Like so many of those whose mission is to struggle for peace, Oscar Arias wears a look of disappointment.
"We began the 20th century, the bloodiest in history, with a war in the Balkans and we are ending it with a war in Balkans," the former president of Costa Rica said at Goucher College yesterday. "We cannot survive in the 21st century with the values of the 20th century."
The winner of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, Arias began a two-day residency at Goucher -- including a public lecture last night -- meeting a dozen students in an international politics course.
"I would love to see the billions of dollars that is being spent waging the current war spent instead trying to prevent conflicts," he told the class.
Arias' message is the same many preach in urban areas of the United States -- too many guns.
"Since I left office in 1990, I have been working trying to demilitarize as many nations as possible," he said. "In my country, we have had no armed forces for 51 years. My 1987 peace plan was to make Central America the first demilitarized zone in the world.
"We need to choose between armed forces and satisfying the basic needs of our people," he said. "The children of Central America, of Africa, of Asia would rather have schools and health centers than tanks and fighter planes."
Arias used his Nobel Prize money to set up a foundation to support his ideas. He works with the foundation almost full time, visiting numerous campuses every year.
"The idea is to get students to stop and think about the world beyond the campus," said Nicholas R. Brown, who directs the college's Sarah T. Hughes Center, which sponsored Arias' visit. "By the end of two days, a large number of students will be exposed to new ideas and opinions."
Arias began with Associate Professor Eric Singer's international studies course, though all students were invited.
"We have been studying various theories of international politics, so to see somebody who has been an actor on that stage is very interesting," said Singer.
Arias chided industrial nations for selling weapons to Third World countries. "Every time I ask officials in Washington about that, they say, 'If we don't sell these weapons, someone else will.' I don't think that's a valid answer. What if officials in Colombia told Washington, 'If we don't sell the United States drugs, someone else will.' "
He chided Third World countries for buying weapons. "You talk to one of these African dictators and ask why they need an army of 60,000 soldiers with high-tech weapons that costs 3 percent of their GDP? It's madness."
He chided the students for not trying to do more about the situation. "Among students, apathy is the rule. They are not interested in things beyond their own career. When I was a kid, I knew what I wanted -- I wanted to be president of my country.
"So I went to school and studied economics. I went to England and got a Ph.D. in political science. I wanted to get involved in the problems of my country. Most kids now don't think that way."
Jennifer Jones, a senior in the class, found Arias impressive. "It's inspiring to meet someone that experienced in international politics who still believes that one person can make a difference. Too often, you talk to people and they just say, 'There's nothing I can do about it,' " she said.
Pub Date: 3/30/99