How Intellectual Tourism Hurts Our Society
1st February 2026
The idea of a ‘global village’ was once romantic to many who witnessed the rise of the internet and has remained highly appealing to the liberal-minded generation Z. Study abroad programs, which were once affordable only to the privileged, are now part of many university curricula. My recent encounters as a law teacher in Berlin (Germany) with (aspiring) participants suggested that such programs can harm society by grooming morally arrogant and historically illiterate future leaders—bureaucrats, lawyers, and policymakers with shiny CVs who, despite their travels, remain ensconced within their ideology nurseries.