Do you know what the flag of the People’s Republic of China looks like? According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, nearly 43% of Americans don’t. Truthfully, I didn’t know either, until I signed up for a small, scarcely known AP class at the beginning of this year, regarding comparative government and politics around the world.

Comp Gov, as it is affectionately dubbed by its students, is an in-depth study of the governments of six very different countries around the world: the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, and Nigeria. Here in California, where restrictive school standards result in the same course material coming up year after year, Comp Gov is a breath of fresh air with its emphasis on international relations, a vibrant topic that receives dismally little attention at the high school level.

But beyond the exciting new material, beyond instructor Louis Harley’s amusing antics, what I found most interesting about Comp Gov was its relevance. Obtaining an abundance of new knowledge, I realized how naive I was, how unaware I had been about what was happening in the greater world. The material we covered rarely came off as positive or heartwarming, but it was a taste of the real world, where not everything has a happy ending. And as I learned more about life outside the United States, I began to understand just why this type of knowledge matters so much. In a time when globalization and supranational organizations are uniting the world together, piece by piece, it is increasingly important to understand what is taking place beyond the borders of one’s own country. Ignorance is no longer bliss, and yet Americans today seem to be more ignorant than they have ever been before.

As a sad metaphor for the United States’ lack of interest in world affairs, Comp Gov is being slowly phased out by the College Board. PV High is one of the only schools in the South Bay to offer the course, and while a more popular class like AP US History (APUSH) boasts around 387,000 test takers each year, AP Comparative Government and Politics gets only around 18,000.

Obviously, the former is better known, taught by more teachers, and more likely to be recognized for college credit. Despite these major factors, I attribute a large part of the disparity to the prevailing apathy that most Americans seem to have toward international affairs. I don’t mean to under emphasize the importance of knowing the history of one’s own country, and I give a lot of credit to the history teachers at our school in particular for generating much passion about and well-deserved interest in their subject matter, but I also believe that international relations is a topic deserving of more attention than it receives.

Recently, the tragic bombing in Boston performed by two Chechen brothers was met by raving critics decrying the terrorist inclinations of what they believed to be the brothers’ native country: the Czech Republic. For fear of confusing anyone, let me be very clear — the Czech Republic and Chechnya are not the same place. The Czech Republic is an autonomous democratic country in Western Europe; Chechnya is a rebellious Muslim state under intense Russian oppression. As an American, I feel embarrassed by my country’s perceived ignorance about the world outside the US’s borders. The United States is a major world influence, a super power of sorts, but studies show that its citizens know far less about world geography and politics than do citizens of many other less powerful nations.

Part of the problem is that Americans have long struggled with isolationist tendencies that contribute to warped world perspectives. Our first president himself, George Washington, warned about forming entangling alliances with other countries, and this American insularity has guided our nation for many generations. Now that our country has become a major world power, American isolationism has resurfaced in a different way, contributing to a perceived elitist complex that makes Americans feel content to disregard world affairs.

For example, according to the Pew Research Center, only 14% of Americans think that learning a second language is a task worth undertaking.  After all, who needs to invest time studying the language or culture of another nation, when it will never impact the US? This kind of thinking comes from a generation of Americans who feel apathetic about international affairs and, as a result, are ignorant and unaware.

This is dangerous for multiple reasons. With the world growing more interconnected and integrated daily, it is necessary that strong national alignments fade to allow more world cooperation to exist. For example, some people believe that charities should focus on US issues before helping other countries with their issues. However, it is important to recognize that one country’s condition is no longer separated from that of other countries and people around the world need to understand each other and work together in order to fix mutual problems.

Many Americans also are filled with such a strong sense of insularity that they lack understanding about and empathy for people of other cultures. If we are to create a more tolerant, equal society, it is necessary to put effort into appreciating those who come from different backgrounds and recognizing why that is not only okay, but a good thing.

Most importantly, a major result of globalization is that the decisions that the United States makes have an overarching impact on the welfare of the rest of the world. American citizens vote to elect the leader of the free world, so it is imperative that they are educated enough to make such a big decision. They must know about foreign policy in order to, in turn, influence their country to make well-informed policy decisions.

So if you number among that large percentage of Americans who can’t identify the Chinese flag, I suggest you go out and educate yourself as much as you can about China and international relations – or sign up to have the wonderful Louis Harley do it for you – because it is time for Americans to drop the nationalistic pretentiousness and embrace a new integrated and globalized world.