strategist or statesperson is the ability to come up with counterstrategies.
Taiwanese education lacks the facility to train students to think critically: If we were in this situation, what should we do and what should be our next move? This is one of the reasons we have been missing out on great opportunities to boost our international profile.
Take Taiwan and India, for example: We have missed the opportunity to exchange maximum benefits with India and reap concrete benefits from them.
A small country has every possibility to stand up to a big country, as long as it has talented strategists. That is why Ukraine has the means to deter a Russian invasion. Just like the Three Kingdoms period, the warlord Liu Bei’s (劉備) camp was originally the weakest among the three. However, with the help of the brilliant military strategist Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) by his side, he soon built up a kingdom strong enough to contend with the other two.
Jason Lee has a doctorate in international politics from National Chung Hsing University.
Translated by Rita Wang
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