Take advantage of foreign trips.

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of attending an NCEW dinner at the Wyndham Bristol Hotel on Washington, D.C.'S historic Pennsylvania Avenue. The gathering was part of the annual U.S. State Department briefing organized this year by David Hage, International Affairs Committee chair.

As I sat at the table listening to retired Washington Post State Department correspondent Don Oberdorfer, I was reminded of how interlinked the various nations of our world have become. I also thought about the vital role editorial writers play in educating and influencing the American people. It's a responsibility we should never take lightly.

U.S. foreign policy is important. It has been since the administration of George Washington. History buffs may recall that even our first president had to navigate his way through some pretty murky foreign waters. When France and England were locked in a major war, Washington refused to accept all of the recommendations of his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Washington, often a diplomat, insisted the United States be neutral. He wanted to avoid conflict until his young nation could grow stronger.

Throughout American history, every president has had to interact with governments abroad. The policies our leaders pursued often determined if the United States was at war or peace, how much foreign aid taxpayers doled out, and how U.S. tourists were treated in other countries.

To its credit, the National Conference of Editorial Writers has for many years viewed foreign affairs as seriously as domestic affairs. But the desire of opinion writers to travel the globe so they can comment on what they discover can be costly, especially for small-and medium-sized markets.

Thankfully, NCEW's International Affairs Committee has been extremely creative and successful at finding foundation grants to help underwrite foreign travel. Shrinking media budgets have made this necessary if some of our colleagues are going to get a chance to visit far-away places.

But as new technology and booming economies bring us closer together, it will be imperative that journalists learn and write more about our international neighbors. The deeper we dig, the more questions we'll have.

How much longer can President Fidel Castro keep Cuba under his command? What kind of Russia will emerge under its new president, Vladimir Putin? Does Pope John Paul II's visit to The Holy Land pave the way for peace in the Middle East? Will South Africa prosper under the leadership of president Thabo Mbeki?

These are the kind of questions and challenges America's 35th president may have envisioned when he delivered his inaugural address in 1961. Some editorial writers may remember that snowy January day when John F. Kennedy said: "The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."

I encourage our members to take advantage of NCEW's foreign trips. They're a great way to see and write about our changing world firsthand -- changes that could affect us all here at home.

Chuck Stokes is editorial/public affairs director for WXYZ-TV in Detroit. His e-mail address is [e-mail]