Introducing Center Voices to Promote Civil Discourse

April 21, 2021

By Deena Mansour, Executive Director

Montana's greatest statesman, Senator Mike Mansfield was well aware that maintaining democratic principles was a constant challenge. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, he observed, “… I would point out that the contact among peoples and among nations during the past quarter of a century has also brought with it one great negative result. It has brought an increase in human hostility. Whatever the compound of fear, lack of understanding, aggressiveness and arrogance which has produced this hostility, it is a most dangerous phenomenon.”

The Mansfield Center was created by an Act of Congress in 1983 to support ethics in public affairs and international engagement. We seek to honor and carry forward Senator Mansfield’s legacy by having the Center serve as a forum for the study and maintenance of democracy. Recently the Pew Research Center reported that a majority of Americans believe that the nature of political debate in the U.S. has become more negative, less respectful, and less fact-based. Discussing the issues of the day has become, more so than at any other point in our lifetimes, frequently stressful, frustrating, and, frankly, exhausting.

The Mansfield Center is committed to bringing together the communities we serve to discuss critical issues in a spirit of mutual respect for different viewpoints grounded in facts. As professor of Far Eastern history, then as congressman, senator and U.S. ambassador to Japan, Mike Mansfield had a lifelong interest in Asia and U.S.-Asian relations. He was widely acknowledged as an expert in that field. A Chinese proverb nicely sums up what he himself believed: jianting ze ming, pian xin ze an.--”Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, believe only one side and you will remain in the dark.”

We have created this blog Center Voices to shed light. It will become a regular feature of this website on issues critical to the Mansfield Legacy. The scope of the blog will be as broad as the interests that our affiliated Fellows, alumni, Board members, and students bring to our work. The platform will serve to enhance our connections with the communities the Center serves: locally, nationally, and internationally.

The blog will be moderated by Steven I. Levine, Ph.D. Harvard, 1972, Senior Mansfield Fellow in Chinese history and politics and U.S.-China relations. Dr. Levine capped his forty-year academic career by teaching at the University of Montana. He has written, co-authored, edited, and translated (from Chinese and Russian) some dozen books in his fields of interest as well as published scores of journal articles, book chapters, and review essays. Throughout his career, he has been active in defending human rights at home and abroad. As moderator he will ensure respect for civility in all posts.

The Mansfield Center has a unique role in both our community’s exploration of ideas and its engagement in critical thinking and ethical living. We encourage you to follow Center Voices and reaffirm the great tradition of spirited but respectful American civil discourse.