Richard Dekmejian
January 14, 2004

Understanding world’s evils key for professor

Professor Dekmejian spoke to a Ground Zero audience about what matters to him

Daily Trojan
JAMES R. KOREN
Contributing Writer

The key to preventing violence in the world is understanding its causes, USC Professor Richard H. Dekmejian told a group of more than 70 students and faculty members Wednesday afternoon.

"It's not that certain women in the world give birth to terrorists. Terrorists are produced under certain pathological crisis conditions," Dekmejian said.

Understanding and working to ameliorate those conditions should be a priority, he said.

A crowded audience elbowed its way into Ground Zero Coffeehouse to hear Dekmejian speak about the human condition, leadership and the study of evil and violence as part of the "What Matters to Me and Why" lecture series.

"I'm overwhelmed by the nastiness of the human condition," he said, citing terrorism, genocide, poverty and famine examples of human suffering.

"I'm overwhelmed with it every day, nearly every hour, and I just don't know how to deal with it," he said.

Dekmejian was born in Syria to refugees of the Armenian genocide. He is now a professor of political science.

Dekmejian said that he tries to deal with the evils of the world by attempting to understand what makes them possible

"If you really want to prevent violence, you have to look at the social, psychological and economic causes that breed that type of violence," he said.

"I'm one of the few people who believes that leadership makes a difference," he said.

Pounding his fist on a podium, Dekmejian criticized policies and actions of Presidents Clinton and Bush.

The United States has not gone into Congo or Rwanda to liberate citizens because Congo and Rwanda have no oil, Dekmejian said.

In the case of Iraq, democracy should have been brought to the country gradually, but, "that doesn't fit the American electoral schedule," Dekmejian said.

Dekmejian's did not limit his critique of American leadership to foreign policy.

"I'm much more worried about the long-term consequences of our policies domestically," he said.

Engagement in wars abroad coupled with the uneven distribution of wealth is bound to cause civil strife in the United States, he said.

Although he focused on social and political problems throughout the world, Dekmejian also shared lighter anecdotes about his life.

When he enlisted in the U.S. Army, he said, "They put me in the armored infantry division because, they said, 'Dekmejian, you're a small target.'"

He also told the audience about his birth in Syria, his education at Los Angeles City College, his brief stint as a janitor and what he called his many problems.

"One of my problems is that I cannot manage to retire because I love to teach," he said.

Another problem is that he has too many interests, Dekmejian said. When he is not writing, teaching or appearing on news programs as a political commentator, he is the director of his church choir in Glendale.

"(Dekmejian) is one of the most knowledgeable, hilarious and genuinely caring professors I've ever had," said Katie O'Brien, a junior majoring in political science, as she introduced him to the audience.

O'Brien is one of 11 members of the "What Matters to Me and Why" steering committee, which selects faculty members and administrators for the recurring lecture series.

The committee chose Dekmejian because "he is one of the most well-liked professors across all majors," O'Brien said.

"He's a compelling speaker, and he knows what he's talking about, and he's very passionate about it," said Brent Giannotta, a senior majoring in international relations and Spanish who was in the audience

Copyright 2004 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 151, No. 03